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UNITED
NATIONS
Distr.
GENERAL
CEDAW/C/BGD/3-4
1 April 1997
ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION OF
DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN
CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES UNDER
ARTICLE 18 OF THE CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF ALL
FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN
Third and fourth periodic reports of States parties
BANGLADESH*
* The present report is being issued as received, without formal
editing. For the initial report submitted by the Government of Bangladesh,
see CEDAW/C/5/34; for its consideration by the Committee, see CEDAW/C/SR.96,
97 and 99, and Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-second Session,
Supplement No. 38 (A/42/38), paras. 503-572; for the second periodic report
submitted by the Government of Bangladesh, see CEDAW/C/13/Add.30; for its
consideration by the Committee, see CEDAW/C/SR.220 and 227, and Official
Records of the General Assembly, Forty-eighth Session, Supplement No. 38
(A/48/38), paras. 248-326.
CONTENTS
Page
INTRODUCTION ...........................................................8
I. BACKGROUND FRAMEWORK .............................................9
1.1 Country Profile/Background ............................... 9
1.2 Status of Women in Bangladesh ............................11
1.3 General Legal Framework Within Which Legal Rights are
Protected ................................................19
1.4 National Machineries .....................................20
1.5 Information and Publicity ................................21
1.6 Remaining Obstacles Encountered by Women .................22
II. PROGRESS REPORT ON ARTICLES TWO TO SIXTEEN OF THE CONVENTION .....23
2.1 Obligation to Eliminate Discrimination ...................23
2.2 The Development and Advancement of Women .................27
2.3 Temporary Special Measures ...............................28
2.4 Sex Roles and Stereotyping ...............................32
2.5 Suppression of the Exploitation of Women .................35
2.6 Elimination of Discrimination Against Women in Political
and Public Life ..........................................38
2.7 Equal Opportunity for International Representation and
Participation ............................................43
2.8 Equal Rights with Regard to Nationality ..................43
2.9 Equal Rights in the Field of Education ...................44
2.10 Equal Employment and Training Opportunities ..............51
2.11 Equality of Access to Health Care ........................59
2.12 Equal Rights With Regard to Economic and Social Benefits .65
2.13 Particular Problems Faced by Rural Women .................67
CONTENTS (continued)
Page
2.14 Equality Before the Law and in Civil Matters .............75
2.15 Equality in Marriage and Family Law ......................77
III. MEASURES TAKEN TO IMPLEMENT THE BEIJING PLATFORM FOR ACTION ......85
3.1 Drafting of a National Action Plan .......................85
3.2 Goals and Strategies of the National Action Plan .........86
3.3 Other Initiatives Taken ..................................90
3.4 NGO Follow-up to the Beijing Conference ..................90
List of tables
Table 1: Number of Educational Institutions for Boys and Girls,
Students and Teachers by Sex ................................13
Table 2: Situation of Women in Direct Elections ......................39
Table 3: Women's Participation at Ministerial Levels (1972-1990) .....40
Table 4: Women and Men in Public Sector/Government Service in Various
Service Categories ..........................................42
Table 5: Number of Civil Officers and Staff in the Secretariat,
Departments and Autonomous Bodies and Number of Female
Employees by Category (as of 1 January 1993) ................42
Table 6: Enrolment by Sex and Percentage of Female Teachers (1990-95)
in Mainstream Primary Education .............................45
Table 7: Enrolment in Secondary Schools by Sex and Management, 1990-9445
Table 8: Basic Statistics of Higher Education and Universities 1990-9446
Table 9: Labour Force Participation in Various Surveys ...............52
Table 10: Employed Persons 15 Years and Over by Major Industry and Sex 55
Table 11: Percent Distribution of Workers by Weekly Income, Gender
and Locality ................................................56
Table 12: Employed Population 10 Years and Above by Employment Status .58
Table 13: Indicators of Health and Family Planning Sector .............59
CONTENTS (continued)
Page
Table 14: MCH-FP Goals and Achievements ...............................62
Table 15: Number of VGD Women in Union Parishad VGD Sub-project 1989-90
to 1994-95 ..................................................69
ANNEXURE - A ...........................................................91
REFERENCES ............................................................. 92
ABBREVIATIONS
AIDS Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
ADAB Association of Development Agencies in Bangladesh
ASA Association for Social Advancement
ASSP Agriculture Support Services Project
BANBEIS Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics
BBS Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics
BGMEA Bangladesh Garment Manufactures and Exporters Association
BRAC Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee
BRDB Bangladesh Rural Development Board
BJMS Bangladesh Jatiyo Mohila Sangstha
BSCIC Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation
CBR Crude Birth Rate
CDR Crude Death Rate
CDP Crop Diversification Programme
CPR Contraceptive Prevalence Rate
DWA Department of Women Affairs
GNP Gross National Product
HPSS Health and Population Sector Strategies
HSC Higher Secondary Certificate
HIV Human Immune Deficiency Virus
ILO International Labour Organisation
IMR Infant Mortality Rate
ICPD International Conference on Population and Development
LFS Labour Force Survey
MCH Maternity and Child Health
MOWCA Ministry of Women and Children Affairs
MMR Maternal Mortality Rate
NAP National Action Plan
NRR Net Reproductive Rate
NCWD National Council for Women Development
PFA Platform for Action
PKSF Palli Karma Shahayak Foundation
SAARC South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
STD Sexually Transmitted Disease
SSC Secondary School Certificate
THC Thana Health Centre
TFR Total Fertility Rate
UNICEF United Nations International Children Emergency Fund
VGDP Vulnerable Group Development Programme
WID Women in Development
WEDP Women's Entrepreneurship Development Programme
WFP World Food Programme
GLOSSARY
CHOWKIDAR Village Security guard
MADRASHA Educational Institution with special emphasis on
religion
SATELLITE CLINIC Mobile temporary medical clinic at village level
for mother and child care
SHALISH Local level mediation body
STRIDHAN The property given to a woman from her family at
the time of her marriage
UNANI and AYURVEDI MEDICINE Traditional Herbal Medicine
UNION PARISHAD Lowest tier of Local Government
COMBINED THIRD AND FOURTH PERIODIC REPORT ON ELIMINATION OF
DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN IN BANGLADESH
(SUBMITTED TO UN CEDAW)
INTRODUCTION:
1. This report is a combination of the Third and Fourth Periodic Report of
Bangladesh CEDAW/C/BGD/3. The Third Periodic Report submitted on 8 April 1993
for consideration by the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women has been updated and placed as the Combined Third
and Fourth Periodic Report. This report covers the period from 1990 to 1996
and highlights the developments in each area covered by the Convention during
the period. The report consists of three main parts.
2. The first part provides information on the current socio-economic and the
political situation in the country resulting from the growing consciousness of
women's issues including the latest available data to evaluate the current
status of women.
3. The second part provides specific information relating to Article 2 to 16
of the Convention with emphasis on newly adopted legal measures, new policies
and programmes to promote the elimination of discrimination against women as
well as remaining obstacles to women's participation on an equal basis with
men in all spheres of life. Information on reservations made by Bangladesh on
Articles 2, 13(a) and 16.1(a) and 16.1(f) is provided when the relevant
articles are discussed.
4. Part three of the report provides information on measures taken to
implement the twelve critical areas of concern of the Beijing Platform For
Action.
PART I. BACKGROUND FRAME WORK
1.1 Country Profile/Background:
1.1.1 Area, Geography and Population:
The People's Republic of Bangladesh is situated in the northern tropical zone
between 23-27 degree North latitude and 88-92 degree East longitude and has a
territory of about 147,570 square kilometres. It is the largest deltaic plain
of the world with a 400 mile long coast. The country, which is predominantly
rural frequently suffers from calamities like flood, cyclone, drought, tidal
waves, etc.
Bangladesh has a population of about 120 million, nearly 88 percent of whom
are Muslim. About 80 percent of the population lives in rural areas. It is one
of the most densely populated, countries of the world with a population
density of 755 per sq.km. The crude birth rate of 26.9 and crude death rate of
8.5 result in a natural growth rate of 1.9. About 16 percent of the population
is under 5 years of age (16.15 percent males and 16.78 percent females) of age
and 45.15 percent under 15 (45.32 percent males and 44.96 percent females)
according to the 1991 Census. The population over 65 years of age is 3.23
percent (3.62 percent males and 2.81 percent females). The dependency ratio of
1.02 creates pressure not only for mother and child health care but for
pre-school care and on the entire family structure and is also a burden on the
economy. Life expectancy at birth is 58 years for females and 58.9 years for
males. Infant mortality rate was 78 per 1000 in 1995 (1). About 48.5 percent
of the total population are women and the sex ratio of men to women is 106
according to Population Census of 1991.
Various tribal groups make up less than 1 percent of the population. They are
located mainly in the Northern-Eastern and South-Eastern hilly regions of the
country. They are constitutionally guaranteed equal rights and each tribe has
its own religion and culture. Some of these groups are Buddhists and converted
Christians. About 0.3 percent of the total population follows various tribal
religions.
Bengali is the state language and all citizens speak Bangla except for the
tribal groups who have their own languages.
The annual average labour force growth rate is 2.9 percent. The economy being
unable to absorb the growing labour force faces tremendous unemployment
problems. In 1995/96, 56 million persons i.e. almost half of the total
population was in the labour force. The rapid population growth and young age
structure (45 percent under 15 years) are key elements to explain Bangladesh's
socio-economic situation and the prevalence of poverty.
1.1.2 Economic Transition:
The economy is predominantly dependent on agriculture. In recent years the
industrial and manufacturing sectors have been growing especially through
increasing self-employment, and the growth in the service and micro level
manufacturing sectors. Yet the growth rate in the industrial sector is only
5.2. The contribution of agriculture, industry and the manufacturing sectors
to the gross domestic product was 30 percent, 18 percent and 10 percent
respectively in 1993/94(2). Manufacturing service units of the modern and
organized sectors are to be found mostly in the urban areas. During recent
years reforms such as reduction of control over investment; denationalization
and privatization of public enterprises; liberalization of trade and tariff;
and creation of congenial environment for private investment have contributed
to the economic transition. These have helped in the growth of some export
oriented manufacturing industries such as garments and shrimp which have
employed women as a source of cheap labour.
In 1994/95 the per capita gross national product (GNP) was Taka 9,760 (US$
232), the annual average inflation rate 8.6 and total external debt 13,879
million US Dollars. Due to high imports, negative balance of payments have
existed every year in exports and imports. However, increased employment of
labourers abroad in recent years has contributed to adjust the negative
balance of payments with worker's remittances resulting in a positive net
balance. This coupled with domestic resource mobilization has enabled the
government to finance over one third of the development budget from its own
resources during the last four years.
About 48 percent of the rural and 44 percent of the urban population live
below the absolute poverty line as defined by WHO/FAO Expert Group for South
East Asia. Though actual data on land ownership is scarce, studies have shown
that landlessness is increasing every year, resulting in unemployment. Rural
to urban migration in search of jobs has become a common phenomenon, creating
social and economic imbalances. Analysis of rural poverty trends show that the
proportion of people living in poverty fell from 57.5 percent in 1984 to 51.7
percent in 1994. Moderate poverty declined from 31.7 percent in 1987 to 29.2
percent in 1994 and extreme poverty declined from 25.8 percent to 22.5 percent
during this period. Yet the degree of income inequality remains unchanged (3).
Micro-studies and labour force surveys indicate that the growth of rural
non-farm sector has accelerated in recent years and has absorbed a part of
the growing landless labour force and helped reduce poverty. About a third of
the labour force work in the non-farm sector and half of them are employees or
day labourers. Growth of income in farming has been nil and rural household
income grew mainly in service, trade and non-crop agriculture. Employment in
these areas is increasing.
Food consumption has grown and per capita cereal, meat, and fish consumption
has increased during the last decade owing to a marked increase in food
production through the use of modern technology in agriculture, and as a
result of productive self-employment programmes and import liberalization of
food items. Cereal import was reduced from 2194 thousand tons in 1980 to 1175
thousand tons in 1993. Food aid in cereals has been reduced from 1480 thousand
tons in 1980 to 719 thousand tons in 1993 (4).
1.1.3 General Political Structure:
Bangladesh emerged as a sovereign country after a nine month independence
struggle against Pakistan. The legal and administrative processes are based
on its Constitution. The country reverted back to a Parliamentary form of
government headed by a Prime-Minister in 1991. Elected representatives are
responsible for two main areas of state intervention: policy making at the
national level and local level development. Policy making and legislation are
functions of the Parliament while local level development is carried out
through local autonomous bodies. The lowest unit of local government is the
Union Parishad run by public representatives. The country is administratively
divided into 6 divisions consisting of 64 districts. The districts are also
divided into several thanas (sub-districts) with 460 thanas in all. Districts
are the main administrative units. The executive responsibilities of these
administrative units are carried out by the civil servants.
Since 1991, the country has held three Parliamentary elections and one local
government election. The city and municipal corporation elections were held in
1993.
1.2 Status of Women in Bangladesh:
1.2.1 Socio-Cultural:
Bangladesh is one of the seven countries in the world where the number of men
exceeds the number of women. According to various indicators the status of
women in Bangladesh is much lower than that of men. Traditional cultural,
social and religious values and practices have reinforced the lower status of
women accorded to them in society and have limited their opportunities for
education, technical and vocational training, employment and participation in
the overall development process.
Socio-economic changes triggered by increasing rates of landlessness and
impoverishment have had a profound impact on women's lives. While poverty
affects the household as a whole the women bear a disproportionate burden
attempting to manage household production and consumption under conditions of
increasing scarcity. Greater numbers of women than men are among the poor. The
Poverty Trend Analysis in 62 villages found that 76 percent of women fell
under the category "poor" in terms of income and resource endowments. Women
are discriminated against in intra-household allocation of resources as well,
in terms of food, education and health care.
Though women play a major role in the functioning of the household and the
economy, they are generally not seen outside the domestic sphere. National
statistics have not been able to account for their contribution in the form of
domestic work and unpaid labour in family ventures. Although households
headed by men are the norm national statistics show that about 8 percent of
households are headed by women in Bangladesh. The percentage of de-jure and
de-facto female headed household is increasing particularly among the poorest
section of the rural population due to male out migration, desertion and
divorce, to mention only a few causes. The actual number of female managed
households is likely to be much higher than officially reported, nearly 30
percent. The income distribution is more skewed among women headed households
and the bottom 20-30 percent of women headed households are among
the poorest in Bangladesh (5).
Over the last two decades women have gradually become more visible in the
labour force, in development programmes and local institutions. It is worth
mentioning that participation rate of females in the labour force is
increasing at a faster rate than that of males. Women's role as productive
agents whose contribution is crucial to attain a certain standard of living
for the family is increasingly being recognized. In addition, the measurement
of women's economic activities has been modified to better capture their
contribution, as a result of which their participation rates are higher than
before.
However, women's role should not be conceived in economic terms only. Their
status and position should be considered in terms of education, training and
job opportunities, income, employment, assets, health, and the role they play
in the family and in society. These characteristics are crucial in determining
the amount of political power and social prestige a woman is accorded and thus
the extent to which she can influence decision-making within the home and in
the community.
1.2.2 Education:
The overall literacy rate of the population (7 years and above) is 32.4 (6).
The rate is 38.9 for males compared to 25.5 for females. Male children are
still sent to school more frequently and parents are still more likely to
spend more on their books made and education than that of girls as it is
thought to be an investment in the case of boys who are expected to look after
their parents financially in old age. Education for girls is considered as
less useful as they are expected to get married and leave their families
behind. Among rural households only one fourth of total educational expenses
are for girls. Though the enrolment rate for girls has increased significantly
to 78 percent, against 88.9 percent for boys (7), the drop out rate continues
to be high. At the primary level completion rate has increased to 60 percent
for both boys and girls but it is lower for girls at higher levels. At higher
secondary level women's participation reached 25 percent of the total in 1994.
At the university level 25 percent students and 14 percent of the teachers are
women as of 1994/95. The proportion of women students is significantly less in
technical disciplines such as agriculture and engineering which are considered
as men's domain. In the technical universities only 9 percent students are
women (8).
Table 1: Number of Educational Institutions for Boys and Girls, Students and
Teachers by Sex:
Level No. of Schools Students Teachers
Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys
Primary 1.2 98.8 45.4 54.6 20.0 79.6
Secondary 14.3 85.7 25.1 74.9 74.9 85.7
1.2.3 Health and Nutrition:
In Bangladesh, due to overall poverty health care receives inadequate resource
allocations. At household level too, poverty results in limited expenditure on
health care. Women are more disadvantaged than man in terms of access to
health care and the quality of nutrition and health care received. Life
expectancy is lower by almost a year for women. This is contrary to the norm
in other countries where women tend to live longer than men. The household
allocation for medical care for women is much lower than that of men (Tk. 18.8
and 24 respectively for women and men in rural areas) (9). Women family
members are less likely to receive modern medical care and tend to receive
traditional types of care instead. A recent study has found that adult men
make up the largest single group to be admitted in hospitals followed by boys.
Only 14 percent of births are attended by trained personnel. According to the
approach adopted by the health services women's health care is often
restricted to their reproductive health and general health of women of all
ages is neglected.
The nutritional status of girl children, especially of rural girls, is worse
than for boys. More than 12 percent of children between the ages of one to
five suffer from acute malnutrition as measured by mid-upper arm
circumference. For boys the rate is of 11.9 and for girls it is of 13.3 (as of
1992). The prevalence rate for boys in urban areas is 6.5 percent and for
girls 10.2 percent. The prevalence rate for boys in rural areas is 12.6
percent for girls 13.7 percent. Biases in parental care, feeding patterns,
intra familial food distribution and treatment of illness are all in favour of
males. As a result, girl child mortality, malnutrition, morbidity and maternal
mortality are high. Women are married at a much lower age than men with an
average age gap of 8 years, and the incidence of marriage is highest among
women aged 10-19 years. Forty nine percent women in the age group of 15-19 are
married. Women's long child bearing span with the first birth at the age of 18
and high birth rate within an average of 4.5 living children aggravates
women's nutritional status which is already poor due to inadequate food
intake. Studies show that irrespective of income level a large percentage of
women suffer from low body weight and height. This contributes to a cycle of
high maternal mortality with an MMR of 459 per 100,000, malnutrition and low
birth weight babies leading to infant mortality. The Infant Mortality Rate has
been reduced from 190/1900 live births in 1080 to 78/1000 at present.
The health situation of urban women is worse than that of women in the rural
areas. The urban population living in the slum areas do not have adequate
sanitation, water and health facilities which results in poor health. Women
and children are the worse sufferers in these places. The increase in
rural-urban migration, unemployment and other factors have led to increased
health risks for women including vulnerability to STD/HIV/AIDS.
1.2.4 Population Control and Family Planning:
In the last twenty years Bangladesh has achieved a great deal in this area.
Total Fertility Rate (TFR) has fallen to 3.4 with 49 percent of the total
population in the reproductive age group. Average age at marriage has
increased from 13.5 years in the seventies to 19.9. Contraceptive Prevalence
Rate (CPR) has increased to 45 percent. The Planning Commission projections
show a population of 137.3 million by the year 2000. However in spite of the
considerable achievements of the country various problems still persist. Early
age at marriage, lack of opportunities for female education and employment,
infant and child mortality rates which are still unacceptably high, and
malnutrition persistently influence the high fertility and maternal mortality
rates in Bangladesh. The contraceptive prevalence rate has increased to 45
percent.
1.2.5 Employment:
As regards employment, women in Bangladesh are far behind men. Nearly 43
percent women are involved in agricultural activities but 70 percent of them
work as unpaid family labour. The 1991 census indicated that 11 percent of all
women were economically active. Labour force participation rates for females
stood at 9.9 and 14.1 percent in the Labour Force Surveys (LFS) of 1985-86 and
1990-91 respectively. The use of an extended definition of labour force
activities which included a number of expenditure saving activities carried
out by women resulted in their participation rate increasing to 61.6, 58.2 and
50.6 in the LFS of 1989. 1990-91 and 1995/96 respectively (10).
The trends of increasing landlessness and growing numbers of female headed
households have subjected women to serious economic pressures. Gradual changes
in attitude towards working women are also becoming apparent. An estimated 8
million women, of whom 40 percent live in rural areas, are seeking employment.
The 1995/96 LFS found that 78.8 percent of the women who participated in the
labour force were involved in the agriculture and fisheries sectors. Forty
percent of the employed women work as unpaid family helpers, 18 percent as day
labourers, 25.3 percent as employees and 22.3 percent are self-employed (See
Table 12).
Women work harder and longer hours than men. Women's working days range from
14 to 15 hours including child rearing and household management. Women's
participation in formal sector employment was negligible until the recent
past. Women who were working outside the home were mostly engaged in teaching,
medicine and nursing. Due to quota provisions at the entry level, women's
participation rate in the public sector has increased to some extent. However,
women fill only about 7 percent of the officer ranks, about 10 percent staff
positions and only 5 percent at the low level worker positions and they
constitute only 9 percent of the total employees. There are still very few at
the management or policy making levels. Around 14.14 percent of total
recruits into the public service have been women in the last five years.
Women's participation in the industrial sector is largest in the construction
industry where many work as manual labourers. In the manufacturing sector, the
export oriented industries such as electronics, garments and shrimp processing
have attracted women. Rural to urban migration of women in search of jobs is a
recent phenomenon. Local textiles, shoes, cosmetics and such other consumable
production units have also employed women. The garment manufacturing
sub-sector is the largest employer of women. More than three hundred thousand
women work in about 2000 garment units and they constitute over 90 percent of
the total labour force of the sector.
Women's economic participation is greater in the non-formal sector and has
increased substantially due to the success of self-employment generating
credit programmes run by the government and NGOs. During the last decade
women's participation in the banking sector, various offices, NGOs and
business concerns has also increased substantially.
1.2.6 Women in Development Plans:
Women are considered as a distinct target group by the national development
plans. The empowerment of women has been emphasized in the latest plans.
Among the previous plans, the First Five Year Plan(1973-78) emphasized a
welfare oriented approach and focused on the rehabilitation of war affected
women and children. Population control was the most important area in which
women were considered as beneficiaries. However, their productive role was not
emphasized. The Two Year Plan(1978-80) was characterized by a move from
welfare to development oriented efforts. Women's development was taken as a
central focus. The Second Five Year Plan(1980-85) emphasized undertaking more
dynamic and diversified programmes. The major objective was to create an
atmosphere for making women's participation in development activities
increasingly positive through expanding opportunities for specialized
training, skill development, credit and entrepreneurship development
programmes. The Third Five Year Plan( 1985-90) built upon the previous plan
activities. To achieve the overall integration of women in the development
process the Plan had specific objectives to reduce imbalances between the
development of men and women.
Within the time span considered by the present report, the Fourth Five Year
Plan (FFYP 1990- 95) (11) had as objectives the acceleration of economic
growth; poverty alleviation and increasing self reliance. The strategies
included integration of sector based planning with group based planning and
mainstreaming of women to reduce gender disparities. Development policies
with regard to women were placed within the context of a macro economic
framework for a multi-sectoral thrust. The Plan emphasized the development of
poor and disadvantaged women. Special attention was given to increased
opportunities for income generation, access to institutional credit and
organization building for participation in bottom-up planning. Women were
considered as direct beneficiaries as well as change agents in the development
process.
The Draft Participatory Perspective Plan (1995-2010) formulated in 1995,
though not yet approved as a Plan document, provides a statement of policy.
It sets the goal of eliminating all forms of discrimination against women by
empowering women and men as equal partners working towards equality,
development and peace. Women are to be integrated in the mainstream of
development. The targets include the following: the eradication of persistent
and increasing burden of poverty on women; equal access to education and
training for human resource development; equal access to health care services,
elimination of violence against women and girls; access to all forms of
productive activities and resources; equal sharing in power and decision
making; creation of strong mechanism to promote the advancement of women;
promotion of women's human rights; equality in access to, and participation
in, the media; equality in the family and society; involvement in
environmental protection and conservation; participation as beneficiaries and
agents in all sectors of development; participation in all national and
international bodies and fora; provision of skill training and credit for
self- employment; and survival, development and protection of the girl child.
The following are some of the specific targets :
* Increasing female literacy rate from 24 to 50 by the year 2000;
* Raising adult literacy rate to 62 per cent
* Increasing the enrolment of girls to 94 percent;
* Ensuring health for all women by the year 2000;
* Ensuring adequate nutrition for all women and girls;
* Increasing the share of women's employment from 8 to 30 percent by the
year 2000 both in national and foreign service jobs (12).
National Policy on Women's Advancement: In March 1997 a Policy on Women's
Advancement was declared by the Prime Minister which provides a comprehensive
framework for women's development in the country (see Section 2.2).
Fifth Five Year Plan(1997-2002 under formulation): The write up prepared by
the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs for the Fifth Five Year Plan
outlines a set of comprehensive measures to implement the National Policy for
Women's Advancement. The vision of the plan is to guarantee women equal access
to opportunities for the realization of the goals of equality, environmentally
and socially, sustainable development and people's participation (13).
The Goals and Objectives of WID during the Fifth Five Year Plan are to:
i) achieve equality between men and women in the sharing of power and
decision-making at all levels;
ii) raise awareness and to ensure establishment of women rights recognized
nationally and internationally;
iii) establish effective mechanisms with necessary resources and authority at
all levels to promote the development of women in all spheres of life;
iv) alleviate poverty and to ensure food security and minimal nutritional
requirement of 1,800 k-calorie per person per day for all with emphasis on
women;
v) promote economic self-reliance for women including access to economic
resources - land, capital and technology;
vi) mainstreaming women's concern in agriculture and rural development,
industry and commerce and also in the informal sector;
vii) ensure the visibility and recognition of women's work and to reduce the
gender gap in access to information, skill and knowledge about economic
opportunities;
viii)raise the rate of female participation in the active labour force
(employed) to bring it at par with man;
ix) raise literacy rate of women to about 50 percent and to complete primary
education by at least 80 percent of school age children;
x) increase women's full access through the life cycle to health and related
services under the goal "Health for All".
xi) eliminate all sorts of violence against women;
xii) eliminate trafficking of women and girl child;
xiii)ensure participation of women in national and international peace
negotiations;
xiv) recognize women's role and concern in environmental and natural resources
management;
xv) chalk out programmes in the mass media to reflect gender perspective and
to focus a positive image of women and girl child; and
xvi) to generate necessary complementary service facilities for the
development of women.
The strategies as adopted for the attainment of the objectives are poverty
alleviation, public expenditure to address the basic needs of women, support
for education, health and legal protection.
The strategic means to implement these include building institutional
structure from grassroots to national level, coordination between devleopment
policies and activities of various organizations and cooperation between the
government and NGOs.
1.3 General Legal Framework Within Which Legal Rights are Protected:
The Parliament and the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs are
responsible for enacting legal provisions and upholding human rights. The
judiciary is responsible for interpretation of laws and judgements and the law
enforcing agencies such as the Police are responsible for enforcing the
provisions. Individuals whose rights have been violated can seek redress from
the judiciary within the context of existing laws. Special tribunals and
courts such as labour courts, administrative tribunals, the Central Cell for
the Prevention of Oppression Against Women and Children, respond to specific
appeals that fall under their jurisdiction. Certain human rights are
protected by the Constitution and these have been elaborated in section 2.1.
Various provisions of the ILO Conventions have been integrated in the labour
laws.
In the past various laws have been formulated or amended to ensure equality
and protect women's rights. Among these the following may be mentioned:
a) The Muslim Family Laws Ordinance of 1961 which regulates personal matters
such as inheritance of property, marriage, divorce, guardianship and custody
of children, etc. It sets the minimum age of marriage at 18 for women and 21
for men.
b) The Dowry Prohibition Act of 1980 and its amendment in 1986 has made the
custom of dowry an offence, punishable by fine and imprisonment.
c) The Family Court Ordinance of 1985 has established family courts at the
district and than levels, to deal with cases relating to marriage and divorce,
restitution of conjugal rights, recovery of dower, maintenance and custody of
children. Provisions have been made for mediation and quick disposal of cases.
d) The Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929 provides for a legal age of
marriage and punishment for anyone marrying before that age.
e) The Muslim Marriage and Divorce Registration Act of 1974 provides for the
documentation and registration of marriage contracts mentioning the amount of
dower.
1.4 National Machineries:
The following national machineries are in existence to further women's
advancement:
1.4.1 Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs:
The Women's Affairs Division which was created in 1976 and upgraded as the
Ministry of Women's Affairs in 1978 to deal with the development concerns of
women. Bangladesh is one of the few countries in the world having a full
fledged Ministry to work for women's advancement. The role of the Ministry
includes national policy formulation regarding women, implementation of
special programmes for women's development, dealing with matters relating to
women's legal and social rights, control and registration of women's
voluntary organizations and dealing with international organizations in the
field of women's development. The Ministry's role has been expanded to
coordinate the WID aspect of different sectors. Recently the Ministry has been
given added responsibility for the development and protection of children and
their rights.
1.4.2 National Council For Women's Development (NCWD):
A 44 member National Council for Women's Development (NCWD) has been
established consisting of Ministers and Secretaries from several line
Ministries, public representatives and eminent individuals with the Prime
Minister as Head of the Council.
The responsibilities of NCWD are as follows:
* To ensure women's participation in socio-economic development work, the
Council will formulate rules and regulations for the development work of
different Ministries, divisions and other agencies and coordinate them;
* The Council will formulate laws, and regulations to ensure women's legal
rights and development and to prevent of oppression against women;
* The Council will also take measures to preserve women's interests in all
areas in which women are active and ensure their participation and
advancement.
1.4.3 WID Focal Points in Different Ministries:
Since the Fourth Five Year Plan, all the sectors and Ministries are
responsible for incorporating women in development concerns into their
development programmes in order to mainstream women's development. Women in
Development (WID) Focal Points in 33 Ministries and agencies are responsible
for overseeing the concerns of women in the programmes of their respective
Ministries. They are responsible for formulating sectoral plans keeping in
mind gender concerns, preparing lists of priority projects for women for
inclusion in the annual development plans; reviewing and modifying ongoing
projects with a view to incorporating adequate gender concerns in the sectoral
programmes/projects; ensuring gender sensitive reporting system; collaborating
with other sectors and central agencies in order to achieve WID sectoral
goals; and monitoring and reporting on their sectoral activities and
constraints in achieving these goals.
1.4.4 Interministerial Coordination and Evaluation Committee:
The National Women's Advancement Policy envisages the establishment of an
Interministerial Coordination and Evaluation Committee headed by the Minister
for Women and Children's Affairs to monitor the progress of implementation of
sectoral WID plans and programmes and submit quarterly progress reports to the
NCWD. Various government and non-government women's development organizations
and Ministries with WID Focal Points, will be members of this committee.
1.4.5 Department of Women's Affairs:
The Directorate of Women's Affairs was established in 1976 and was upgraded in
1990 to the Department of Women's Affairs. It functions as the implementing
arm of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs. It operates through its
head quarter and field based offices in order to implement the activities and
directives of the Ministry. Its activities include awareness raising on
women's rights and equality, vocational and technical training in various
areas, providing credit facilities and providing legal aid services to women.
1.4.6 Jatiya Mohila Shangstha (JMS):
Jatiya Mohila Shangstha (JMS) was created in 1976 as the apex national women's
organization to further the social, economic, educational and cultural
upliftment of women. It has undergone many changes with regard to its
activities and character since its inception. It was declared an autonomous
organization through an ordinance in 1991 and named as Jatiya Mohila
Shangstha. It works under the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs. The main
activities it has undertaken are skill development training in weaving,
handicrafts, tailoring and motivation for family planning, tree plantation,
sanitation and micro-credit operations in selected "Thanas" or Sub-Districts.
The programmes are conducted using government granted funds. A unit computer
training and a legal aid cell for women have been established.
1.5 Information and Publicity:
The Government is responsible for the dissemination of information on various
human rights instruments and the legal provisions on human rights that have
been ratified. Various NGOs and human rights groups also undertake specific
programmes for raising awareness on this among the public.
Efforts in this area have been limited and inadequate so far. Some instruments
such as The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women, Child Rights Convention and the Human Rights Convention have
been translated into Bangla by the local UN Offices and NGOs for dissemination
among the public.
1.6 Remaining Obstacles Encountered by Women:
The Government of Bangladesh ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of discriminations Against Women (CEDAW) excluding the Clauses 2, 13(a),
16 (1) (c) and (f) which relate to the personal rights of women such as
succession of property, marriage and divorce, guardianship over children etc.
The constitution guarantees equality between men and women in the public
sphere. Various discriminatory customs and practices persist, however, which
are gradually being addressed and removed through appropriate measures. The
present Government is committed to remove these discriminatory provisions. The
Constitution allows for Personal Laws in the private sphere which are in some
cases discriminatory against women. Unequal provisions in personal laws such
as in the case of inheritance, guardianship of children, marriage and divorce
contributes to their inferior social, economic political and legal status.
There are problems in implementing existing legal provisions due to women's,
as well as men's. ignorance about their legal rights. The substance as well as
application of laws puts women in a disadvantaged position with regard to men.
II. PROGRESS REPORT ON ARTICLES TWO TO SIXTEEN OF THE
CONVENTION
2.1 Article 2: Obligations to Eliminate Discrimination.
State Parties condemn discrimination against women in all its forms, agree to
pursue by all appropriate means and without delay a policy of eliminating
discrimination against women and, to this end, undertake:
(a) To embody the principle of the equality of men and women in their
national constitutions or other appropriate legislation if not yet
incorporated therein and to ensure, through law and other appropriate means,
the practical realization of this principle;
(b) To adopt progressive legislative and other measures, including
sanctions where appropriate, prohibiting discrimination against women;
(c) To establish legal protection of the rights of women on an equal
basis with men and to ensure through competent national tribunals and other
public institutions the effective protection of women against any act of
discrimination;
(d) To refrain from engaging in any act or practice of discrimination
against women and to ensure that public authorities and institutions shall act
in conformity with this obligation;
(e) To take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against
women by any person, organization or enterprise;
(f) To take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to modify or
abolish existing laws, regulations, customs and practices which constitute
discrimination against women;
(g) To repeal all national penal provisions which constitute
discrimination against women.
2.1.1 Constitutional Provisions for Women:
The legal status of women in Bangladesh has been defined in the Constitution.
Article 27 States:
All citizens are equal before the law and are entitled to equal protection of
the law.
Article 28 of the Constitution States:
1) The state shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of
religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.
2) Women shall have equal rights with men in all spheres of the State and of
public life.
3) No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex or place
of birth, be subjected to any disability, liability, restriction or condition
with regard to access to any place of public entertainment or resort, or
admission to any educational institution.
4) Nothing in this Article shall prevent the State from making special
provision in favour of women and children or for the advancement of any
backward section of the population.
Article 26 of the Constitution States that:
1) All existing laws inconsistent with the fundamental rights shall, to the
extent of inconsistency, become void on the commencement of this Constitution.
2) The State shall not make any law inconsistent with any provisions of this
Part, and any law so made shall, to the extent of such inconsistency, become
void.
As citizens, women also enjoy the following fundamental rights as provided by
the Bangladesh Constitution:
* No discrimination against any citizen on grounds of religion, race,
caste, sex or place of birth
* equality of opportunity in public employment
* right to protection of law
* protection of right to life and personal liberty
* prohibition of forced labour
* safeguards as to arrest and detention
* protection in respect of trial and punishment
* freedom of movement, assembly, association, thought and conscience,
speech, profession, occupation and religion
* right to property
* protection of home and correspondence
* enforcement of fundamental rights through courts of law
2.1.2 Legislative and Other Measures Adopted to Eliminate Discrimination
Against Women:
Though the Constitution guarantees equal rights for men and women in public
life it does not extend this to the private sphere where the various personal
laws based on religion are recognized. These are discriminatory with regard to
various provisions such as marriage and divorce, inheritance, guardianship,
etc. The Constitution also recognizes the unequal situation of women in so far
as it recognizes the need to make special provisions for them as a specially
disadvantaged category.
Bangladesh has ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) with reservations and not accepted it as
legally binding yet. Most national laws are already in conformity with the
provisions of the Convention. Some reforms/modifications have been made to
protect the rights of women. However, the provisions of the Convention can be
invoked before the court of law only if they are transformed into national
laws or administrative regulations.
Certain legislative actions have been taken to protect the interests of women
and reduce discrimination. Some of these are through the enactment of new
laws and others through modifications of the existing laws and procedures. The
legislative measures include reform of family laws, laws on equal pay and
employment, protection and expanded political rights. The changes in the
national legislation which have taken place during the last two decades have
been the result of the ratification of various conventions and the mutually
reinforcing developments in international and national laws. Some provisions
of the Muslim Personal Laws have been modified but as yet no effective
measures have been taken to reform the Hindu personal laws or laws of other
minority groups as it was felt that such proposals would not be endorsed by
the respective religious/ minority communities.
Within the reporting period a new law the Women and Child Repression (Special
Provision) Act of 1995 further increases the punishment for crimes against
women. It has been enacted to prevent and punish cruelty to women and
children in the form of abuse, injury, or death using corrosive, poisonous or
combustive substance or for dowry. It makes provisions for the punishment of
kidnapping or abduction of women or children to use them for prostitution or
illegal cohabitation, etc. Special Courts have been instituted with Session
Judges or Additional Session Judges in each district. It provides for
completion of the investigation of such offense within 60 days of the receipt
of the "First Information Report" (FIR) or order for investigation and not to
grant bail to the accused during that period. There is also a provision for
completion of the trial within 90 days of receipt of the case.
The Government has constituted a high powered committee headed by the Minister
for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs to examine existing laws and update
them to address all forms of discrimination against women.
2.1.3 Major Obstacles to Implementation:
The protection that is accorded through the civil laws are outweighed by the
inequalities reflected in many areas of personal laws governing the life of
women. Women's socio-economic status differs from their legal status. The
former often determines the latter. Although the Government is determined to
take steps to eliminate discrimination against women through legal measures,
women cannot even enjoy those rights provided by existing laws due to the lack
of enforcement. The disparity between the rights women have by law and what
they actually enjoy arises partly from the lack of knowledge of women and men
about internationally and nationally recognized womenþs rights and the lack of
commitment by the judiciary and law enforcement agencies.
Various procedures make it difficult for women to access and use the judicial
system. For example the language used is esoteric, the procedures lengthy and
therefore costly and the agencies are often hostile or unsympathetic to women.
The proof required to file a case of domestic violence or rape is an
obstacle. The lack of birth registration makes the enforcement of the Child
Marriage Act is difficult. The lack of a central database on marriage and
divorce registrations, or any means of cross-checking such registrations,
means that it is virtually impossible to prevent polygamy. Although the Muslim
Family Law allows women to inherit, social customs and family pressure often
prevent women from claiming their share. Women lack the financial resources
required and lack access to lawyers and courts which restricts their recourse
to the legal system. Laws on trafficking, for instance, are hard to apply as
often members of the law enforcing agencies are themselves involved in the
trafficking activities.
2.1.4 Reservation of Article 2:
The Government of Bangladesh placed reservation to Articles 13 (a) and 16 (1)
(c) which were thought to be in contradiction with Shariah Law derived from
the Holy Quran and Sunnah. By deduction the reservation an Article two was
placed. All of the reservations are in the process of being reviewed.
The Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs constituted an interministerial
committee in November 1996 to review the reservations made to the Convention
and make recommendations. It has as members from the Ministries of
Information, Law, Home Affairs and Women and Children's Affairs. It also has
two women lawyers and activists as members. A report has been submitted in
February 1997 for consideration to the highest authority.
As mentioned above, the Constitution of the country embodies the principle of
equality between women and men and declares that constitutional principles
shall take precedence over all other existing laws. The Constitution is the
highest law of the land and any law inconsistent with the Constitution is
automatically void (Articles 7(2) and 26). Thus all pre-Constitutional laws
have to withstand the test of the Constitution's basic principles.
Bangladesh does not have any "Shariah Law" as such. Rather certain provisions
are codified into legislation, such as the Muslim Family Law Ordinance and
provisions of the Shariah are not immutable but subject to reinterpretation
based on the needs of the time. In addition Muslims are not the only
population in the country. There is a sizeable non-Muslim population to whom
the Shariah is not applicable.
Bangladesh is committed to its international treaty obligations and the
guarantees of equality between men and women and of non-discrimination
against women contained in the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and other international instruments.
Various women's organizations have arranged seminars and conferences to
discuss the Convention and the justifications for the reservations made.
Pre-Beijing a series of regional workshops as well as a national workshop were
held by the NGO Preparatory Committee for the NGO Forum. Various training and
seminars have also been organized by the CEDAW Forum which brings together
various organizations and individuals seeking withdrawal of reservations and
full implementation of the Convention. It addition several women's
organizations such as Bangladesh Mohila Parishad, Bangladesh Jatiya Mohila
Ainjibi Samity, Naripokkho and USHA have been working in this area
individually.
2.2. Article 3: The Development and Advancement of Women
State Parties shall take in all fields, in particular in the political,
social, economic and cultural fields, all appropriate measures, including
legislation, to ensure the full development and advancement of women, for the
purpose of guaranteeing them the exercise and enjoyment of human rights and
fundamental freedoms on a basis of equality with men.
Legally women have the same access as men to the political process, social
services, health and medical care, education, literacy, development
programmes, employment, ownership of property and social welfare. In certain
cases temporary special measures have been formulated to increase womenþs
access to these services and programmes (see 2.3). The exercise and enjoyment
of human rights and fundamental freedoms by women, on the basis of equality
with men, is guaranteed under the Constitution and other relevant laws (see
Section 2.1 above).
However, in fact, women do not have the same access as men to these rights and
freedoms. The situation with regard to political life, education and health is
described while discussing articles 7, 10 and 12 respectively. Various kinds
of remedial measures have been taken up as a result of which the situation in
many sectors is improving.
It needs to be stressed that developments or advancements in any one sector
are closely related with developments or advancements in other sectors. For
example developments in education are important for improvements in political
participation or employment.
One of the major obstacles is women's unequal status in the personal sphere
which means that the grounds for their participation in the public sphere are
also unequal. Womenþs lower socio-economic status , lower literacy, lesser
mobility are all practical obstacles to the exercise of their fundamental
rights.
A phenomenon which has emerged recently illustrates the difficulties women
have in exercising their rights because of cultural practices and
misinterpretation of religion. It is that of extra- judicial procedures
whereby village bodies try and punish women for various "offenses" invoking
the Shariah and passing judgements or "fatwas". These have used the mechanism
of the village "shalish" recognized by law only as a mediation body which
requires the consent and presence of both parties to be effective and for its
judgements to be recognized. Its mandate is restricted to certain specific
items but does not extend to marriage, dissolution of marriage and other such
issues covered by the laws of the land. However, there have been instances of
these bodies being used to "try" and punish women using religious grounds, in
cases of marital dispute, dissolution of marriage and adultery.
The Government has taken staunch measures against such extra-judicial
practices, bringing those responsible to justice.
Various measures have been taken to enhance the status of women with regard to
political participation (see discussion under article 7) and participation in
social, economic and cultural life (see discussion under article 11).
Unfortunately, in the past these policies and measures were taken on behalf of
women without their full participation. At present, however, their
participation is being sought. For example many women activists and womenþs
organizations are participating in the various debates and putting forward
various proposals in the discussions on reserving a certain number of seats in
the National Parliament for women.
A National Policy on Women's Advancement was approved by the National Council
for Women's Development (NCWD) in February 1997 and declared by the Prime
Minister on March 08, 1997. Its main objectives are as follows:
* Establish equality between men and women in all spheres;
* Eliminate all forms of discrimination against women and girls;
* Establish women's human rights;
* Develop women as human resource;
* Recognize women's contribution in social and economic spheres;
* Eliminate poverty among women;
* Establish equality between men and women in administration, politics,
education, games, sports and all other socio-economic spheres;
* Eliminate all forms of oppression against women and girls;
* Ensure empowerment of women in the fields of politics, administration and
the economy;
* Develop appropriate technology for women;
* Ensure adequate health and nutrition for women;
* Provide housing and shelter to women;
* Create positive images of women in the media;
* Take special measures for women in especially disadvantaged situations.
With regard to the monitoring of the implementation of the various policies,
programmes and laws, the National Council for Women's Development and the
Interministerial Coordination and Evaluation Committee (see Sections 1.4.2 and
1.4.4) provide institutional mechanisms through which reputed individuals and
various women's organizations can participate.
2.3 Article 4: Temporary Special Measures:
1. Adoption by the State Parties of temporary special measures aimed at
accelerating de facto equality between men and women shall not be considered
discrimination as defined in the present Convention, but shall in no way
entail as a consequence the maintenance of unequal or separate standards;
these measures shall be discontinued when the objectives of equality of
opportunity and treatment have been achieved.
2. Adoption by State Parties of special measures, including those measures
contained in the present Convention, aimed at protecting maternity shall not
be considered discriminatory.
2.3.1 Policies:
Article 28 of the Constitution states that the State may make special
provisions for women and children, recognizing that they are specially
disadvantaged. Official policy also aims to accelerate attainment of de facto
equality of women and men. The Fourth Five Year Plan (1990-95) integrated
womenþs development into a macro-framework in order to formulate a
multi-sectoral thrust to bring women into the mainstream of development. The
Draft Perspective Plan formulated for the period 1995 to 2005 also put special
emphasis on women's development (see 1.2.6 above).
2.3.2 National Machinery:
Separate national machinery for the advancement of women has been set up. The
Ministry of Women's Affairs was established in 1978 and the Department of
Women's Affairs was established in 1984. WID Focal Points have been identified
in 33 Ministries and agencies as a means of inter-ministerial coordination on
women's issues to ensure the mainstreaming of women's concerns into all
sectoral projects, programmes and policy statements. The mechanism is being
coordinated by the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs. A National
Council for Women's Development was established in 1995 with the Prime
Minister as the chair, to act as the highest policy making body and monitor
and oversee women related activities in the various sectors. (See 1.4). Its
first meeting was held on February 18, 1997 to discuss and approve the
National Policy for Women's Advancement. An Interministerial Coordination and
Evaluation Committee headed by the Minister for Women and Children's Affairs
has been set-up to monitor the progress of implementation of sectoral WID
plans and programmes.
2.3.3 Political Representation:
In order to ensure womenþs representation in the Parliament a special
provision has been made for 30 seats for women in addition to the 300 seats of
the Parliament as provided by the Constitution. This special provision is
valid up to 1999. Women are to be elected to those thirty seats by the other
directly elected Members of Parliament. Women are also eligible to contest
through direct elections for the other unreserved seats. Such provisions have
also been made in local government bodies. The Municipal Corporation have
provisions for three women Ward Commissioners out of a total of twelve
members. The four city corporations have 38 women members. The women members
are to be nominated and selected by the elected members. The Union Parishad or
Council, the lowest administrative unit also has a provision for three women
members out of a total membership of 12. Here too, the women members are
nominated and elected by the other directly elected members.
The impact of these measures has yet to be felt in terms of increased
representation of women in the directly elected seats (see Section 2.6).
2.3.4 Decade of the Girl Child:
In recognition of the discrimination faced by women throughout their
life-cycle and beginning as girls, the South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation (SAARC) has declared the 1990s as the Decade of the Girl Child in
the Male Summit in 1990. Each country formulated Decade Plans for the
advancement of girls. The Bangladesh Decade Plan, "Samata" (Equality) was
prepared by multiple partners dealing with children's issues and is both a set
of programme objectives and an advocacy tool for improving the status of the
girl child. It has the following major goals:
* Reduction of Infant Mortality Rate to 50 per 1000 live births by the year
2000 while eliminating gender disparity in rates.
* Reduction of Under-5 mortality rate to 70 per 1000 live births by the
year 2000 while eliminating gender disparity in rates.
* Education of Maternal Mortality rate to 3.5 per 1000 live births by the
year 2000 while raising female age at marriage to 18, delaying first pregnancy
to 20 and increasing CPR to 50 by the year 2000.
* Reduction of severe and moderate malnutrition by half between 1990 and
2000.
* Increasing access to safe water for drinking and other purposes from 80
percent in 1990 to universal coverage by 1995 and maintaining the level.
* Increasing the availability of, and access to, sanitary latrines from 6
percent in 1990 to 35 percent in 1995 and 80 percent in 2000.
* Increasing access to, and enrolment in, primary education, to 95 percent
by 2000, covering not less than 75 percent of girls by 1995 and 90 percent by
2000. Increasing the primary school completion rate for girls to atleast 65
percent by 2000. Efforts will be made to reach the global goal of 80 percent
completion rate by 2000.
* Progressive and rapid increase in social support services and legal
measures to prevent and protect girls from being exploited or abused,
with special focus on children in especially difficult circumstances.
Accelerated efforts will be made to reduce and steadily eliminate child labour
in accordance with the Colombo Resolution on Children (SAARC, 1992).
[Source: Samata, Bangladesh Decade Action Plan for the SAARC Decade of the
Girl Child (14)]
2.3.5 Special Programmes:
There are a number of special women targeted projects in each sector: health,
education, agriculture, etc. Various measures have been taken in education to
increase the enrolment and retention of girls (see discussion under Section
2.9). Their impact is gradually being felt in increasing enrolment and
retention rates in primary schools. The special health risks of women related
to child birth have been recognized and special intensive and coordinated
programmes are being undertaken to reduce maternal and infant mortality rates.
Here, too, the impacts are gradually being felt (see Section 2.11).
Even among the relief and rehabilitation programmes, recognizing the special
vulnerability of women to poverty, three of the programmes are specifically
targeted toward women: the Vulnerable Group Development Programme with 399,091
beneficiaries delivers a monthly ration of 31.25 kilograms of wheat per person
to especially vulnerable and destitute women (women of female headed
households who are lactating or with children); the Rural Maintenance
Programme, a monetized food aid programme, which employs poor women for the
maintenance of rural roads, and the Post Monsoon Rehabilitation Programme (see
Section 2.14).
2.3.6 Maternity Leave and Day-care:
In the formal sector maternity leave is allowed for three months twice in the
working life of a woman. In the private and non formal sector this has not yet
been ensured although most ILO conventions in this respect have been ratified.
Labour laws provide for maternity leave and also for child care facilities
where more than fifty women are employed. Women are exempted from night work
in factories under the labour law. In reality very few women enjoy these
benefits (see Section 2.10).
Pilot programmes by certain NGOs have been started to establish day-care
centres for women garment workers in the factories in collaboration with the
employers. Another new and innovative programme is to set up schools for the
child workers who have been removed from the garment factories. This programme
is being carried out with the garment manufacturers, the Bangladesh Garment
Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), the Government, ILO and
UNICEF in collaboration with NGOs.
2.3.7 Public Sector Employment:
A quota system has been instituted for recruitment to Government service which
is 10 percent for officers and 15 percent for other categories. In education,
in order to increase the proportion of women primary school teachers 60
percent of all new recruits are supposed to be women. However, these quotas
are not being fulfilled with the result that only 7 percent of Government
employees are women at the officer level and 9 percent at other levels. New
recruitment being limited, the impact of recruitment quotas in eliminating
the gender gap in total employment is also limited.
Very recently the Government has taken a decision to undertake a special
programme for the appointment of women to senior administrative/management
posts of Deputy Secretary and Joint Secretary.
In addition positive discrimination is made for women government servants
while allocating staff housing (see Section 2.12).
Though various special measures are in place, enforcement measures could not
be ensured in all areas and the Government is committed to develop mechanisms
for monitoring of the impact and progress achieved.
2.4. Article 5: Sex Roles and Stereotyping
State parties shall take all appropriate measures:
(a) To modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and
women, with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and customary
and all other practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority of the
superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women;
(b) To ensure that family education includes a proper understanding of
maternity as a social function and the recognition of the common
responsibility of men and women in the upbringing and development of their
children, it being understood that the interest of children is the primordial
consideration in all cases.
Despite efforts to achieve legal and de facto equality, true advancement
toward equality requires fundamental social and cultural change. Social and
cultural patterns that lead to discrimination and stereotyped roles for women
need to be changed. Interpersonal relationships between men and women and
practices based on ideas of superiority and inferiority of one sex in relation
to another and sex-stereotyping need to be addressed. To this end the
recognition of family life as a vital area, maternity as a social function and
the need for shared responsibility of men and women in the upbringing of
children, needs to be stressed.
Social expectations of the roles to be played by women are still very
traditional, giving importance to child rearing and household management. The
practice of seclusion ('purdah') although changing because of many practical
reasons, is still socially valued. The increasing practice of dowry which is a
recent phenomena is one of the worst forms of discrimination against women. It
is not condoned by Islam but is a social custom. Personal laws based on
religion also reinforce women's inferior status in terms of inheritance,
custody and guardianship of children under the purview of the Muslim Family
Law.
The definitions of women's work makes them invisible in national statistics.
Their employment rates are shown as 50.6 (15). It is only with revised
definitions of agricultural work which have taken into consideration the tasks
performed by women that the recent Labour Force Survey has shown an increased
percentage of women active in agriculture. Women are generally not recognized
as farmers. It has been one of the demands of some womenþs organizations to
accord them this status. The increased incidence of poverty, rising economic
aspirations and increasing urbanization are phenomena contributing to the
breaking of traditional values and changing social structures, forcing women
to come out of seclusion. This has helped reduce the prejudices against
women's working outside the home.
The social stereotypes of the roles expected of men and women are naturally
reflected in the media and in the educational curriculum. Apart from the Film
Censor Board there are no mechanisms to control the images of women shown in
the media. In view of the fundamental right of freedom of expression, the
issue of external control over the media is a debatable one. In the age of
globalization and the importance of international media such as cable networks
and satellite television, the effectiveness of controls by any one country is
limited. It is therefore necessary to sensitize media workers of the
implications of their work and encourage the development of self-regulatory
mechanisms by which the media would itself formulate a code of ethics which
would include issues such as the portrayal of women, women in advertising and
reporting on cases of violence against women.
Various government agencies and NGOs are using the national media to produce
and broadcast promotional materials for the general public and women about
health, nutrition, sanitation, education, sending children to school,
homestead gardening, etc. However, sometimes these very messages reinforce
certain other stereotypes of women's roles. For instance mothers'
responsibility in feeding and educating children and women's role in
agriculture as confined to vegetable gardening.
The realization that educational curricula contribute to sex stereotyping has
gradually gained acceptance. Various measures have been taken to revise the
educational curricula. Girls and boys are now given the option of taking up
Home Economics or Agricultural Studies in Secondary Schools, whereas before
Home Economics was for girls and Agricultural Studies for boys. The process of
removing sex stereotyping the curricula is not yet complete but will need to
continue as an on-going process. As a complementary measure, teachers will
need to be sensitized on these issues.
As part of the mobilization and awareness raising programmes on the issues of
the Girl Child a special communications initiative, "Meena" has been launched.
It focuses on the positive life process of a South Asian girl. Meena, an
animation series, is screened on TV, cinema halls and by mobile film units of
the Mass Communications Department. The objective is to spread positive
messages and help enhance the social worth of the girl child all over the
country.
Various government training institutions such as the Academy for Planning and
Development, Public Administration Training Centre and various NGOs have
included gender and WID concerns in their training programmes. Gender training
is in the process of becoming institutionalized. This will be an important
means of changing attitudes toward women within the Government and thereby
changing the approach of various policies, programmes and projects.
Mobilization against violence against women and against the practice of giving
and receiving dowry is gaining momentum. The various legal measures taken do
not always result in increased punishments or convictions but they contribute
towards raising awareness that such violence is against women's human rights
and a criminal offense. The Women and Child Repression (Special Provision) Act
of 1995 is one such law.
The Ministry of Home has set up four women's investigation cells in four
police stations, staffed by women police officers. These cells have been set
up to facilitate women's access to the Police. They receive complaints and
carry out investigations. Based on a review of the performance of these cells
the decision whether to expand their number will be
taken.
The Department of Women's Affairs has established a Cell Against Violence
Against Women. It provides legal counselling and assistance to both civil and
criminal cases related to violence against women. In 1996 it death with 83
cases of acid throwing; 1415 cases of rape; 1664 cases of physical assault;
138 cases of trafficking; 85 cases of procurement of women for illicit
reasons; 594 cases of dowry; 115 cases of maintenance. 1539 cases of suicide,
a total of 5933 cases in all. In 1995/96 the Dhaka unit received 1176 cases.
It carried out 550 cases of restoration of family relations, 363 cases of
procuration of maintenance and dower money of an amount of 688,280 Takas.
Legal counselling was provided in 185 cases. Twenty-nine cases were filed in
court. Ninety-one cases were sent to other agencies.
In the districts and thanas which have officers of the Department of Women's
Affairs, committees against violence against women have been set up. They are
chaired by the administrative head of the district or thana (Deputy
Commissioner or Thana Nirbahi Officer) and the Women's Affairs Officer is the
Member Secretary. Various cases and complaints are sent to these committees.
Thana level committees help in mediation, provide counselling and, if
necessary, assist with legal proceedings.
The Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs is preparing an integrated
project addressing violence against women. Its objectives include the
following:
* To improve the quality of services and the effectiveness of
investigative, enforcement, judicial medico-legal, health, custodial and
other administrative agencies responsible for dealing with various aspects of
crimes and violence against women.
* To provide women better access to the criminal and legal justice systems
of the country, with particular emphasis on the access of poor women.
* To create general awareness of the issues of crimes and violence against
women through public education campaigns.
The Government has become increasingly more conscious of various violence
related issues such as custodial rape, rape by members of law enforcement
agencies and violence at community level by extra-judicial means through
misinterpretation of religion and misuse of local arbitration bodies. Several
such cases were taken up by various women's organizations and human rights
groups, around which they organized rallies, processions and press conferences
to mobilize public opinion. In some cases the Government has formed enquiry
committees. In other cases the issues and incidents have also come up for
Parliamentary debate.
2.5 Article 6: Suppression of the Exploitation of Women.
State Parties shall take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to
suppress all forms of traffic in women and exploitation of prostitution of
women.
2.5.1 Trafficking:
Although the phenomenon of trafficking is not a new one its scope seems to be
increasing. Women are experiencing dramatic changes in their life due to
increasing landlessness and poverty. Their vulnerability often makes them fall
prey to exploitation and become victims of trafficking and prostitution.
A non-government source reports that about 200,000 women and children have
been trafficked to the Middle East in the last 20 years. Different human
rights activists and agencies estimate 200-400 young women and children are
smuggled out every month, most of them form Bangladesh to Pakistan. Another
women lawyers' association estimates that on an average, 4500 women and
children from Bangladesh are being trafficked to Pakistan each year and
atleast 200,000 women have been trafficked to Pakistan over the last 10 years.
It is estimated by the
Indian Social Welfare Board that there are 500,000 foreign prostitutes in
India of whom about 1 percent are from Bangladesh and 2.7% of prostitutes in
Calcutta are from Bangladesh.
Trafficking is carried out by regional gangs who are well organized and who
have links with the various law enforcing agencies, which is why only a very
small percentage of the traffickers are caught or the victims recovered.
The Government is aware of the problem of trafficking and has taken up
measures to prevent it. One such measure is the strengthening of border posts.
However, the sheer length of Bangladesh's border with India and Burma makes it
impossible to prevent people crossing the borders. Another measure is the
strengthening of legislation and increasing punishments for trafficking.
Legal Measures:
The Penal Code of 1860 contains provisions for kidnapping, which in general
covers trafficking also. Inspite of there being provisions in the Penal Code,
these were not being effective in stopping trafficking because of various
implementation problems. In 1983 a new Ordinance, the Cruelty to Women
(Deterrent Punishment) Ordinance was promulgated. It replaced the relevant
sections of the Penal Code. This law increased the punishment to life
imprisonment and death penalty for kidnapping or abducting women, trafficking
of women and children, attempt to cause death, acid throwing, rape etc.
The Anti-terrorism Ordinance, 1992 provided for punishment of all types of
terrorism including harassing women and abducting children and women. This
Ordinance was repealed in 1994 due to various problems.
The Suppression of Immoral Trafficking Act, 1993 provides for punishment for
forcing a girl into prostitution. Abetment by having custody or charge of the
girls is also a crime. Section 11 of the Act prohibits the detention of any
female child under the age of 18 against her will in any house, room or places
in which prostitution is carried out. The section provides a penalty of
maximum three years of imprisonment or fine or both.
In 1995 another law, the Woman and Child Repression (Special Provisions) Act
1995 was enacted. It provides for capital punishment to offenders. It debars
the granting of bail to persons accused of heinous offenses against women and
children. The penalty imposed in section 8 of this act for trafficking and
associated offenses is life imprisonment and fine. Section 9 stipulates a
penalty of 10 years with a minimum of 7 years imprisonment for abduction to
commit immoral act on women and children.
This Act provides for the setting up of separate courts to try cases coming
under it, one in each district. So far ten such courts have been established.
It is proposed to review their performance and effectiveness before setting up
the courts in other districts.
However, although laws against trafficking exist, their implementation remains
weak. Although the new laws have increased penalties their application has
certain technical problems which are in the process of being identified. There
is scope for misapplication and harassment of innocent persons. The law
enforcing authorities and the judiciary need to be better sensitized about the
issues involved. There is a need for stronger action against members of law
enforcing authorities who are themselves involved in trafficking. Regional
cooperation is essential to coordinate legal and administrative measures and
procedures. Information needs to be shared and extradition of offenders
allowed. Victims are sometimes charged with prostitution or immoral behaviour
and put in jail. The repatriation of Bangladeshi women trafficked abroad needs
to be facilitated.
Programmes:
Presently measures for the rehabilitation of repatriated victims are limited.
Necessary shelters and homes are inadequate within the Government or with
NGOs. Programmes are being designed in collaboration with NGOs for the
necessary social rehabilitation and reintegration of victims.
There are discussions going on presently about the Ministry of Women and
Children's Affairs undertaking a project to address the issue of trafficking.
The following activities are envisaged:
* Situation analysis:
- preparation of a comprehensive report on child trafficking
- developing a data base on child trafficking
* Awareness raising for prevention of child trafficking:
- materials and techniques designed, developed and disseminated
- child trafficking issues incorporated into educational curricula
- networking with NGOs
* Capacity building of law enforcement agencies.
* Rescue, repatriation, rehabilitation and reintegration:
- effective rescue system developed
- child friendly repatriation process established
- comprehensive rehabilitation and repatriation programmes established
The programme is to be multi-sectoral involving various ministries. An
inter-ministerial steering committee will be formed headed by the Minister of
the Ministry of Women's Affairs with NGO representation. District level
coordination committees will be set-up.
NGO Mobilization:
At a recently held workshop on child trafficking organized by the Bangladesh
Shishu Adhikar Forum in December, 1996 a South-East Asian and a National
Action Plan were prepared for NGOs active in the area of trafficking. It was
decided to undertake networking and training on databases/information and
experience sharing by a Core Group with representatives from Nepal, Pakistan,
India and Bangladesh. The first meeting of the regional Core Group will take
place in March 1997 and training is to be arranged between August and
December, 1997. The Bangladesh National Plan focuses on legal protection
through implementation of existing laws; awareness raising on trafficking;
awareness raising and training on laws related to trafficking. It is proposed
that law enforcing agencies in collaboration with NGOs mobilize the community
through local government bodies, educational institutions, religious
institutions and at the national level through the media.
2.5.2 Prostitution:
Although in most cases trafficking is for prostitution or leads to
prostitution, prostitution within the country needs to be discussed
separately. There are no statistics on the numbers of prostitutes. The
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics enumerates them as "destitutes" and does not
recognize prostitution as an occupation. The Constitution states that "the
State shall adopt effective measures to prevent prostitution and gambling"
[Part II, Fundamental Principles of State Policy, Section 18 (2)]. There are
laws against forcing anyone into prostitution or into "immoral acts" (Penal
Code 72, 73, 74). Soliciting is also against the law (Criminal Procedure
Code). However there are no laws against a person of 18 or above engaging in
sexual activity in exchange for money. It is sufficient for a prostitute to
have an affidavit delivered by a magistrate stating that she is above 18 for
her not to be arrested by the Police. That does not preclude harassment and
being asked for bribes.
Prostitution is therefore technically neither legal nor illegal but exists in
a gap in the law, as in many countries. Therefore prostitutes do not have any
legal protection, nor can the State take any legal measures against them. As
citizens they can demand the same fundamental rights from the State, such as
the right to protection and security, the right to shelter and to basic
amenities.
While laws relating to violence against women, including rape, apply equally
to prostitutes, in practice they are discriminated against as they will be
classified as 'habituated' to sexual intercourse and proof will be considered
to be harder to give/accept. Prostitutes are often subjected to harassment
and violence from the Police who are theoretically supposed to protect their
rights.
There is need for greater public awareness about forced prostitution, among
the general public and in particular among the law enforcing agencies and the
judiciary. Unless they are treated as full human being with the same rights
and privileges as others, it will not be possible to provide them with any
protection or ensure fulfillment of their rights.
Provisions for shelter and rehabilitation are very inadequate. The few homes
run by the Government are overcrowded and do not have the necessary facilities
and staff to provide adequate rehabilitation in terms of either psychological
counselling or even vocational training for suitable re-employment. Marriage
has been seen as the only means of rehabilitation. However, various reports
tend to show that these marriages are, in some cases, the means for forcing
the girls or women back into prostitution. NGO-run shelters are also very
inadequate in terms of numbers and facilities.
2.6 Article 7: Elimination of Discrimination Against Women in Political and
Public Life:
State Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination
in the political and public life of the country and, in particular, shall
ensure to women, on equal terms with men, the right:
(a) To vote in all elections and public referenda and to be eligible for
election to all publicly elected bodies;
(b) To participate in the formulation of government policy and the
implementation thereof and to hold public office and perform all public
functions at all levels of government;
(c) To participate in non-government organizations and associations
concerned with the public and political life of the country.
2.6.1 Rights to Political Participation:
The Constitution of Bangladesh provides equal opportunities for women to
participate in politics and public life and it is in the unique situation of
having women in the posts of both Prime Minister and Leader of the
Opposition. Furthermore Bangladesh is in the even more unique position in
having two women Prime Ministers succeeding each other. Women as voters are
gaining in visibility and political strength. The turnout of women in the 1996
Parliamentary Elections was phenomenal.
2.6.2 Parliament:
There are 30 reserved seats for women in the Parliament to ensure their
participation in politics in addition to the 300 elected seats. Although women
are equally eligible to contest the elected seats, very few women have been
elected to the Parliament through direct electoral process. However, women's
participation is gradually increasing. While only 5 parties put up 15
candidates in 1986, in 1991 16 parties put up 40 candidates. In 1996, 36
women candidates were nominated. From these 5 women won 11 seats. In the
by-elections held on 5 September 1996, two more women were elected, bringing
the number of directly elected women to seven.
Table 2: Situation of Women in Direct Elections
Year Percentage of Number of women Number of women
women candidates directed elected elected in by-elections
1973 0.3 0 0
1979 0.9 0 2
1986 1.3 5 1
1988 0.7 4 0
1991 1.5 8 1
1996 1.36 5 2
Source: Women for Women, 1996. (16)
In the present Cabinet four of the twenty-four ministers are women (including
the Prime Minister). They have been given the posts of Agriculture/Water
Resources/Relief , Environment and Forestry and State Minister for Education.
Table 3 shows a comparative picture of women's representation at ministerial
level.
Table 3: Women's Participation at Ministerial Levels (1972-1990)
Source: BBS (17)
It was not possible at this time to reproduce the chart or table which appears
here in the text, but you may obtain it by contacting the Division for the
Advancement of Women directly.
2.6.3 Local Government:
Women's participation in local government is another arena of political
participation. Women have reserved seats in all municipal and local government
bodies. Rural Local Government is a two-tier system with Union Parishads
(Councils) and Zila Parishads (District Councils). There are 4,434 Union
Parishads and 64 Zila Parishads. Local Bodies in the urban areas include 4
city corporations and 119 Municipalities. Three seats are reserved for women
in all of these. Formerly women were nominated to these seats. Since 1992 they
are selected on the basis of indirect election by the other directly elected
members. In the Union Council elections women have started to contest the
elected seats with increasing success. In the 1988 elections 79 women
contested the elections in 4401 Unions and 1 was elected Chairperson. In 1992,
115 contested the elections in 4,443 Unions and 15 were elected Chairpersons.
The next Union Parishad elections are due in 1997.
In the 1994 City Corporation election 17 women contested but none won. In 1996
two women were elected directly. The next municipal elections are due in 1998
and City Corporation elections are due in 1999.
Despite some improvements womenþs participation in the political process
remains very marginal. The reasons for this are varied and include lack of
appropriate and adequate organizational arrangements within political parties
for womenþs participation, low participation of women in the political
parties, low women's participation in the decision making bodies of the
political parties, lack of political discourse on women's issues within
political parties, lack of political training for women, the constraints of
the present political culture which include the use of muscle men, violence,
"black money", etc.
However, the reservation of seats for women in elected bodies is having a
positive impact in that it is ensuring a minimum of womenþs representation and
it is enabling women to learn about the workings of the different bodies and
the political process.
Women as voters are also increasingly exercising their rights and becoming
more aware of the implications and dimensions of the political process.
Observations have shown that women's participation as voters has also
increased although precise figures are not available. The June 1996 Parliament
elections saw a phenomenal turnout of women.
2.6.4 Women in Public Service:
The Government has also taken special measures to ensure the presence of women
in the Government, for the formulation of public policy and the implementation
thereof and to hold public office and perform public functions at all levels
of Government. Since 1982 women have been regularly appearing at public
service examinations and are being recruited into the regular cadre services.
In order to increase the number of women in the administration a quota system
was introduced for women, which is applicable for all types of public
appointment. Under this arrangement 10 percent of recruitment to gazetted
posts and 15 percent of recruitment to non-gazetted posts are reserved for
women. There is also a provision for reserving 60 percent of recruitment of
primary school teachers for women. In addition a special initiative has
recently been taken to appoint women to senior levels i.e. Deputy Secretary
and Joint Secretary posts.
In one of the recent recruitments to the Bangladesh Civil Service (15th
examinations, 1993/94) out of a total of 1144 available posts 858 were filled.
According to the application of the reserved quota for women 114 posts were
reserved for them of which only 67 were filled. In addition 70 women out of a
total of 417 were recruited through the merit quota and 26 women out of a
total of 368 were recruited through the district quota. In all 163 women i.e.
19 percent of total recruitment were recruited through various quotas.
In a recent recruitment to the Education Cadre (16th examinations, 1993/94)
out of a total of 1373 posts available 1348 were filled of which 407 (30
percent) were women. Out of 137 posts reserved for women under the "women's
quota" 112 were filled. The rest of the women were recruited under the merit
quota (166/618) and the district quotas (129/617) (18).
Recent experience shows that although women's reserved quotas are not being
fulfilled the percentage of women actually recruited is higher 19 percent and
30 percent as mentioned above. At present women constitute 7 percent of
gazetted officers and 7.4 percent of other posts. The impact of the quotas
are, however, negligible as very few new posts are available. There is very
little impact at senior levels.
The worst performers in terms of fulfillment of the womenþs quota have been
the public sector corporations where only 5 percent of staff are women. One
reason for the poor performance of the autonomous bodies may be that a large
number of public sector corporations have mills and factories under their
authority where the number of women is very low.
Table 4: Women and Men in Public Sector/Government Service in Various Service
Categories
Service category 1988 1991 1993
Women Men Women Women Men Women Women Men Women
as % as % as %
of Total of Total of Total
Class I 5740 67195 8 49988 70889 7 5628 75314 7
Class II 2166 34335 6 2428 33845 7 2644 35422 7
Class III 48209 538246 8 54805 459384 11 62079 53604 10
Class IV 10999 212476 5 12499 308269 4 12820 242890 5
All categories 67114 852253 7 74720 872387 8 83171 889666 9
Source: BBS, 1996 (19)
Table 5 : Number of Civil Officers and Staff in the Secretariat, Departments
and Autonomous Bodies and Number of Female Employees by Category (as of
1 January 1993)
Autonomous
Service Ministry Dept./Directorate Bodies/Corps. Total
Category Total No. Total No. Total No. Total No.
Staff Women Staff Women Staff Women Staff Women
Class I 2000 201 35255 3446 43687 1981 80942 5628
Class II 70 11 13515 1233 24481 1400 38066 2644
Class III 4187 358 458433 54890 135499 6831 598119 62079
Class IV 2354 209 149202 9333 104154 3276 255710 12820
Grand Total 8611 779 656405 68902 307821 13490 972837 83171
Source: BBS, 1996 (20)
At higher levels of the administration the rate of female participation is
very low. Out of 80 Additional Secretaries there are two women. Out of 247
Joint Secretaries there are only 2 women and out of 474 Deputy Secretaries
there are only 7 women. The Government is currently taking steps to increase
these numbers.
From 1976 the Government has begun to recruit women into the Police Force. At
present there are only 5 Additional Superintendents of Police who are women
and four women Assistant Superintendents of Police. For some time recruitment
of women to the Police Force has been stopped but a proposal has been
submitted for approval revising the recruitment procedures to
permit/facilitate the recruitment of women. Womenþs presence in the judiciary,
though still minimal, is increasing. In 1994 there were 192 women
magistrates, 40 women in the Judge Courts and 2 women in the Tribunals.
2.6.5 Women's Participation in Non-government Organizations:
Another arena of womenþs participation in public life is through
non-government organizations. There are at present more than 1200 women's
organizations registered with the Department of Women's Affairs. These provide
a means of women's participation in public life. Various organizations are
consulted by the Government for policy making or involved in collaborative
programmes through the BJMS and the field offices of the Department of Womenþs
Affairs.
There is a strong and active womenþs movement from grassroots to national
level which is playing an active role in demanding legal and policy reforms,
in mobilizing women to avail of services and facilities available and in
changing cultural and social stereotypes about women.
2.7 Article 8: Equal Opportunity for International Representation and
Participation.
State Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure to women, on equal
terms with men and without any discrimination, the opportunity to represent
their Governments at the international levels and to participate in the work
of international organizations.
Although women have the right to represent the Government internationally, in
reality women's representation has been virtually nil. The need for the
representation of women in national and international arenas is recognized.
There are only 14 women in the diplomatic service and there has been only one
woman ambassador in 1980 and one at present. Various delegations have
included women. There are also a number of women serving in various
international and UN organizations abroad. However no statistics can be
provided.
Of note is that the present Chair of the CEDAW Committee is a Bangladeshi
woman and there is a Bangladeshi Resident Representative in the United Nations
Development Programme.
2.8. Article 9: Equal Rights with Regard to Nationality.
1. State Parties shall grant women equal rights with women to acquire, change
or retain their nationality. They shall ensure in particular that neither
marriage to an alien or change of nationality by the husband during marriage
shall automatically change the nationality of the wife, render her stateless
or force upon her the nationality of the husband.
2. State Parties shall grant women equal rights with men with respect to the
nationality of their children.
Nationality in Bangladesh is determined by birth. Although no reservation has
been made to this article of the Convention the Bangladeshi Citizenship Act is
discriminatory. Women have equal rights with men to acquire, change or retain
their nationality. They can obtain passports without the signatures of their
husbands or fathers. However they do not have equal rights with respect to the
nationality of their children. According to Citizenship Act of 1951,
citizenship can be transmitted from the father to his children but not from
the mother. Also a woman's husband cannot be entitled to citizenship through
her. The spouse of a Bangladeshi man may receive citizenship but the contrary
is not true.
Measures are being taken by Government to ensure equality between men and
women with regard to citizenship rights. In fact the laws in this area are
part of the colonial legacy and have not recently been reviewed or revised.
2.9 Article 10: Equal Rights in the Field of Education.
State parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination
against women in order to ensure to them equal rights with men in the fields
of education and in particular to ensure on a basis of equality of men and
women.
a) The same conditions for career and vocational guidance for the achievement
of diplomas in educational establishments of all categories in rural as well
as in urban areas; this equality shall be ensured in pre-schools, general,
professional and higher technical education, as well as in all types of
vocational training;
b) Access to the same curricula; the same examinations; teaching staff with
qualifications of the same standard and school premises and equipments of same
quality;
c) The elimination of any stereotyped roles of men and women at all levels
and in all forms of education by encouraging co-education and other types of
education which will help to achieve this aim and, in particular, by the
revision of textbooks and school programmes and the adaptation of teaching
methods;
d) The same opportunities to benefit from scholarships and other study
grants;
e) The same opportunities for access to programmes of continuing education ,
including adult and functional literacy programmes, particularly those aimed
at reducing, at the earliest possible time, any gap in education existing
between men and women;
f) The reduction of female dropout rates and the organization of programmes
for girls and women who have left school prematurely;
g) The same opportunities to participate actively in sports and physical
education
h) Access to specific educational information to help ensure health and
well-being of families, including information and advice on family planning.
2.9.1 Overview:
Statistics show that the situation of women regarding education is improving
gradually. Female literacy rate rose from 14.8 in 1974 to 25.5 as shown in
the latest census of 1991. Enrolment rate for girls at primary level reached
82 percent in 1995 with 60 percent completion rates which is same as for boys,
although dropout rate at subsequent levels are higher.
Table 6: Enrolment by Sex and Percentage of Female Teachers (1990-95) in
Mainstream Primary Education.
Year Enrolment (100,000) Female Teachers (%)
Male Female
1990 66.62 53.88 17.80
1991 69.10 57.25 17.33
1992 70.48 59.48 17.59
1993 75.25 65.41 19.38
1994 80.48 71.32 18.24
1995 82.00 82.00 18.79
Source: BANBEIS, 1994 (21)
Women's representation at higher secondary level has reached 28 percent of all
students in 1990 from 10 percent in 1972 (BBS). Enrolment in secondary level
has increased from 33.8 percent in 1990 to 45.7 percent in 1995 (BANBEIS).
Table 7: Enrolment in Secondary Schools by Sex and Management, 1990-94
Year Government Non-Government Total
Total Girls(%) Total Girls (%) Total Girls (%)
1990 194835 44.69 253515 32.97 2748350 33.81
1991 198805 44.72 2744668 33.01 2943473 33.80
1992 210673 43.04 3252563 42.65 3463236 42.67
1993 214915 43.89 3594600 44.11 3809515 44.10
1994 217715 47.73 3742744 45.56 39600459 45.68
Source: BANBEIS 1994 (22)
The increase in women's enrolment in the tertiary level has been steady but
increases in degree colleges and medical colleges are more significant.
Enrolment rate at university level is also increasing. More women are joining
in all fields of higher education including technical fields like engineering
and agriculture. Comparative figures over time on completion of various
degrees by women is not available.
Table 8: Basic Statistics on Higher Education and Universities 1990-94
Source: BANBEIS, 1994 (23)
It was not possible at this time to reproduce the chart or table which appears
here in the text, but you may obtain it by contacting the Division for the
Advancement of Women directly.
2.9.2 Policies:
The Constitution of Bangladesh provides for the Government to adopt effective
measures to establish a uniform, mass oriented and universal system of
education and to extend free and compulsory education to all children.
Universalization of primary education and eradication of illiteracy are
priorities for the Government.. To ensure education for all and eradicate
illiteracy a division called Primary and Mass Education Division was created
in 1992 and placed under the Prime Minister. Primary education has been made
compulsory by the Primary Education Compulsory Act of 1990.
Considering the high level of illiteracy, the Fourth Five Year Plan
incorporated the objectives of universal primary education and non formal
primary education to reduce mass illiteracy. The allocation for education
sector expenditure was increased in the Plan. The whole country was to be
covered in a phased manner by the year 2000 under the universal primary
education programme.
The National Plan of Action on Education (1991-2000) sets the following
targets:
* raising the gross enrolment rate at the primary level from 76 percent to
95 percent
* raising girl's gross enrolment rate at the primary level to 94 percent
* raising the completion rate at the primary level from 40 percent to 70
percent
* raising adult literacy rate from 35 percent to 62 percent
* increasing female literacy rate from 24 percent to 50 percent by 2000
The National Plan of Action includes the elimination of gender disparity;
expansion of non- formal education and undertaking of social mobilization
programmes.
The Draft Participatory Perspective Plan (1995-2010) has set the following
objectives and targets:
* ensuring enhanced participation of women at all levels of education
* continuing and expanding the free tuition and stipend programme for
secondary girls students;
* increasing enrolment of secondary students, particularly girls;
* accelerating the expansion of facilities for women's education to reduce
the educational gap between the sexes.
In school and at higher levels women are allowed to take the same subjects as
boys. Same curriculum and examination procedures are followed for both boys
and girls. Scholarships at various levels (primary, secondary, SSC, HSC and
University) are given on the basis of merit and girls/women have equal access
to these provisions. Since fewer women than men go into higher education, it
is mostly boys/young men who derive the benefits of such government
provisions.
Some statistics regarding teacher student ratio, educational expenditures etc.
have already been given in Part I, Status of Women in Bangladesh.
Provisions have been made to recruit women teachers to sixty percent of the
vacant positions in primary schools. The current situation regarding the
number of women as teachers has been shown in Table 6. An effort has been made
to recruit 7000 women teachers for secondary schools i.e at least 2 women
teachers in each school. These teachers will also be given a year's training
with a stipend prior to their appointment. Accommodation facilities will also
be provided for women recruits after their appointment.
The allocation for education sector has increased to 16 percent of the total
public sector expenditure in 1994-95 from 11 percent in 1991-92. This is the
highest allocation in the budget for any one sector. The government provides
80 percent of the teacher's salary of the registered private schools. A target
has been set to establish at least one separate girls' secondary school in
each thana.
2.9.3 Secondary Education:
To reduce the disparity in access to secondary schools between boys and girls,
special provisions have been made which include:
a) A nation wide female stipend programme at the secondary level, to support
girls in grades 6-10 studying in recognized institutions (schools/madrassas)
outside metropolitan areas. They receive a stipend for books and are provided
free tuition against a payment to the school by the government. The objectives
are to retain female students at the secondary stage and thereby promote
higher education; increase the enrolment rates and reduce dropout rates and
also control population growth rate by discouraging girls from marrying before
18 years of age.
b) Providing salaries for additional secondary teachers required for the
increased enrolment: The number of secondary schools has increased from 8137
in 1990 to 9352 in 1994 (about 15 percent). This has reduced the distances
children have to travel to reach schools, an important factor for the
expansion of girls' education.
c) Occupational skill training for secondary school girls: Girls leaving
formal schooling (at least at grade 8) are assisted to acquire skills suitable
for wage employment or self employment on a pilot basis.
d) Public awareness programme for the education of girls: Media campaigns have
been launched for promoting girls' education through various means. These
include TV spots, radio programme and a special project called "Meena" for the
promotion of the rights of the girl child (see Section 2.3 above).
e) Water supply and sanitation programme for girls: Support will be given for
hygiene education, latrine construction and rehabilitation, and the sinking of
tubewells. At present, only 28 percent of the total state owned schools have
separate toilets for girls.
f) A Food for Education programme has been undertaken to increase enrolment
and reduce dropout rates. Students are given food in the form of wheat on a
monthly basis attending school regularly. A study has found attendance has
increased by 14.7 percent and drop out decreased by 7.6 percent (24).
g) Secondary education upto grade X outside municipal areas has been made
free.
h) A girl child who is the only child of parents residing outside municipal
area is given the opportunity to study upto degree level free of cost.
The Government has recently decided to make Higher Secondary Education for
girls free as well. Steps are underway in this regard.
Women's participation in technical education has traditionally been
insignificant. The total number of girls in the Vocational Training Institutes
(VTI) in the country was 69 in 1990 and reached 191 in 1994. There is one
women's polytechnic institute and the number of students in all polytechnic
including this one was 655 in 1994.
In the private sector, a medical college has been established exclusively for
girls. Some colleges have been upgraded as universities. A number of other
private universities and medical colleges have been established and girls are
equally qualified for admission. However, in many cases girls cannot access
these institutions as the expenses involved may be
prohibitive.
Among adolescents, a large proportion has never attended schools. The
Directorate of Non- Formal Education aims to cover 300,000 adolescent girls
and boys during 1992-96. The role of NGO's in enhancing female education has
been recognized and emphasized by the government. NGOs like the Bangladesh
Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), Gono Shahajja Sangstha (GSS), Proshika,
Saptagram Nari Swanirvar Parishad and Community Development Centre (CODEC) and
Friends in Village Development in Bangladesh (FIVDB) are playing a vital role
in providing non-formal education to children and adults in the country. Many
of the organizations have designed their own models of gender sensitive
functional literacy programmes. BRAC has established over 36,000 non-formal
schools in rural Bangladesh with 1.3 million students and atleast 70 percent
of the students in each school are supposed to be girls.
2.9.4 Remaining Issues:
Since the state is not in a position to ensure primary education for all due
to various resource constraints it has to depend on parental motivation and
attitudes to achieve this. Since no fines or penalties are imposed on the
guardians for non-compliance, parents may chose not to send their daughters to
school.
Free education in most cases means only free tuition and for higher level
education other factors such as clothing, books, fees for school/college final
examination and security on the way to school often affect girls'/women's
participation. The concentration of higher educational institutions in the
urban areas often prevents girls in rural areas from continuing with their
studies as parents often do not have the resources to send their daughters to
urban areas and worry about the lack of secure residential facilities for
girls near the educational institutions.
A large percentage of the dropouts and some of those who have actually
completed primary education remain functionally illiterate as adequate
measures are not taken to retain literacy.
The number of female teacher is a factor influencing girls' enrolment rates at
primary and secondary levels of education. The number of female teachers as
well as the number of women in education management i.e. in the decision
making positions in the different directorates under the Ministry of Education
is very low and not enough to influence decisions. Since new recruitment is
limited, only 27 percent of all teachers are female. Continuation of positive
discrimination in recruitment for a long period will be necessary to reach
equality.
Contrary to the provision stating that the same curricula should be followed
by both sexes a few subjects are specific for girls or boys. At a higher level
women can study agriculture but cannot study marine engineering as such
institutions do not have facilities to accommodate women. Women lack
information about the existing options, the facilities available to
accommodate women are often inadequate and the perceived gender role and
division of labour influences the selection of subjects for girls and boys. In
the engineering field, more women enter into architecture and civil
engineering than into other options.
Vocational counselling for guidance on careers is generally not available and
it is absent for girls. Social norms also limit the scope for girls to pursue
careers even after having obtained the necessary qualifications.
Curricula are not gender sensitive and often reflect the traditional roles of
men and women, thereby reinforcing them (see Section 2.4). Teachers training
curricula also do not take into account women's multiple responsibilities. The
existence of various methods and systems of education, such as madrassa
education, may be an obstacle to a more uniform gender sensitive curriculum
being promoted.
Girls' schools often lack resources such as common rooms, enough recreational
and sports equipment, science laboratories, etc. compared to the boys'
schools. Opportunities for extra- curricular activities for girls are limited
(see Section 2.13).
2.10 Article 11: Equal Employment and Training Opportunities.
1. State parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate
discrimination against women in the field of employment in order to ensure, on
a basis of equality of men and women, the same rights in particular:
a) The right to work as an inalienable right of all human beings;
b) The right to same employment opportunities, including the application of
the same criteria for selection in matters of employment;
c) The right to free choice of profession and employment, the rights to
promotion, and security and all benefits and conditions of service and the
right to receive vocational training and retraining, including
apprenticeships, advanced vocational training and recurrent training;
d) The right to equal remuneration, including benefits and to equal
treatment in respect of work of equal value, as well as equality of treatment
in the evaluation of the quality of work;
e) The right to social security, particularly in cases of retirement,
unemployment, sickness, invalidity and old age and other incapacity to work,
as well as right to paid leave;
f) The right to protection of health and safety in working conditions,
including the safeguarding of the function of reproduction
2. In order to prevent discrimination against women on grounds of marriage or
maternity and to ensure their effective right to work, State Parties shall
take appropriate measures:
a) To prohibit subject to imposition of sanctions, dismissal on the grounds
of pregnancy or of maternity leave and discrimination in dismissals on the
basis of marital status;
b) To introduce maternity leave with pay or with comparable social benefits
without loss of formal employment, seniority or social allowances;
c) To encourage the provision of the necessary supporting social services to
enable parents to combine family obligations with work responsibilities and
participation in public life, in particular through promoting the
establishment and development of a network of child-care facilities;
d) To provide special protection to women during pregnancy in types of work
proved to be harmful to them.
3. Protective legislation relating to matters covered in this Article shall be
reviewed periodically in the light of scientific and technological knowledge
and shall be revised, repealed or extended as necessary.
2.10.1 Overview:
Generally speaking, employment opportunities are unequal for women as a large
majority of women live below the poverty line and do not receive education.
Social constraints and norms relating to women's role also contribute to lower
employment though women are major contributors to the household economy.
A gradual increase in female labour force participation during the last decade
is evident from statistics.
Table 9: Labour Force Participation in Various Surveys.
Year and Bangladesh Urban Rural
Survey Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female
LFS 1985-86 44.0 76.9 9.4 47.9 74.1 14.3 43.3 77.5 8.7
LFS 1989* 71.6 81.0 61.6 52.1 72.7 29.0 75.2 82.5 67.4
LFS*
1990-91 69.6 79.6 58.2 55.9 76.3 30.1 73.2 80.6 65.1
LFS*
1995-96 64.8 78.3 50.6
Source: Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, LFS 1995/96 (25)
* An extended definition of labour force was used.
2.10.2 Policy:
The Constitution recognizes employment generation and poverty alleviation as
the fundamental responsibility of the State. Poverty alleviation was the
major theme of the Fourth Five Year Plan. The government has accorded high
priority to poverty eradication during the meeting of the Heads of States of
South Asian Association of Regional Co-operation (SAARC) in Dhaka. Creation of
self-employment and wage employment opportunities through various programmes
has been undertaken as a strategy to alleviate poverty. Women have been made a
distinct target group as beneficiaries and agents under various poverty
alleviation programmes by government and NGOs.
The Participatory Perspective Plan (1995-2010) includes the following
objectives and targets:
* To provide skill training and credit for self-employment;
* To increase the share of women's employment in the public sector from 8
to 30 percent by 2000 years both in national and foreign service jobs;
* To increase employment through human resource development;
According to the traditional definition of labour force, women's productive
work within the household is not included. The definition of the labour force
in the 1989 and 1991 surveys has been modified to capture women's involvement
in agricultural production and processing including the care of domestic
animals. The labour force surveys found that the rate of increase
in female labour force participation was much higher than that for men.
Women migrating overseas for employment is a relatively recent phenomenon in
Bangladesh. Women are going to Middle Eastern countries, Pakistan and
Malaysia as domestic workers, nurses, garment workers etc. The percentage of
women working abroad as percentage of total employment abroad is not
available.
2.10.3 Public Sector:
Women are equally eligible for recruitment for public sector employment. Equal
pay and benefits have been ensured for women in terms of pay, house rent,
medical allowance, etc. Women are entitled to paid maternity leave. Retirement
benefits, sick leave etc. are equal in the case of public sector employment.
Although women formally have equal access to job training they often have
fewer opportunities for higher training as they are fewer in number and have
various constraints in availing of training opportunities. Retirement age and
contributions towards pension are equal for men and women. Women and men can
enjoy equal benefits as spouses in the public sector. However, women are
exempted from doing night jobs.
Though the public sector provides equal pay and other benefits participation
of women remains very low. Data on women's participation in civil service
positions has been given in Section 2.6.4 above.
Since due to low educational attainments and other reasons women participation
in public service is low, quota provisions have been made for the recruitment
of women. Ten percent officers and 15 percent staff positions at the entry
level are reserved for women and women are recruited on merit as well. The
age limit for women to be eligible for a government job is 30 years, whereas
it is 27 for men. The current position of women in public sector recruitment
has been shown in Tables 4 and 5 in Section 2.6.4 above.
A large number of women are working in the rural areas as field workers or
agents of different development programmes. Most of the positions such as 11
"family welfare visitors" under the population programmes, and field workers
of various credit programmes are occupied by women. A large number of women
are working as extension agents in various public sector programmes although
the total number is not available. According to the government rules the
workers under development budget get equal benefits for leave, maternity
benefits etc. but are not entitled to retirement benefits or pension like
regular public servants. This affects more women than men as the number of
women working in development programmes is higher than that working in regular
positions.
Some special steps have been taken by the Ministry of Women and Children
Affairs to support working women which are as follows:
* Career women's hostels have been established in four divisional head
quarters of the country to provide accommodation to working women.
* A project to provide day care services for working women was begun in
July 1988 to assist poor working mothers. The children are provided day care
services including primary health care, nutrition, immunization. Six such
centres have been established in Dhaka.
* An employment information centre has been established for unemployed
women which enlists their names and makes contacts with different Ministries
and Departments for jobs.
Although there is no legal restriction to women taking jobs in technical
fields, very few women are working in these areas as few have the required
qualifications.
The public sector has not been able to provide for flexible working hours to
adjust family responsibilities though provision for paid maternity leave
exists for women. Paternal leave as a concept has not yet been accepted in the
country though men sometime take leave during the childbirth of their wives.
2.10.4 Manufacturing and Service Sectors:
Both public and private manufacturing sectors generate about 58 percent value
added and employ about 18 percent of the total labour force (26). Women
constitute a high proportion of family based cottage industrial workers as
unpaid labourers. Due to impoverishment and adoption of new technologies in
agricultural processing, women are partly being displaced from the agriculture
sector and are joining the manufacturing sector. The manufacturing sector
plays a vital role in enhancing income and employment opportunities for women
who comprise nearly 24 percent of the total manufacturing workers. In the
urban area women are mostly found concentrated in low paid manufacturing
sector activities or in the recently emerged export oriented labour intensive
industries. The garment and the shrimp processing industries are the highest
employers of women labourers. Women are also found in electronics, food
processing, beverages, apparels, handicrafts etc. These industries are
predominantly filled by women due to traditional perceptions about how such
work is suited to their "natural abilities" and because these industries
absorb unskilled and low paid labour.
Statistics on women's participation in various sectors show that their
Involvement in various agriculture and related processing industries is high
which is evident from table 10.
Table 10: Employed Persons 15 Years and Over by Major Industry and Sex.
(Million)
Major Industry Bangladesh
Both Sex Male Female
Total 40.3 33.2 7.1
Agri., Forestry, Fisheries 20.6 17.8 2.8
Mining & Quarrying - - -
Manufacturing 4.0 2.6 1.4
Electricity, Gas, Water 0.1 0.1 -
Construction 1.0 0.9 -
Trade, Hotel & Restaurant 6.0 5.5 0.4
Finance, Business Services 2.3 2.2 -
Community & Personal Service 0.2 0.2 -
Household Sector 5.0 3.3 1.7
Not-Adequately Defined 1.0 0.4 0.7
Major Industry Urban
Both Sex Male Female
Total 8.9 7.0 1.9
Agri., Forestry, Fisheries 1.0 0.9 0.2
Mining & Quarrying - - -
Manufacturing 1.6 1.0 0.5
Electricity, Gas, Water 0.1 - -
Construction 0.3 0.3 -
Trade, Hotel & Restaurant 2.2 2.0 0.1
Finance, Business Services 1.0 1.0 -
Community & Personal Service 0.1 0.1 -
Household Sector 2.2 1.5 0.7
Not-Adequately Defined 0.4 0.1 0.2
Major Industry Rural
Both Sex Male Female
Total 31.4 26.2 5.3
Agri., Forestry, Fisheries 19.6 17.0 2.6
Mining & Quarrying - - -
Manufacturing 2.4 1.5 0.9
Electricity, Gas, Water 0.1 - -
Construction 0.7 0.7 0.1
Trade, Hotel & Restaurant 3.8 3.5 0.3
Finance, Business Services 1.3 1.3 -
Community & Personal Service 0.1 0.1 -
Household Sector 2.8 1.9 1.0
Not-Adequately Defined 0.7 0.2 0.4
Note: Categories with less than 50 thousand are left blank. Details may not
add to totals due to rounding.
Source: LFS 1995/96(27)
Although the manufacturing sector employs a large number of women, it does not
always provide the minimum required wage level and work environment as
stipulated in the labour law. Wage rates are unspecified in most of the
industrial units. Women in construction, garments or other manufacturing units
suffer from discriminations in wage rates. Table 11 shows the distribution of
weekly income/earnings of wage and salaried persons aged 15 years and over.
About 21.4 percent of the total employed wage and salaried persons reported
earnings less than Tk. 250 per week and 43.9 percent urban and 61.6 percent
rural female salaried workers earned less than Taka 250 per week.
Table 11: Percent Distribution of Workers by Weekly Income, Gender and
Locality.
Weekly Income Bangladesh Urban Rural
(Tk.) Both Both Both
Sex Male Female Sex Male Female Sex Male Female
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
<250 21.4 11.9 51.6 16.8 7.0 43.9 26.5 16.8 61.6
250 - 500 32.2 33.8 27.0 30.6 30.9 29.9 33.8 36.8 23.1
501 - 750 17.3 19.8 9.3 17.0 20.0 9.5 17.7 20.0 9.2
751 - 850 5.0 5.7 2.7 4.4 5.0 2.9 5.6 6.4 2.5
851 - 950 2.7 3.0 1.8 2.7 3.0 1.9 2.8 3.0 1.8
951 - 1050 6.0 7.1 2.8 7.6 8.7 4.7 4.3 5.4 0.3
1051- 1150 0.7 0.9 0.1 0.8 0.9 0.2 0.6 0.8 -
Tk. 1151 + 14.7 17.8 4.7 20.1 24.8 7.1 8.7 10.7 1.5
Source: LFS 1995/96 (28)
Under the labour law manufacturing or service units employing more than 50
women are to provide child care facilities and separate toilets for women.
Accommodation facilities for low income women are limited. Through private
effort some residential accommodation for women have been created in the
capital city.
Health facilities and maternity benefits are not often provided in these
sectors. Most of the industries don not have provisions for paid maternity
leave. Adequate accommodation, toilet and child care facilities for women
could not be created in the work place although provided for in the labour
law. Women working in the export processing zones are prohibited from forming
trade unions. In the export oriented garment industries women work at night
when there is a need to meet deadlines for shipment. Security in the work
place remains an issue especially in the private sector.
The Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) has an
entrepreneurship development and employment programme for the manufacturing
and service sectors. The Women's Entrepreneurship Development Programme (WEDP)
implemented was started as a pilot project in 1984 in 4 selected thanas. The
objective is to develop women as entrepreneurs by providing them training and
credit facilities to establish small scale manufacturing and service units.
BSCIC assists in the procurement of raw materials, provision of design,
marketing information etc. WEDP is assisted by USAID and women are given loans
from the bank without any collateral. The project has so far assisted a few
thousand women entrepreneurs to set up independent business enterprises.
2.10.5 Self Employment Programmes:
Women's involvement in the agriculture, fisheries and livestock sectors is
substantial. In most cases they work as unpaid household labourers. Data on
women's time use in these areas is not available in order to determine whether
they are involved on a part-time or full time basis.
Government Programmes:
Various government agencies have specific self-employment generating
programmes for poverty alleviation specially in the areas of agriculture,
fisheries and livestock. These programmes have also created opportunities for
women to access credit without collateral. The Ministries which have projects
of this type include the following:
* Ministry of Women and Children Affairs
* Ministry of Youth
* Ministry of Social Welfare
* Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives
* Ministry of Labour and Manpower
* Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries.
Some of these programmes are discussed in Section 2.13.
The training opportunities created under different ministries/agencies for
vocational skills are inadequate compared to needs. Very few opportunities
exist for higher level skill development. Less opportunity for education and
employment leads to lesser opportunities for training, specially in the non
traditional and technical areas, which further contribute to lower employment
and employment at lower levels. Special training on advanced technology such
as computers, telecommunications, printing etc. have been introduced for women
by various government and non-government organizations.
Non-Government Programmes:
The NGO programmes in Bangladesh have been successful in creating employment
opportunities for women mainly in the rural areas. Several models have been
developed in Bangladesh such as the "Comilla model", "BRAC Model", "Grameen
Model" of credit based self-employment generating programmes as elaborated in
other sections. About 18,000 NGOs are working in Bangladesh in various
areas. Self-employment generation is one of the major activities of most
of the NGOs (see Section 2.13).
NGOs have been able to generate employment for a substantial number of women.
In addition a large number of women are working in the NGOs as staff although
exact figures are not available. Most of these women are working in the rural
areas as extension workers.
The wages in NGOs are uneven and often paid maternity, child care, pension and
gratuity are not ensured. However, some NGOs follow flexible working hours in
order to accommodate women's needs during pregnancy and lactation.
2.10.6 Remaining Issues:
The employment status of the population indicates that women dominate in the
categories of unpaid family labour and employees. Women are negligible in
number in the category of employer. Women's limited access to productive
resources affects them negatively in terms of acquiring knowledge, obtaining
essential services and overcoming gender-specific constraints to labour force
participation.
Table 12: Employed Population 10 Years and Above by Employment Status.
(Million)
Employment Status Bangladesh
Both Sex Male Female
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0
Self-Employed/Own Account Worker 39.7 43.5 22.3
Employer 0.4 0.4 0.4
Employee 16.8 15.0 25.3
Unpaid Family Helper 18.9 15.6 33.9
Day Labourer 24.2 25.5 18.0
Employment Status Urban
Both Sex Male Female
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0
Self-Employed/Own Account Worker 36.9 41.7 19.0
Employer 0.8 0.9 0.3
Employee 39.2 34.8 55.6
Unpaid Family Helper 9.6 7.8 16.2
Day Labourer 13.5 14.8 8.8
Employment Status Rural
Both Sex Male Female
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0
Self-Employed/Own Account Worker 40.5 43.9 23.5
Employer 0.2 0.2 0.4
Employee 10.5 9.7 14.5
Unpaid Family Helper 21.5 17.7 40.3
Day Labourer 27.2 28.4 21.3
Source: LFS 1995/96 (29)
Although the Government is trying to reflect women's unpaid household work in
the national accounting of gross domestic product it has not been able to do
so yet. However, the definition of labour force has been changed, as mentioned
earlier.
The potential of the media to create positive images of the productive
potential of women has not been fully utilized as yet. To ensure more
participation of women in agriculture and industrial sectors, some of the key
issues are as follows: increased extension, skill training and information
services responsive to women; promotion of technological innovations to
increase women's productivity; special credit programmes without collateral
security and quota provision; improvement in the work environment in
industries; and identification of women as a separate group in the small and
cottage industries sector. Although progress has been made in these areas, it
has been inadequate as compared to needs.
The employment of qualified women to senior planning and decision making
positions through contracts and lateral entry, and the increase of quota
provisions to increase the actual proportion of women at various levels, needs
to be ensured. Opportunities for professional technical and administrative
positions through special training are inadequate. It is also necessary to
encourage the private and public sectors to employ women in executive,
managerial, sales and technical positions.
2.11 Article 12: Equality of Access to Health Care:
1. State Parties shall take appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination
against women in the field of health care in order to ensure, on a basis of
equality with men and women, access to health care services, including those
related to family planning.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1 of this article, State
Parties shall ensure to women appropriate services in connection with
pregnancy, confinement and post-natal period, granting free services where
necessary, as well as adequate nutrition during pregnancy and lactation.
The Government of Bangladesh has been pursuing a policy of providing minimum
essential health care for all. The successive health plans of the country have
emphasized primary health care as the key to improving the health status of
the population with a commitment to health for all by the year 2000.
Accordingly increased allocations have been made for the health and population
sectors. Given below are certain indicators of the sector.
Table 13: Indicators of Health and Family Planning Sector.
Indicator 1991 1995
Total number of hospitals 890 933
Government hospitals (number) 610 645
Non-government hospitals (number) 280 288
Government dispensaries (number) 1318 1397
Total hospital beds 34353 37131
Beds in Govt hospitals and dispensaries 27111 29106
Beds in non-govt. hospitals 7242 8025
Persons per hospital beds 3189 3229
Registered physicians (number) 20371 24638
Persons per physician 5380 4866
Registered nurse (number) 9655 11200
Registered mid-wife (number) 7713 11000
(as of 1994)
T.B Clinics (number) 44 44
Maternity and child welfare centres 96 96
Health personnel (number) 81744 75567
(as of 1994)
Government Medical Colleges (Number) 8 13
Homeopathic Colleges (number) 22 24
Pharmaceutical Industries (number) 198 203
Homeopathic Medicine producing firms 58 74
Unani and Ayurvedic medicine producing firms405 405
Life Expectancy at Birth
- Male 57 58.9
- Female 56 58.0
Crude Birth Rate 31.6 26.9
Crude Death Rate 11.2 8.5
Infant Mortality Rate 92 78
Total Govt. expenditure on health and
family planning (crore Taka) 698 1671
Per capita govt expenditure on health and
family planning (Taka) 62 139
Source: BBS, 1996 (30)
2.11.1 Health:
The Fourth Five Year Plan (1990 to 1995) objectives included the following:
* Improving the health status of the population, particularly mothers and
children,
* making health services especially maternal child health and family
planning, available in a package to the family with a view to increasing its
welfare
* improving the nutritional status of the population, particularly mothers
and children,
* consolidating and strengthening the coverage of primary health care,
* fostering appropriate health manpower development,
* strengthening planning and management capabilities in the health system
for effective utilization of existing facilities.
The strategies included fostering intersectoral coordination among health,
population and other sectors; turning the family planning programme into a
social movement; enhancing women's status through education and participation
in economic and social life; mobilizing community support and participation;
ensuring voluntarism of clients and offering a wide range of choice of
contraceptive methods through a "cafeteria approach" and improving the
quality of services.
In order to deliver health services to the door steps of the rural population
a programme for the development of a comprehensive health infrastructure
network in rural areas has been undertaken through the establishment of a
health complex in each "thana" (sub-district). Under this programme 397 health
complexes are to be established out of which 351 have already been completed
(31). The Government has decided to increase the number of beds in these
complexes to 50 from 31, in district hospital beds will be increased from 50
to 100 and in the greater districts beds will be increased from 100 to 250.
Currently there is only one hospital bed for every 35,000 persons.
The expanded programme for immunization (EPI) was undertaken about 12 years
ago. From a vaccination coverage of 2 percent of all children in 1984 the
figure has increased to 84 percent of children of 23 months of age in 1994.
Significant progress has been made in the control of diarrhoeal diseases. With
the introduction of Oral Rehydration Salts, the death rate due to diarrhoeal
diseases has come down to 15 percent while in the late seventies it was
responsible for 45 percent of all deaths. Knowledge of ORS is 93 percent among
the population and usage is 66 percent (32).
Health constitutes a labour intensive sector. There are more than 75,000
employees working under the Directorate of Health Services, which includes
8,000 medical graduates, 6,650 nurses, 4,650 Health Inspectors and 21,000
Health Assistants (33). The family planning programme employs a large number
of female workers: all 4,500 Family Welfare Visitors and 22,500 Family Welfare
Assistants are women and most of the 4,500 vacant post of Health Assistants
have been filled with women in the previously all male cadre of 21,500 (34).
2.11.2 Family Planning:
The Government accords top priority to family planning and considers it to be
an integral part of the development process. The population is now growing at
the rate of 1.98 percent while total fertility rate is 3.4 and the
Contraceptive Prevalence Rate is 45 percent. The contraceptive method with the
highest prevalence is the oral pill (17 percent). Male contraception accounts
for only 12 percent of total CPR.The Government has integrated the Mother and
Child Health (MCH) Services Programme with family planning programmes since
1975 in order to organize MCH-based family planning programmes. The objective
is to deliver health services in the same package to both mothers and children
and reduce mortality and morbidity to influence family planning practices.
Since it was assumed that a reduction in infant and child mortality would be
followed by a decline in fertility rates, maternal and child health was
prioritized by the Fourth Five Year Plan. The plan targeted achieving a
population growth rate of 1.8 percent and total fertility rate per women of
3.3 by the year 1995. The contraceptive prevalence rate was be raised to 50
percent by the year 1995. The Plan emphasized interþsectoral policies and
programmes with special emphasis on fertility reduction and non family planing
interventions for fertility control. The Population Policy seeks to achieve a
Net Reproduction Rate of 1 by 2005, which will lead to a total population of
137 million by the end of the century.
The strategies include establishing the small family as a norm through
information, education and motivation programme and also contraceptive
education. Attempts are also being made to improve the status of women within
the family and the community so that they are allowed to make their own
decisions about pregnancy and family size. This involves creating
opportunities for education, employment, and income generating activities for
women.
Table 14 shows MCH goals and achievements:
Table 14: MCH-FP Goals and Achievements:
Indicators FFYP (mid-1995) Achievements Perspective Plan
(1995-2010)
Total Fertility Rate (TFR) 3.3 3.4 2.1
Contraceptive Prevalence
Rate (CPR) 50 44.6 72.4
MMR/1000 live births 4.5 4.8 3.5
Infant Mortality Rate
(IMR)/1000 live births 80 87 25
Neonatal mortality rate/
1000 live births 60 70 20
Net Reproductive Rate
(NNR) 1 by the Year 2005 1 by the year 2010
Crude Birth Rate
(CBR)/1000 30.1 26.9 21.0
Crude Death Rate
(CDR)/1000 12.6 8.5 7.7
Growth Rate % 1.81 1.98 1.33
Life Expectancy
Male 57 57 61.8
Life Expectancy Female 56.3 56.8 62
(Akhtar, pg 16) Source: Akhtar (35)
The maternal mortality rate of 495 deaths per 100,000 live births is one of
the highest in the world. However, there has been a significant decline since
the 1985 rate of 600 deaths per hundred thousand. Fourteen percent of child
births are attended by trained personnel, 60 percent are attended by
Traditional Birth Attendants and around 90 percent of births take place at
home. Available information shows that only 5 percent of the estimated 0.6
million complicated obstetric cases are able to avail of medical facilities.
However, since 1990 more than 70 percent Tetanus Toxoid-2 coverage for
pregnant women has been sustained (36).
The infant mortality rate was of 71 per 1000 live births in 1995. Within the
one to four age range 16 girls per 1000 die in contrast to 13 boys (37).
A wide range of service outlets have been established throughout the country
to deliver MCH services. A broad institutional base consisting of 349 MCH
Units of Thana Health Complexes, 90 Maternal Child Welfare Centres, 3000
Family Welfare Centres and about 30,000 Satellite Clinics per month have been
made functional and staffed. Each satellite Centre is to serve 7 to 8 thousand
people. In addition there are about 400 NGOs providing family planning
services through 12,000 outreach workers (38).
2.11.3 Nutrition:
The state of nutrition among the population in general is a matter of concern
to the Government. Malnutrition is caused and compounded by both caloric
intake and micro-nutrient deficiencies, by lack of access to nutrition and
frequency of diseases, especially water-borne ones. Forty eight percent of the
rural and 44 percent of the urban population live under the poverty line based
on calorie consumption of 2100 calories per day. The hard core poor consume
less than 1800 calories per day: Twenty six percent of the urban population
and 28 percent of the rural population fall within this definition.
Malnutrition is caused by various factors: low and unstable family incomes,
unequal access to productive resources and social services, traditional
dietary practices, repeated episodes of illness and habitually low food
intakes. In addition preferential intra-household food allocation to males
exacerbates malnutrition among females who eat last and least. Throughout
their lives caloric intake is lower for females than for males: 16 percent
less for girls under 5; 11 percent less for girls 5-14; and 29 percent less
for adult women. The severe deficiency in nutrients during pregnancy and
lactation aggravates women's chronic nutritional deficiencies. This is further
exacerbated by the heavy physical workload of women which continues during
pregnancy, the general lack of food low income and harmful feeding practices.
2.11.4 STD/HIV/AIDS:
Although Bangladesh is a low STD/AIDS prevalence country, it has already
established a project to address the possible emergence of AIDS and Sexually
Transmitted Diseases as a health crisis. Some studies mention 2.3 million STD
cases and WHO estimates 20,000 HIV cases (39). All determinants of a serious
problem exist: infection, malnutrition, proximity to high prevalence
countries, prevalence of STDs, core groups with high risk behaviours, migrant
populations, lack of information and unsafe practices of blood transfusion.
Communication campaigns addressed at all population segments are in place with
a special focus on populations at risk such as prostitutes. A National AIDS
Committee has been formed to formulate policies and strategies to deal with
AIDS related issues. Health risks for women engaged in prostitution are
especially high. A study recorded that 21.67 percent of the prostitutes
interviewed had VD and 17.5 percent hepatitis. Training in diagnosis and
surveillance of HIV has been given to a limited number of persons of selected
institutions. Selected screening tests are available at the various THCs.
However, overall test facilities are inadequate. Counselling in the area of
STD and HIV/AIDS is almost non-existent.
The NGO sector was the first to respond to the emerging threats of an AIDS
epidemic in Bangladesh. The STD/AIDS Network, a coalition of NGOs working, or
planning to work in the field, was formed in 1993. Currently it is composed of
102 individuals from 72 organizations.
2.11.5 ICPD Action Plan:
As a follow-up to the International Conference on Population and Development
various initiatives have been undertaken to incorporate the recommendations
into national level policies and programmes. An Action Plan has been
formulated and a more detailed Health and Population Sector Strategy (HPSS)
is in the process of formulation. The HPSS is being prepared through a
participatory and broad-based process involving numerous actors. It seeks to
develop a health and population sector that is responsive to clients',
especially women's, needs, that provides better quality services, is
financially sustainable and has adequate delivery capacity. The principles of
HPSS are stated below:
* Government to focus on the essential package of services in financing and
delivering services. Within the essential package Government's highest
priorities would be (a) interventions that have public good character (i.e.
that are non-excludable and that have important externalities) and (b)
interventions related to maternal health.
* their health services will be expanded and improved through partnerships
with, or commissioning of services to, NGOs and community hospitals and
through a larger and better regulated role for the private sector.
* he resource constraints for meeting future demand for health/family
planning services will require expansion of cost recovery and more efficient
use of resources in the public sector.
* improved organization and management in the public sector are the key
elements of improving quality and efficiency in health/family planning
services
* complimentary measures are needed in other sector to increase the impact
and efficiency of health/family planning measures (40).
In conclusion, in spite of the Government's massive investments in the health
and family planning sector many gaps remain to be filled. There has been an
emphasis on mother and child health, which consequent neglect of whole areas
of women's health and large spans in their life- cycles. Problems faced by
adolescent girls and post-menopausal women are not considered. Women are seen
primarily as mothers. Even within the child-bearing age, problems such as
reproductive tract infections receive inadequate attention. Although attention
is given to family planning, methods reinforce the woman's responsibility and
outreach mechanisms such as female staff and methods are targeted towards
women.
2.12 Article 13: Equal Rights with Regard to Economic and Social Benefits.
1. State Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate
discrimination against women in other areas of economic and social life in
order to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women, the same rights, in
particular:
(a) The right to family benefits;
(b) The right to bank loans, mortgages and other forms of financial credit;
(c) The right to participate in recreational activities, sports and all
aspects of cultural life.
2.12.1 Rights to Family Benefits:
Although the Government of Bangladesh has entered a reservation on this
article, women in the government service are receiving the same family
benefits as men. In fact, in some cases women are positively discriminated
against. Among the most important family benefits are the right to family
housing quarters or allowances. Women married to other government servants
are also entitled to their own housing allowance, even if the husband is
receiving a housing allowance. In case the husband has received a housing
allotment, the wife will still receive her housing allowance. The reverse is
also true. While allocating housing quarters, women are given three years
seniority for the waiting list while deciding on allocations.
All other family benefits such as pensions and medical allowances are given
equally to male and female employees.
2.12.2 Reservation on Article 13(a):
Bangladesh is not a welfare state and does not provide any welfare benefits to
its citizens, either men or women. However, certain service benefits are
provided to government employees. These are provided equally to men and women.
In fact women enjoy certain additional benefits as mentioned above. In
addition women are given paid maternity leave. Certain special measures are
being taken to accelerate the development of women (see Section 2.3).
2.12.3 Rights to Bank Loans, Mortgages and Other Forms of Financial Credit:
The regular banking system with its requirements of collateral discriminates
against women as in most cases they do not own assets which can be used as
collateral. Various social and cultural customs make it difficult for women to
have easy access to the banks and bank officials. They are not as familiar as
men with the various procedures and requirements.
The regular banks do not maintain sex-disaggregated data which is why it is
not possible to furnish information on the number of loans or the volume of
loans given to women. Some of the public or national commercial banks do have
"ladies branches" but their role is more mobilization of savings than
encouragement of investments. And, although it not a legal requirement, in
practice bank managers would require the consent of the husband or other male
relatives, as guarantors before sanctioning loans to women.
The level of poverty in the country means that the number of women eligible
to borrow from regular banks is limited. In this respect NGO and other
similar government programmes that provide collateral free loans have assumed
tremendous importance in providing credit to poor women.
* The Bangladesh Rural Development Board's Women's Programme covers 190
thanas and has provided credit to 100,830 members through 5915 societies. Taka
200 million was disbursed in 1996 of which 120 million was from the bank and
80 million from the women's savings (up to end 1996).
* The Palli Karma Shahayak Foundation (PKSF) has disbursed about 600
million Taka through 100 NGOs, which has reached 167,027 women and 22,293 men
(up to June, 1994).
* The Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) has disbursed a
cumulative amount of 11,714 million through 4.25 million loans to 1,388,701
loanees (45,542 women and 3,364 men) (up to June 1996).
* Grameen Bank (GB) has disbursed a cumulative amount of Tk 65,509.8
million to 1,937,348 women (as of December 1996).
* The Association for Social Advancement (ASA) has disbursed a cumulative
amount of 3,411 Million taka 495,423 women and 348 men.as of June 1996.
* Proshika MUK disbursed 164 million Takas to 5,174 women between July 1993
to June 1994.
* Two hundred and thirty-four NGOs had disbursed Tk 21,940 million to 3
million members up to June 1996, with an outstanding of 6,250 million (41).
(This includes PKSF partners, ASA, BRAC, Proshika and GB).
In view of women's greater vulnerability to poverty and the greater
development and social impact obtained by providing loans to women, many
programmes have made it a strategy to channel all, or the major part, of the
loans to women. This approach has negative implications in that it increases
women's economic and financial responsibilities for their families but it is
positive in that it increases women's access to financial resources at terms
and conditions that are not exploitative like those of informal money-lenders.
2.12.4 Recreational Activities, Sports and Culture:
The Fourth Five Year Plan encourages and seeks to ensure female participation
in all types of games and sports by providing two standard play grounds in
each district and thana, one for men and one for women's, for practice and
recreation. Sports and games are encouraged for women and two sports complexes
have been established in two major cities of the country. Women are also
encouraged to participate in the international sports meets including Asian
Games, South Asian Federation Games and Olympic Games,
However, culturally and socially girls and women are discouraged from playing
games and sports, as a result of which they do not do very well professionally
either. The majority of primary and secondary schools do not have sports
classes or facilities for girls.
Production of movies and plays are supported by the government, private groups
and business, where men and women participate equally. There is a tradition of
women participating equally in cultural activities, where they play a
prominent role as actresses, singers, dancers, writers, producers, etc.
However, very few are producers or directors.
2.13 Article 14: Particular problems faced by rural women:
1. State Parties shall take into account the particular problems faced by
rural women and the significant roles which they play in the economic survival
of their families, including their work in the non-monetized sectors of the
economy and shall take all appropriate measures to ensure the application of
the provisions of this Convention to women in rural areas.
2. State Parties shall take appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination
against women in rural areas in order to ensure, on the basis of equality of
men and women, that they participate in and benefit from rural development
and, in particular, shall ensure to such women the right:
a) To participate in elaboration and implementation of development planning
at all levels;
b) To have access to adequate health care and family planning, social
security, education and extension services; participation in self-help groups
and community activities; access to agricultural credit and other facilities
and adequate living conditions;
c) To benefit directly from social security programmes;
d) To obtain all types of training and education, formal and non-formal,
including that relating to functional literacy, as well as, inter alia, the
benefit of all community and extension services, in order to increase their
technical proficiency;
e) To organize self-help groups and co-operatives in order to obtain equal
access to economic opportunities through employment or self-employment;
f) To participate in all community activities;
g) To have access to agricultural credit and loans, marketing facilities,
appropriate technology and equal treatment in land and agrarian reform as well
as in land resettlement schemes;
h) To enjoy adequate living conditions, particularly in relation to housing,
sanitation, electricity and water supply, transport and communications.
2.13.1 Overview:
As the majority of the population live in the rural areas, rural development
is the primary focus of development activities in Bangladesh. Women are in a
relatively disadvantaged position in terms of access to resources and
services. Their position is even more precarious in rural areas. The Five Year
Plans provide for two types of interventions to improve the condition of rural
women through the Rural Development and Institutions sector. The rural
development programmes focus on three particular areas: irrigated agriculture,
infrastructure development and productive employment. Poverty alleviation was
the major theme of the Fourth Five Year Plan. As women form the majority of
the poor they have been considered as beneficiaries as well as agents for
development for all the three above mentioned areas of rural development.
Education, MCH, legal aid, training, credit for investment have been
identified as important means of meeting the practical needs of the women.
Some programmes also address women's strategic interests to change their
position. These programmes emphasize the building of women's organizations for
their empowerment while enabling them to meet their practical needs.
2.13.2 Programmes:
2.13.2.1 Role of Government Agencies:
Different Ministries and NGOs are implementing different types of projects and
programmes for rural women. The aim is to assist women achieve the capacity to
meet their basic needs and improve the quality of life of the disadvantaged
population through organizational networks.
The total population covered under all these programmes cannot be estimated
but for instance Bangladesh Rural Development Board (BRDB) co-operative
membership was 3,491,172 in 1993 of whom 902,004 were rural poor men and
women. Information on some rural development programmes of the government is
provided below:
Special projects have been taken under Ministry of Local Government, Rural
Development and Cooperatives. The two approaches followed are as follows:
a) * Mobilization of the rural poor which includes a range of activities
like motivating women to organize themselves into informal or cooperative
groups, awareness raising, analysis of local socio-economic conditions,
deciding and taking action for individual and group development, supervision
and monitoring of the activities and building organizational network for
social development of the target groups.
* Imparting training for consciousness raising, human development,
managerial and vocational skill development, introduction to improved
technology etc.
* Providing credit facilities for income generating activities and
assistance in marketing of products.
* Providing information and essential services like health, family
planning, sanitation, literacy, consciousness raising on environmental
protection etc.
* Creating awareness on legal rights of women and providing legal aid.
b) Engaging women as wage labourers in the construction and maintenance of
physical infrastructure in the rural areas.
Vulnerable Group Development Programme: This is the largest programme
targeting women in extreme poverty. It is supported by multiple donors through
the World Food Programme. It started as a food relief programme in 1975 for
destitute mother and children of all the unions of the country. Later, the
programme was redesigned to provide wheat as a subsidy to destitute women to
involve them in saving and income generating activities and has been placed
under the Department of Women's Affairs. Beneficiaries are given 31.25 k.
wheat every month for a period of two years and they are involved in
government and NGO programs for literacy, training and credit for self
employment. This programme is implemented through Union Parishads and so far
has assisted more than six million women for a cycle of two years. Currently a
total of 399,000 women are being supported for a two year cycle. These women
are also given training for different income generating skills and credit
through several other sub- projects.
Table 15: Number of VGD women in Union Parishad VGD Sub-project 1989-90 to
1994-95.
Women Women IGVGD Activities
who (%) who
Year received participate
wheat d in Women(%) Women who received Women(%)
ration savings targeted to skill training who received
scheme be involved credit
Poultry Others
89-90 441,513 415,022 42,000 40,586 N/A 6,137
(94%) (10%) (9%) (1%)
90-91 441,203 436,791 75,000 60,439 N/A 37,039
(99%) (17%) (14%) (8%)
91-92 417,384 371,472 62,000 57,929 1,768 37,151
(89%) (15%) (14%) (1%) (9%)
92-93 370,907 318,980 116,000 104,848 1,768 56,540
(86%) (31%) (28%) (1%) (15%)
93-94 378,505 363,365 116,000 107,594 1,768 74,623
(96%) (31%) (28%) (1%) (20%)
94-95 399,091 395,101 310,563 207,632 26338 105,196
(99%) (78%) (52%) (7%) (26%)
Source: VGD Annual Reports, WFP (42)
Rural Maintenance Programme: This is an important poverty alleviation
programme implemented through monetization of Canadian Food Aid since 1983.
This programme is currently implemented by Local Government Engineering
Department in collaboration with CARE International and Union Parishads.
Currently 52,000 women are employed to maintain 60,000 miles of essential
earthen roads in 3600 unions of the country against a salary. The Union
Parishads provide 10 percent of the salary. Women are employed for four years
and during the period they are provided training and other assistance so that
they can be self- employed after completion of the cycle. So far 45,475 women
have graduated from the programme and are now involved in various
self-employment activities.The programme has contributed to improved rural
communication, marketing has brought significant changes to the life of rural
women.
Food Aided Rural Development Programme: This programme is supported by WFP and
implemented through Union Parishads. It provides short term employment during
the lean period to men and women for rural infrastructure building and other
activities in exchange of wheat. During the years 1989-90 to 1994-95 more than
110 million labour days of lean season employment was generated of which about
22.74 million workdays (about 23 percent) were generated for women. Employment
opportunities were created in the construction of roads, embankments and
culverts as well as in forestry and fisheries.
Rural Development Project 12: The project implemented by the Bangladesh Rural
Development Board (BRDB) started in July 1988. It has organized more than
453,000 assetless men and women in more than 16000 cooperative societies in
139 thanas of 17 districts of Bangladesh. This is the largest poverty
alleviation programme of the government and about 72 percent of the
beneficiaries and 50 percent of the field functionaries are women. The
activities include motivation and organization of men and women to form
co-operative societies and impart them training on human development,
organizational development, co-operative management, skill development, etc. A
total of 267,838 women have been given credit for income generating
activities. The innovative part of the project is to provide technical skills
in improved poultry raising, beef fattening and other activities through a
Technical Resource Team and establish linkages with credit opportunities for
income generating activities. The project seeks to ensure access to and
control over local resources and to utilize them and sustain the benefits
through people's own creative potentials.
Population Control Through Rural Women's Cooperatives popularly known as the
BRDB Women's Programme started as a pilot project under BRDB in 1974 supported
by the World Bank to develop rural women cooperatives. Family planning
motivation and services were integrated with income generation activities.
Cooperative leaders are trained at thana level on different issues and
subsequently act as trainers for their group members. This project covers 190
thanas of the country and organized 120,500 women up to September 1992 in 3175
women's cooperative societies. Ten training cum production centres have been
established to develop vocational skills among women.
Rural Development Project 9 and Rural Development Project 5 are two other
projects implemented by BRDB. These are also poverty alleviation programmes
and work with rural assetless people. The projects work in different areas and
organize men and women into informal groups. Major activities include group
organization, credit, awareness raising, literacy and vocational training for
assetless men and women.
Infrastructure Development Projects implemented by Local Government
Engineering Department for development of rural infrastructure like rural
roads, embankments, small bridges, culverts, growth centers and markets,
construction of school buildings, residential quarters, cyclone shelters etc.
These activities are carried out by employing the rural poor. The major
components of these projects are routine maintenance of earth roads which
employ only women as labourers and supervisors. Women are employed to maintain
the rural earth roads throughout the whole year. Besides women are assisted
through the development of rural market corners, growth centers, ferry ghats
etc. Another activity of the projects is to contract out construction work for
earth roads to groups of local landless persons and a large percentage of the
earth road construction of the project areas is done by women.
A number of projects are being implemented by Department of Women's Affairs.
Some of them are mentioned below:
* Women's Vocational Training for Population Activities : This project
seeks to develop income generation skills among rural women through training
motivate them towards a small family size and develop leadership qualities
among women for population planning and motivation. So far 40 union level and
130 thana level training centres have been established under the project.
* Self-reliance Project for Rural Women: The project aims at strengthening
of the structure of Department of Women's Affairs at the village level.
Another objective of the project is to assist rural women towards
self-reliance by providing them with credit and skill development training
programmes. A total of 38 thanas are covered under the project.
* Agro-based Rural Development Programme for Women: This project aims at
developing women's skills in poultry raising, vegetable cultivation, small
scale fisheries through imparting practical training, thus contributing
towards their socio-economic upliftment. Women are also given training in
family planning, literacy, child care, health and nutrition etc. and credit
support for income generating activities.
* NGO Community Based Programme for Women and Children: The project aims at
the mobilization and organization of rural women with the help of
non-government voluntary organizations. Hundred and fifty eight local NGOs are
involved in organizing and training women under the project. *
*Technology for Employment of Rural Women: The project aims to expand
technology to increase production and productivity and reduce women's effort
and drudgery.
Projects under Department of Social Service include the following:
Use of Rural Mother Centres for Population Activities : This project popularly
known as "Mothers' Club" started in 1975 with a view to integrate population
activities with development efforts. The idea was to involve women in
self-employment activities and population control by motivating them towards a
small family norm. The project endeavours to impart skill development training
and thus help women develop self-employment opportunities. Functional
education on maternal and child care, nutrition and family planning is
provided.
A project implemented by the Department of Youth Development is the Upazila
Resource Development and Employment Project which aims at the alleviation of
poverty through the creation of non-farm self employment opportunities for
rural men and women. The project considers the family as a unit for
development and provides training and credit support to the beneficiaries
alongwith support for functional education, improved technology, market
information etc.
In the agriculture sector a large number of projects which address the needs
of small and marginal farmers attempt to include women in their activities.
The projects such as Crop Diversification Programme (CDP) and Agriculture
Support Services Project (ASSP) specifically target women for agricultural
extension activities.
In the fisheries and livestock sector some projects have included women as
beneficiaries and serving women with training and credit facilities. Besides
women have been considered as equal recipient of the benefits of the
government's land resettlement programme under the "Model Village" programme.
2.13.2.2 Role of Non-Government Organizations (NGOs):
A large number of private sector NGOs are supplementing the government's
targeted efforts for poverty alleviation and socio-economic development in
rural areas. The importance and contribution of NGOs in national development
is well recognized and the Government seeks to utilize their services in a
coordinated way. About 18,000 NGOs are playing a creative and innovative role
in improving the conditions of poor and disadvantaged. NGO activities are
supplementary to the Government's efforts towards decentralized participatory
planning with thana as a co-ordination unit. They are also involved specially
in technology dissemination and training of target groups. Some of these NGO
programmes have made marked contributions towards poverty alleviation.
The activities of the NGOs are coordinated through several mechanisms. The
Association of Development Agencies in Bangladesh (ADAB) is one of the apex
organizations for NGO activities. The Government has established an NGO
Affairs Bureau to co-ordinate the activities of foreign funded development
NGOs.
The NGO programmes broadly concentrate in the following areas:
* Group formation and mobilization
* Conscientization and awareness raising
* Leadership development
* Capacity building for planning and management
* Occupational skill training
* Employment generation
* Income generation through self-employment and enterprise development
* Credit delivery
* Building productive assets
* Women's development
* Political participation and empowerment
* Non-formal primary education
* Health and nutrition education and services
* EPI and MCH education and services
* Water and sanitation
* Empowerment for access to government services
* Activation of local organizations
* Housing and shelter
The total outlay under NGO programmes approved by the NGO Affairs Bureau in
1992-2 was Taka 15,654 million excluding the Food for Work Projects executed
by the NGOs. Women membership coverage by some organizations in 1996 was as
follows (43):
* Grameen Bank - 1937,973 women in 33,687 villages (upto December 1996)
* BRAC - 1,560,187 poor rural women
* Proshika- 679,668
* Polli Karmo Shahayak Foundation through the participating organizations-
167,027 rural women (up to June 1994)
* Community Development Center (CODEC) - 10,738 women
* Shwanirvar - 455,005 women
* Association for Social Advancement - 495,423 women (as of June 1996)
Grameen Bank in a private specialized financial institution reputed for its
successful approach to provide the rural poor with an institutional credit
mechanism. The specially designed credit programme of Grameen Bank is one of
the most innovative to reach credit to the landless poor who are unable to
offer collateral for institutional credit. The bank has been able to provide
credit to 1.9 million people for income generating activities (productive or
trading) through organizing them in 5 member groups. Ninety three percent of
the beneficiaries are women and the repayment rate is 99 percent. The
borrowers of the bank own 72 percent of the shares and government owns the
remaining 18 percent. The Bank is operating in 33,687 villages through 44,455
centres. Grameen Bank finances a wide range of activities including, housing
and sanitation. The bank has initiated agricultural and fisheries development
programme as well as a handloom development programme, turning these into
independent institutions.
The Micro Credit Summit held in February 1997 in Washington D.C. promoted the
Grameen Bank model as one of the leading models for micro-credit delivery. A
target was fixed to reach 100 million poor families with credit by the year
2005. The Grameen Bank model was proposed to be followed to achieve the Summit
goal. The Prime Minister of Bangladesh was one of the Co-Chairs of the Summit
which serves to emphasize Bangladesh's contribution to poverty alleviation
through micro-credit operations.
Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), the largest NGO in Bangladesh
working for rural development, was founded in 1972. Its programme includes
multiple activities such as the mobilization of rural poor men and women in to
groups to undertaking economic activities, providing training and credit,
functional education on health and nutrition. Till 1996 BRAC covered 1,673,118
members of which 1560,187 were women. The craft development and marketing
assistance programme to rural artisan group of BRAC has gained popularity
among international community. The child survival programme has been able to
popularize oral rehydration therapy for diarrhoeal disease control and child
vaccination against six killer diseases. Its Non-Formal Primary Education
model has gained national and international repute.
Proshika organizes rural landless men and women and poor peasants for
socio-economic self reliance. Beneficiaries are organized into groups and
encouraged to undertake income generating activities through their own savings
supplemented by Proshika revolving loan fund. Differential terms and a lower
rate of interest for women provide incentives for women to participate in
economic activities. Proshika emphasizes the empowerment of the poor through a
participatory development approach to achieve sustainable development.
Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Service (RDRS) a large NGO working in the northern
region of the country was established in 1981. The main activity of RDRS is to
improve agricultural methods and promote effective land use. The women's
programme seeks to create self-confidence among poor and single women.
Activities include organizing men and women into groups, providing functional
education, vocational training and other activities. Out of about 65,000 group
members women constitute about 45 percent.
Association for Social Advancement: Established in 1978, the organization
operates a number of programmes including education, income generation,
integrated health improvement and has benefitted 175,000 poor borrowers of
whom 99 percent are female.
These targeted poverty alleviation programmes of NGOs often integrate health,
nutrition, water and sanitation in their activities. Some of them provide
legal education and counselling the rural areas as well as environmental
education in a limited way.
Marketing of Products:
In recognition of the fact that marketing is one of the major constraints for
rural women, both government and non-government organizations have undertaken
special programmes to assist the rural women in marketing their products.
Government agencies such as Bangladesh Rural Development Board, Bangladesh
Small and Cottage Industries Corporation, Department of Women Affairs have
opened marketing outlets in the urban areas. Special fairs and exhibitions are
also arranged from time to time.
NGOs like BRAC, Saptagram have also established marketing outlets. BRAC has
also established three international marketing outlets.
Health, nutrition water and sanitation: Upazila Health complexes at each
Upazila are accessible to the rural population. Family planning services
combined with MCH are delivered at home by government programmes. Besides NGO
programmes include motivation and educational programme on family planning,
nutrition, primary health care, water and sanitation etc. Details are provided
in Section 2.1.12. Information an education for rural women has been provided
in Section 2.2.10.
All planning in Bangladesh considers alleviation of poverty and employment
generation as its central focus. People at the grassroots are encouraged to
voice their needs through their elected bodies such as the Union Parishads.
Rural women are involved and represented in local government through reserved
seats. A participatory planning mechanism where people in rural areas can
provide inputs in the national planning has been set in motion during
formulation of the participatory perspective plan.
In conclusion, in spite of these being many innovative and successful rural
development programmes in Bangladesh and in spite of attempts to increase
coverage, government and NGO programmes together have not been able to reach
all poor women. Adequate services and social security measures could not be
ensured due to resource constraints.
Women headed households are increasing in the rural areas. Despite all the
efforts to reach the poorest, often the development programmes cannot the
reach the poorest of the poor households of the villages as they might not
have the confidence, the time or the social support to participate in these
programmes.
2.14 Article 15: Equality Before the Law and in Civil Matters
1. The State Parties shall accord to women equality with men before the law.
2. State Parties shall accord to women, in civil matters, a legal capacity
identical to that of men and the same opportunities to exercise that capacity.
In particular, they shall give women equal rights to conclude contracts and to
administer property and shall treat them equally in all stages of procedure in
courts and tribunals.
3. State Parties agree that all contracts and all other private instruments of
any kind with a legal effect which is directed at restricting the legal
capacity of women shall be deemed null and void.
4. State Parties shall accord to men and women the same rights with regard to
the law relating to the movement of persons and the freedom to choose their
residence and domicile.
It is important to consider how the legal system in general functions to
promote or hinder women's access to economic resources and control over
personal life as a citizen. The legal system which includes fundamental and
political rights, succession and right to property, marriage and divorce,
guardianship over children and maintenance etc. determines the legal status of
women in society. Discussions under Article 16 (Section 2.15) concern
provisions of the personal and family law. This section deals with status of
women in the civil law.
As has been mentioned under Article Two, the Constitution provides equal
rights for women and men in the public sphere. Women are guaranteed equality
with respect to men before the law in all matters except for those covered by
the personal laws. Women are guaranteed equal legal capacity, including that
relating to contracts, property and litigation, and legally the same
opportunities to exercise that capacity.
Except for the inheritance of property, all other matters concerning property
are governed by civil law i.e. ownership, administration. Women can administer
property, be executors or administrators of estates.Women have the right to
make contracts, including those related to credit, real estate and other
property as well as other commercial transactions, in their own names. They
can obtain passports in their own names. They can obtain contraceptives in
their own names.
Regarding litigation, women have equal rights to seek legal counsel or aid,
equal legal capacity, equal testimonial and evidentiary status in the
courtroom. According to the law women are to be treated equally in courts.
Women can sue and be sued in their own names. The testimony of a woman is
equal to that of a man in all civil and criminal matters. Women lawyers are
entitled to represent clients before courts and tribunals. Women can serve in
the judiciary, in civil and family courts. There are increasing numbers of
women lawyers. Women are entitled to legal aid on the same basis as men.
The Government has a Legal Aid Fund which is available for reimbursement of
legal costs in cases where special applications are made for such assistance.
However, knowledge about its existence and procedures for applying for it are
not well know and it is under utilized. Different NGO and non-government legal
aid organizations also provide legal aid and counselling, many of them
specially targeting women.
Although the legal provisions are equal for men and women, in practice women
cannot avail of their rights in the same way as men can and these rights
remain largely theoretical for the reasons mentioned earlier.
The law also provides equality in matters relating to freedom of movement,
choice of residence and domicile. Female migration of labour is permitted.
Although theoretically a woman has the right to choose where she will live, in
practice her domicile generally is that of her father while unmarried and when
married, that of her husband. When separated or divorced, her domicile
generally becomes that of her father or brother(s). 2.15 Article 16: Equality in Marriage and Family Law.
1. State Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate
discrimination against women in all matters relating to marriage and family
relations and in particular shall ensure, on a basis of equality of men and
women:
(a) The same right to enter into marriage;
(b) The same right freely to choose a spouse and to enter into marriage
only with their free and full consent;
(c) The same rights and responsibilities during marriage and at its
dissolution;
(d) The same rights and responsibilities as parents, irrespective of
their marital status, in matters relating to their children; in all cases the
interests of the children shall be paramount;
(e) The same rights to decide freely and responsibly on the number and
spacing of their children and to have access to the information, education and
means to enable them to exercise these rights;`
(f) The same rights and responsibilities with regard to guardianship,
wardship,
trusteeship and adoption of children, or similar institutions where these
concepts exist in national legislation; in all cases the interests of the
children shall be paramount;
(g) The same personal rights as husband and wife, including the right to
choose a family name, a profession and an occupation;
(h) The same rights for both spouses in respect of ownership,
acquisition, management, administration, enjoyment and disposition of
property, whether free of charge or for a valuable consideration.
2. The betrothal and the marriage of a child shall have no legal effect, and
all necessary action, including legislation, shall be taken to specify a
minimum age for marriage and to make the registration of marriages in an
official registry compulsory.
Personal affairs like marriage, divorce, custody of children, inheritance of
property etc. are governed by religious laws. For Muslims these are governed
by the "Shariah", based on Quran and Hadith. The Hindu population is governed
by the Dayabhaga School of Hindu Law.
2.15.1 Marriage:
Islamic Law:
According to Muslim law, marriage is a contract between a man and a woman. The
consent of both parties is required and ascertained. In reality the guardians
of the groom and bride are in most cases the actual parties to forming the
contract. Women and girls generally have to submit themselves to the will of
their family members, particularly male kin, in this respect. Although the
Muslim Family Laws Ordinance specifies the legal age of marriage as 18 years
for women and 21 for men this provision of the law has been constantly
violated, particularly in rural areas. The available statistics show that at
the national level, the mean age at marriage for female was 13.9 years in
1961. It was 15.9 year in 1974, 16.8 years in 1981, 18.2 years in 1990 and
19.9 in 1995. Most marriages are not registered and even where they are the
Marriage Registrars are obliged to guess the girl/woman's age as birth
registration are not always done. The procedure is that the "Chowkidar" of the
Union Council in rural areas should register births as most births take place
outside hospitals or clinics. The average age at marriage implies that half of
the girls married are under 19 years of age and it is estimated that 20% of
girls become mothers by the age of 15. Sexual intercourse with a girl/woman
below the legal age of marriage i.e. 18 is a punishable offence according the
law.
Marriage of a Muslim male with a non-Muslim woman is usually acceptable if she
is Jewish or a Christian, but the marriage of a Muslim woman to a non-Muslim
is not accepted i.e. not legal. Marriages of Muslim men to Hindu women and
Muslim women to non-Muslim men have to take place in civil courts with the
spouses declaring that they do not practice any religious faith.
Hindu Law:
Marriage is considered to be a religious sacrament.
2.15.2 Dower and Dowry:
Islamic Law:
According to the marriage contract the groom should pay "dower" to the bride
following the Islamic "Shariah". Marriage usually involves a settlement from
the groom to the bride the amount of which is determined at the time of
marriage. This is the opposite of dowry which involves a transfer from the
bride or her family to the groom and his family.
This provision is intended to protect the wife since the "Shariah" does not
envisage any provisions for maintenance upon divorce. In Bangladesh the amount
of dower is payable to the wife before divorce or at the death of her husband.
After a husband's death the wife is entitled to a living allowance, and only
after having met this requirement can his property be divided among his heirs
of which his wife is one (receiving one-eighth of his estate).
Dowry is the payment of a settlement from the family of the bride to the
groom. This practice has grown in near past even though it is not a part of
the Muslim marriage contract. Traditionally among the Muslims dowry was a
voluntary gift given to a bride by her father out of affection. Now it has
become an economic compulsion as parents know they cannot get their daughters
married without paying dowry to the prospective groom. The man's family asks
for prior commitments before marriage. If the girl's family fail to fulfil
these commitments the marriage negotiations may be broken off which causes
disgrace to the bride and her family. Even after marriage sometimes the bride
is abused and tortured for full payment of dowry or with new demands, leading
in extreme cases to suicide or homicide.
In 1980 the Parliament passed an Act called the Dowry Prohibition Act which
was amended in 1982 by a Martial Law Regulation to prohibit taking or giving
of dowry and made the giving or demand for dowry or abetment thereof,
before, or at the time of and even after marriage, an offence punishable with
imprisonment for one year or with a fine, or with both. Non payment of
"Dower" and demand for "Dowry" has become a social phenomenon which the Dowry
Prohibition Act seeks to eliminate. Although legal recourse against dowry
exists it is generally not used as the social custom or providing dowry has
become so pervasive and accepted that it is not possible to give a daughter in
marriage without it.
Hindu Law:
Dowry is a part of the marriage practice. There is no tradition of dower.
"Stridhan" is very important for a Hindu woman. This practice is left
unexcepted by the Dowry Prohibition Act.
A recent participatory rural appraisal has shown that the giving of dowry is
considered one of the most important problems for both men and women. It is
ranked as the third most acute problem and the fourth "resolvable aim" for
government action (42). There are attempts to build up public opinion against
the practice of dowry. Various NGOs have made it part of their social
mobilization programmes. The Film Censor Board has a principle of censoring
any scenes showing the giving or taking of dowry. However, the phenomenon of
dowry is but one manifestation of the inferior status of women and without
comprehensive measures to improve the status and position of women it will not
be possible of take effective action against the practice of dowry.
2.15.3 Divorce:
Islamic Law:
The husband can divorce his wife without showing any reason and without his
wife's consent while the wife can divorce her husband only on certain
conditions and only if she is delegated the authority to do so by her husband
at the time of marriage (it being specified in the marriage contract or
through an amendment of the contract later). "Talak-e-Tawfiz" is an
arrangement which allows the husband to delegate the power of divorce to his
wife at the time of marriage, or subsequent thereto, under certain
circumstances detailed in the written delegated authority (generally the
marriage contract document). This provision was made in the Muslim family Law
Ordinance.
The Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act of 1939 for the first time recognized
the right of an estranged wife to seek dissolution of marriage ties through
court. One of the reasons for seeking divorce under the act was on grounds of
cruelty towards the wife. The social practice or custom was to accept the
utterance to the word "talak" three times as sufficient for divorce. The is no
longer legally recognized. The Marriage and Divorce Registration Act of 1974
provides for a mediation process over a period of three months with repeated
notices being served before a divorce can become legal. It also seeks to
ensure that the dower money is paid. However, most divorces are not
registered.
On dissolution of marriage the wife has no rights to property, other than any
in her own name (either bought or inherited). There is also no legal binding
to provide maintenance beyond the "iddat" period (i.e. the three month period
before the divorce becomes effective). The provision of dower money is
considered as a substitute. However there are certain judicial precedents
awarding the wife the right to maintenance until she remarries.
Since divorce and remarriage of women is socially discouraged women are most
often compelled to stay with their husbands even in cases where they have to
submit to situations of physical and mental abuse. Since most marriages are
not registered, and even where they are registered the women or her relatives
generally do not seek to have delegation of authority for divorce, women
generally can not initiate divorce.
Hindu Law:
There is no provision for divorce
Christian Law:
A suit is required for dissolution of marriage. Divorce is allowed by the
Divorce Act 1869 whereby both men and women can apply to the court for
dissolution of marriage. Christian men can divorce their wives for adultery
alone but a Christian women has to prove adultery and one other matrimonial
offense.
2.15.4 Polygamy:
Islamic Law:
Though the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961 and its amendment in 1986
provides that a man can only marry a second time after having written
permission from the first wife, limited polygamy still prevails in the
country. However, when such a marriage is contracted without prior permission
of the first wife, the second marriage is not void although legal measures can
be taken against the man. The 1961 Ordinance for the first time made the
registration of marriage compulsory and restricted polygamy by making it a
requirement that the husband obtain the permission from the Chairman/Mayor of
the Union Parishad/Pourashava for a second marriage, on certain grounds. The
Ordinance made any marriage contracted without such permission punishable
with imprisonment up to a year or a fine of 10,000 Takas or both. However the
second marriage is not void.
Parents or guardians may sometimes knowingly marry a young woman or girl to a
man who is already married. They assume that even as a second wife she will be
fulfilling her social and religious obligations as a wife and will obtain
the socio-economic security that is assumed to come with marriage.
According to the Shariah a man may take up to four wives but only if he can
treat them all equally. Therefore after marriage he is obligated to treat them
all equally. Otherwise the same rights and responsibilities of spouses towards
each other apply as do in monogamous marriages.
Hindu Law:
Polygamy is recognized.
Christian Law:
Polygamy is prohibited. Marriage while already being married is illegal. The
husband is liable to the offence of bigamy which is punishable under Section
494 of the Penal Code.
2.15.5 Guardianship and Maintenance:
Islamic Law:
The Guardianship and Wards Act of 1890 and its modifications have
discriminatory provisions with respect to women. A mother is not regarded as
the guardian of her children. The mother, in the case of divorce, is entitled
to the care and custody of her male children until they are 7 years old and of
her daughters until they reach puberty. The father-in-law of a widow becomes
the legal guardian of her children and the widow has to be take permission
from the court for disposing of her minor children's property.
The wife is not provided with any maintenance except the agreed upon "dower",
which is often difficult to obtain. Thus, the fear of losing guardianship
over children as well as losing security and property often makes a woman
continue to live in oppressive situations as they have no other alternatives.
According to Islamic personal law the mother is guardian of her minor
children in case of her husband's death but she has to be declared as
guardian by the court for alienating minor children's property.
Islamic Law does not recognize adoption of children.
Hindu Law:
The father is considered to be the natural and legal guardian of the person
and property of the minor child, and after him it is the mother. Under Section
7 of the Guardianship and Wards Act 1890 the Court may appoint any person as
guardian of the minor person and property for the best interest and welfare of
the child if the father is proved to be unfit. Under Hindu Law male children
may be adopted.
Christian Law:
A Christian women, on the death of the husband, is the natural guardian of her
minor child. She is also entitled to the custody of the child and to the
guardianship of the property of the child. However, in case of divorce, the
custody, maintenance, guardianship and the power to dispose of property of the
minor by a Christian mother are determined by the Court.
2.15.6 Rights to property/inheritance:
Muslim Law:
The Quran provides that women, as daughters, mothers and wives would, under
all circumstances, be entitled to some share of property under the law of
inheritance. The 1961 Muslim Family Laws Ordinance was promulgated conferring
among others things, inheritance rights to the children of the sons and
daughters who may die before the father (i.e. rights to grandparents'
property). Previously they could not inherit according to the rule that nearer
in relationship excludes the remoter.
According to the provisions of the Muslim personal law the wife receives one
eighth of the deceased husband's property when there is a child and one
fourth when there is no child. The husband receives exactly double, one fourth
or half of his wife's property depending upon whether there are children. A
mother gets one sixth of her decreased child/children's property if he has a
child or more than one brother or sister of her son. On the other hand, a
father gets one sixth of his decrease children's property; in absence of any
child of his son the customary practice is that he gets the entire residue
after satisfying other sharers' claims.
A daughter inherits one half of her father's property but if there is more
than one daughters, they inherit two thirds collectively. The rest of the
property goes to the agnatic kin. When there is a son, a daughter inherits
half of what the son gets as residuary. Thus the daughter is deprived in both
cases.
It can therefore be said that the Islamic personal laws provide for protection
of right of inheritance for women but preclude inheritance on an equal basis
with male co-sharers. It is also customary for a woman not to claim her share
of the family property unless it is given willingly. Women often surrender
their right to property in exchange of the right to visit their parental home
and seek their brothers' assistance in cases of marital conflict.
A male child is given preference with regards to the inheritance of property
and its control inspite of there being several daughters. Property given to
daughters is considered as property relinquished to her husbandþs family.
This and the fact the daughters cannot inherit the entire property and a
portion has to be given to other relatives, contributes to the preference for
having sons and the lower value given to girls. There is an exception in the
case of Shiah Muslim girls who may inherit the entire property if there are no
sons.
So far as testamentary succession is concerned, a Muslim cannot bequeath more
than a third of his estate and this can only be to some one who is not already
an heir. Therefore, a Muslim cannot by "Will" bequeath all property to his
only daughter if there are other heirs. But a will in excess of the legal
third may be validated by the consent of the heirs as may a will to any heir.
Hindu Law:
According to the Hindu Law of inheritance the heirs, in order of priority,
are son, grandson, great-grand son, daughter, daughter's son, father, mother,
and so on. The doctrine of spiritual efficacy is the guiding principle
determining the succession under Dayabhaga school. Hindu women's right to
inheritance is limited. According to the Hindu Women's Right to Property Act
of 1937 a widow, or if it was a polygamous marriage , all widows, inherit the
same share as a son.
Christians:
Christians provide for equal inheritance between sons and daughters and wills
can be made to bequeath property. Christian women's inheritance is guided by
the Succession Act of 1925.
Right to choose a family name, a profession and occupation:
In Bangladesh the custom is for children to be given names that might not bear
any relation to either parents' name. Children's names are decided by their
parents. Muslim women do not have to change their name at marriage. Hindu
women do.
2.15.7 Reproductive choices:
Section 2.11 discusses health care and family planning. However information
relevant to this section is presented here. There is a Family Planning Policy.
It encompasses access to family planning information, education and services.
However, women are targeted more than men in family planning and more
contraceptives are provided to them than to men. All 4500 Family Welfare
Visitors are women and 22,500 Family Welfare Assistants are women, which shows
the bias of the system towards women. The consent of the husband is required
for women to carry out "menstrual regulation" (MR), a form of abortion. This
is specified in Section 312 of the Penal Code. Abortion, as such, is not legal
although the practice of Menstrual Regulation is allowed. However,
contraceptives are freely available and doctors prescriptions are not
required. There is increasing awareness that men need to take more
reproductive responsibility in terms of taking action to reduce the number of
children.
Culturally and socially women have not always been able to make decisions
independently concerning birth control. However, increasing education levels
and employment outside the home are giving women the means and incentives to
make family planning decisions on their own. However, there is still resistance to providing family planning and
reproductive health education to adolescent unmarried girls.
2.15.8 Reservations on the Articles 16 (1) (c) and (f):
The Government of Bangladesh originally placed reservations on Articles 16(1)
(a) and 16(1)(f) as conflicting with Shariah Law based on the Holy Quran and
Sunnah. However the Constitution is the fundamental source of law in
Bangladesh and laws incompatible with its provisions have no status.
Significant reforms in family law have shown that the Shariah is not
immutable. In fact there have been many recent case laws where the higher
judiciary is upholding, protecting and defending the Constitution in pursuance
of their judicial oath of office, restricting the scope and application of
laws that are inconsistent with the Constitution and therefore deemed to be
automatically void. Articles 16(1)(c) and 16(1)(f) are specific areas of
discrimination that are highlighted and the general provisions of equality
before the law both under Article 2 of CEDAW as well as Article 27, 28, 29 and
31 under the Constitution, are wider in their application and scope, thereby
encompassing the more specific articles. In addition, it is also to be noted
that in respect of inheritance rights, Bangladesh has also committed itself to
article 247(d) of the PFA as adopted in the Fourth World Conference on Women.
Therefore the obligation under article 16(1)(f) is not new.
Since the obligations implied in the Articles 16(1)(c) and 16(1)(f) are less
than the full constitutional obligations and mandate, when Bangladesh removes
all reservations the State will not be undertaking any new obligations or
mandate.
Various decisions of the Bangladesh Supreme Court show that within existing
laws liberal interpretations can result in judgements that uphold gender
equality. In various cases mothers have been given custody of children, even
beyond the age limits stipulated by Islamic Law, on the basis of the best
interests of the child. A progressive judgement awarded a divorced woman
maintenance from her husband beyond the period of "iddat" until the time she
remarries. Another such decision was to give the wife equal right to divorce.
In another judgement in 1996 a judge of the High Court Division opined that
the provisions of section 6 of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance is against the
principles of Islamic Law and recommended for substituting it by amendment,
totally prohibiting polygamy in line with the personal statute of Tunisia,
1957.
PART III: MEASURES TAKEN TO IMPLEMENT THE BEIJING PLATFORM FOR
ACTION.
The Fourth World Conference was held in Beijing in 1995 with the theme
Equality, Development and Peace. Bangladesh endorsed the Platform for Action
(PFA) without any reservations and it committed to ensuring its implementation
at national level.
3.1 Drafting of a National Action Plan:
The Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs has been designated as the nodal
ministry for follow-up and implementation of the PFA. An Interministerial Task
Force was set up in December 1995. The Department of Women's Affairs took the
initiative to set up a small working group entitled the Core Group for Beijing
Follow-up to act as the substantive arm of the Task Force and assist the
Department of Women's Affairs in planning and carrying out the work involved
in the formulation of a national action plan based on the PFA. The Core Group
is comprised of a number of women activists from outside the Government as
well as persons from the Department itself.
The Core Group has worked closely with the Ministry to formulate and initiate
a process for broad-based and participatory planning based on the PFA. A
preliminary Draft National Action Plan was prepared by the Ministry and made
available in December 1995 as a working document. A synthesis document of
various pre-Beijing consultations, especially by non- government groups
including women's organizations, was prepared and used for sectoral reviews
and planning exercises with various line ministries of the Government.
The Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs also held a national level
debriefing of all the government ministries in May 1996 where the heads of the
different ministries participated in panel discussions on various chapters of
the PFA and their relevance to their particular ministries.
The entire PFA as well as a summary version have been translated into Bangla.
The summary version has been partially circulated within Government.
Sectoral review and needs assessment exercises began in August 1996. Twelve
ministries were selected on a priority basis. These are as follows: Social
Welfare; Education; Home; Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs; Industry;
Agriculture; Environment and Forestry; Fisheries and Livestock; Labour and
Manpower; Local Government Rural Development and Co- operatives; Health and
Family Welfare; and Information.
Considering the Platform for Action, mandate and capacity of the Ministry the
teams identified the relevant sections of the PFA for the ministry in
question; reviewed the Ministry's activities, programmes, policies and budget
allocations to identify the modifications needed, if any, to accomplish the
strategic objectives as outlined in the PFA. They also identified the
requirements in terms of resources, personnel and time to implement the
strategies. Changes in institutional structure and mandate were also
suggested.
The sectoral needs assessment exercise not only enabled the review and
assessment of the policies, programmes and projects of various sectors in the
light of the PFA and the Jakarta Plan of Action, it also reinforced the role
of the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs as the coordinating and focal
ministry for the advancement of women. It was also a means of involving the
relevant sectoral ministries fully in the process of formulation of the
national action plan, thereby securing their commitment to its implementation.
On the basis of the revised draft national plan of action, a synthesis of
pre-Beijing consultations and the sectoral reviews, the final national action
plan was drafted between December 96 and February 1997. It is presently being
reviewed and commented on and it is expected to be finalized by the end of
March, 1997.
Throughout the process the participation of individuals and organizations
outside the Government: women's organizations, human rights groups, research
organizations, private sector and professional associations was ensured.
3.2 Goals and Strategies of the National Action Plan:
Goals:
Recognizing women's present socio-economic contribution in all spheres and
gender discrimination in terms of programmes, resources and facilities, the
National Action Plan sets the following goals:
a. To make women's development an integral part of the national development
programme.
b. To establish women as equal partners in development with equal roles in
policy and decision making in the family, community and nation at large.
c. To remove legal, economic, political or cultural barriers that prevent
the exercise of equal rights by undertaking policy reforms and strong
affirmative actions.
d. To raise/create public awareness about women's differential needs,
interests and priorities and increase commitment to bring about improvements
in women's position and condition.
Strategies:
The plan emphasizes the strategy of mainstreaming of women's development into
government policies and programmes. The underlying premise of the plan is that
all sectoral ministries and agencies of the government have responsibilities
for women's development because women are a major portion of the population
that each agency exists to serve.
The role of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MOWCA) as the national
machinery is presented as a support organization to facilitate government wide
mainstreaming of a gender equality perspective in all policy areas. Its role
is mainly focused on advocacy, communication, coordination and monitoring of
implementation. The NAP envisages strengthening of MOWCA as well as other
components of the national machinery of women's development, i.e. the National
Council for Women's Development (NCWD) and WID Focal Points.
The plan offers detailed and concrete action programmes to achieve the goals.
But it is not exhaustive. It provides a guideline for the sectoral ministries
to develop more comprehensive plans for integrating women's development.
The shared responsibility for women's development by all partners in
development including various government machineries, local government
bodies, NGOs, women's organizations, research and training agencies etc. is
strongly emphasized in the action plan.
Since most issues of women's development require a multi-sectoral approach,
the NAP strongly emphasizes the need for intersectoral linkages, coordination
and collaboration.
Regarding resource allocations, attempts have been made to make the maximum
use of existing resources, undertaking reallocations where necessary. Only a
few selective actions will require additional financial and technical
resources, especially in the education and health sectors. The need for
greater transparency in budget allocations has been stressed as an action
common to all sectoral plans, making separate budget allocations for women
staff and programmes.
The NAP concentrates on the following major areas ; policy, institutional
mechanisms, skill and competencies, programme, research, linkage and
monitoring. The main strategies in each of these areas is briefly outlined
below:
Policy Formulation/ Revision and Incorporation of Women's Issues:
Several sectoral ministries have policies on what these sectors wish to
achieve, their priorities, strategies or actions. Some sectoral policies are
in the process of being formulated. Yet many of them do not have specific and
positive statements or objectives concerning women's development. In order to
develop comprehensive, integrated and sustainable institutions the NAP
proposes the formulation and enactment of sectoral policies or the revision of
existing policies to integrate and incorporate equity and equality measures
for women taking into consideration their interest, needs and priorities. The
plan of the Ministry of Home envisages a specific national policy on violence
against women adopting the PFA definition.
The NAP obligates all Ministries and Government Agencies to integrate equality
measures in their development plans, programmes and policy packages.
The NAP also proposes the development of professionally elaborated gender
sensitive codes of conduct/ ethics/ self regulatory mechanisms for such
professions as medical and media professionals, especially to have greater
respect for women and their rights, monitor action and take internal
disciplinary actions against violations of the agreed codes of conduct.
The NAP foresees formation of a body at each sectoral ministry with GO-NGO
representation to monitor policy formulation/revision and implementation as
well as dissemination of information regarding policy issues to all staff of
the relevant ministries and its agencies. The role of MOWCA is to ensure that
the sectoral plans incorporate women's needs, interest and concerns in all
sectoral policies and monitoring implementation is also stated
in the NAP.
Revision of Mandate:
Since the mandates of the sectoral ministries and their agencies do not
specifically mention their responsibility for advancement of women, the plan
proposes that the Allocation of Business/ Ordinances of the sectoral
ministries/agencies should be revised to explicitly acknowledge the role of
the ministries or their agencies in furthering the development and advancement
of women.
The Allocation of Business of MOWCA has not been amended to reflect the
specific commitments made in the PFA to developing the national focal point as
a catalyst and advocate within government. The NAP proposes that MOWCA prepare
a mission statement and revise its Allocation of Business accordingly.
Creation of awareness among all staff of the sectoral ministries about their
revised mandate and their responsibilities in furthering the advancement and
development of women has been stressed.
Women's Representation in Policy Making Bodies:
Considering the need for incorporating a gender perspective in policy
decisions the NAP proposes ensuring adequate representation of women in all
policy making bodies such as Governing Boards, Executive Committees, Local
Government Bodies and project formulation, implementation and monitoring
committees of the sectoral ministries and their agencies. In order to ensure
effective and active participation of women members in various policy making
bodies, the NAP suggests providing special orientation training to the women
members on their roles and responsibilities and the organizations' objectives
and activities.
Increasing Numbers and Proportion of Female Officers at All Levels:
Considering the low percentage of female staff at all levels the NAP
emphasizes the importance of employment and promotion of increased numbers and
percentages of women at entry, mid level and particularly at senior management
positions. Lateral entry of women at senior levels from within the government
and on contract service from outside is emphasized. To enhance the management
role and the capacity of women managers the NAP stresses the need for
management training and retraining.
Improving Working Conditions for Women:
The need for improving working condition of women in service to enable them
better carry out their work responsibilities is stressed. Improved working
conditions include providing maternity leave including leave during probation
period, creches and day care centres, adequate numbers of separate toilet
facilities, better transport facilities especially for night work and
accommodation facilities for out of station tours.
Strengthening Capacity of WID Focal Points:
To ensure effective and coordinated efforts for the implementation of the NAP
by the sectoral ministries and their agencies the NAP stresses the need to
strengthen the capacity of WID Focal Points as an important component of the
national machinery for women's advancement. The process of strengthening
includes upgrading the positions of WID Focal Points, incorporation of their
responsibilities as WID Focal Points in their job descriptions,
appointment/nomination of sub-WID Focal Points in all the agencies under the
sectoral ministries, ensuring their membership in all project planning,
implementation and monitoring committees, training of WID Focal Points,
providing support staff and facilities and establishing intra/inter ministry
coordination mechanisms.
Gender Training of Staff and Programme Beneficiaries:
Training of staff at all levels, both men and women to raise awareness about
gender, women's empowerment and human rights including providing skills
necessary to translate these concepts into programmes and projects is
proposed. Emphasis is given on the formation of internal gender integration
teams and integration of gender training into the training curriculum of the
sectoral training institutions. Gender training has also been proposed for the
beneficiary group members for the sectoral ministries working with such
groups.
Management Training of the Women Managers:
This is related to increasing the number and proportion of women in management
positions. The rational behind this is that with increased and improved skills
in management, women managers will perform well and this will encourage the
agencies to recruit more women.
Incorporation of gender specific indicators and sex-disaggregated data in
monitoring formats:
The development and strengthening of the monitoring mechanisms of the sectoral
ministries especially to incorporate gender specific indicators and sex
disaggregated data is emphasized, in order to assess the effects of programmes
and projects on men and women, make policy decisions and take corrective
actions. A number of activities have been identified which include the
identification of indicators, simplification of procedures and formats, staff
training, development of participatory evaluation and monitoring systems
including women's participation, feed back of information to field level and
to the decision makers.
Linkage and Coordination:
In order to address problems and issues related to women's development in a
more comprehensive way, the NAP strongly emphasizes the need for the
development of institutional mechanisms to promote not only interministerial
collaboration but also to establish linkages and coordination with NGOs,
human rights groups, women's organizations, legal aid agencies, professional
associations, private sector, and local government bodies.
Revision of Planning Process, Formats and Checklists:
The revision and improvement of project formats and checklists is proposed,
through a more participatory process so that all project documents reflect
the needs, interests and priorities of women.
Research:
The need for review of existing research done by various research agencies of
the sectoral ministries and outside research institutions and identification
of research needs in the field of women's development through consultation
meetings with different partners in women's development was identified.
3.3 Other Initiatives Taken:
The Government of Bangladesh, with the support of foreign development
partners, has undertaken an institutional review of its women and development
capability. The review was designed to assess whether the mechanisms,
information, skills and commitment that are required to address women's
development issues have been put into place by Government and to identify
further steps that should be taken. The review covered national planning
processes and the translation of plans into projects; national training
capability; capacity for national machinery for women's advancement and two
sectoral case studies were undertaken.
The review process began in late 1995 and a final workshop in scheduled for
April 1997.
Other programme are being undertaken by the Ministry of Women and Children
Affairs as a follow-up to the Beijing Conference: on trafficking (see Section
2.5.1), on violence against women (see Section 2.4) and to strengthen the
policy leadership and advocacy role of the Ministry.
3.4 NGO Follow-up to the Beijing Conference
Various women's organizations and NGOs were very active in the phase leading
up to the Beijing Conference. A number of them participated very actively in
the NGO Forum and some were accredited to the Conference. As a follow-up to
Beijing some organizations have undertaken new programmes while others have
strengthened or revised their existing ones. The areas of concentration
include violence against women, human rights (including training and advocacy
related to CEDAW), gender training, political participation and empowerment,
health (especially reproductive health), and the girl child. Among the
strategies adopted by these organizations are networking with international,
national and local organizations; advocacy and lobbying with policy makers;
training; media mobilization and research.
Annex - A
ALLOCATION OF BUSINESS, MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN AFFAIRS
1. National policy regarding women's welfare.
2. Programme for the welfare and development of women.
3. Matters relating to women's social and legal rights.
4. Attending to the problems and affairs relating to women.
5. Programme for the upliftment of women including their employment
opportunities.
6. Matters relating to the National Council for Women's Development (NCWD).
7. Matters relating to the Directorate for Women's Affairs.
8. Matters relating to the Bangladesh Jatiyo Mohila Sangstha and all other
voluntary organizations exclusively devoted to women's welfare.
9. Control and registration of all women's voluntary welfare organizations.
10. Dealings and agreements with international organizations in the field of
women's welfare.
11. Liaison with international organizations and enter into treaties and
agreements with other countries and world bodies relating to subjects
allotted.
12. Inquiries and statistics on any of the subjects allotted to this
Ministry.
13. All laws on subjects allotted to this Ministry.
14. Fees in respect of any of the subjects allotted to this Ministry, except
fees taken in court.
15. Matters relating to CRC and Children's Development.
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