Commission proposes 300 reserved seats for women with direct polls
The commission also recommended to ensure equal inheritance rights for men and women
Highlights:
- Commission proposes general and women's reserved seats in each constituency
- Upper house proposed with equal male-female nominations by parties
- Strict enforcement of RPO provisions on women's participation urged
- Each local government ward should have a general and women's seat
- Religious family laws must be amended to ensure gender equality
- Defamatory language against women must be eliminated in all sectors
The Women's Affairs Reform Commission has proposed increasing the number of reserved seats for women in parliament to 300, with all seats to be filled through direct elections, along with ensuring equal inheritance rights for men and women.
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Currently there are 50 reserved seats for women in the parliament with indirect election.
In its report submitted to Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus today (19 April), the commission recommended doubling the parliamentary seats to 600 to increase women's representation.
It also proposed allocating one general seat and one directly elected women's seat in each constituency.
The report states that if an upper house is created in the National Parliament, half of its seats should be filled by political parties, who must nominate an equal number of men and women. The other half should be filled with non-partisan representatives, including five representatives from women's rights groups.
The commission has also recommended creating an enabling environment to ensure greater participation of women in public spaces and political activities. It proposed making compliance with the Representation of the People Order (RPO) provisions on women's participation mandatory.
The report further suggests that at the local government level, each ward should have one general seat and one reserved seat for women to guarantee women's representation. This arrangement would be a temporary special measure, applicable for the next three local government elections.
"[Bangladesh's] 300 parliamentary seats are not sufficient in proportion to the population. Many may call the proposal for 600 seats absurd, but for us, it is not," said Shireen Parveen Haque, chairperson of the Women's Affairs Reform Commission.
The commission made 433 recommendations across 15 key areas in its report.
Shireen Parveen said, "We have divided our recommendations into three categories – those that can be implemented during the tenure of the interim government, those that can be achieved by the next government, and those that address the eternal aspirations of the women's movement for freedom."
Ensuring women's equal access to resources
The report states that women's rights to khas land allotments and forest resources must be ensured. It also recommends registering women as fisherfolk to formally recognise them and amending government water body (jalmahal) lease policies to guarantee women's participation. The commission believes these reforms can be implemented during the tenure of the interim government.
The commission also made several recommendations for the next elected government, including amending Muslim, Hindu, and Christian personal laws to establish gender equality and strictly enforcing the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 2017.
It further recommended issuing an ordinance to ensure equal rights for women of all religions in matters of marriage, divorce, inheritance, and maintenance, as well as establishing an independent Women's Commission to protect women's rights.
Additionally, the commission called for reforms to rape laws to ensure impartial justice and law enforcement, regardless of gender, age, religion, nationality, language, or disability.
Call to eliminate defamatory terms against women
The report recommends eliminating the use of defamatory terms toward women or any individual in official documents, government and private sector language, and writing.
It also recommends ensuring six months or 24 weeks of fully paid maternity, childbirth, and adoption leave across all sectors. The commission has proposed amending the labour law to change "maternity welfare" to "maternity rights" and to prohibit job termination during pregnancy and postnatal leave, along with other necessary provisions.
Additionally, the report recommends guaranteeing two weeks of fully paid paternity leave across all sectors. It also suggests recognising domestic workers and sex workers as labourers under the labour law. The commission believes these reforms can be implemented during the tenure of the interim government.
The Women's Affairs Reform Commission's report also envisions providing more opportunities for women to migrate for work, with decent wages and working conditions, and access to international labour and migration laws, ensuring a better work environment and dignity than they currently experience.
