Gender equality: An essential for a non-discriminatory and progressive Bangladesh

Illustration: TBS

The universal declaration of Human Rights, human rights covenants, ILO Convention (190) as well as our own constitution entrenched "the women's rights as equal human rights" in all spheres of the economic, social, civic, political and cultural domains. 

However, its true reflection is far away on ground as the pervasive gender disparity and gender-based violence in all forms prevail across the societies.

Bangladesh may struggle to achieve the aspirations set by the 1971 Liberation War— revived by the recent July uprising, if we can't eliminate all forms of inequality and violence to establish a gender equal, safe, and inclusive environment for women.

The "Net Three Zeros" concept— Zero Poverty, Zero Unemployment, and Net Zero Carbon Emissions— is a powerful vision with great potential to uplift human society. While it aims to lift people above the poverty line, it may not fully address relative poverty, as wealth accumulation is still encouraged by our current capitalist and often corrupt systems.

Achieving this vision will depend on fair access to resources, services, and opportunities, along with gender and social justice to ensure no one is left behind.

Despite being educated and skilled, millions of women and girls lack opportunities for jobs or business due to limited market capacity and patriarchal social norms.

Women manage various family responsibilities, including raising children and caring for all family members. They provide unpaid and unrecognised care work around the clock.

Women participate in keeping the economic wheel running with their selfless reproductive or care works that they provide to their families. Despite social and cultural challenges, they also contribute significantly to the national economy and social change through wage employment and self-employment in both formal and informal sectors.

Working women generally receive attention and respect from society and family. They enjoy certain social and financial rights, including control over resources. In contrast, women in care work often lack access to resources, economic rights, and decision-making power in the family and community levels.

This deprivation of rights leaves them vulnerable, leading to exclusion, neglect, emotional and physical abuse, and disrespect throughout their lives.

In the formal economy, especially in the public sector and some private sectors like INGOs, a similar pay scale has been adopted to ensure gender parity in payment and benefits, which is commendable. However, noticeable disparities still exist in access to opportunities and development.

The working environment is often unsupportive for women, who face privacy issues and sexism. Power imbalances between male and female employees, a culture of silence regarding gender-based violence, and a lack of non-sexist attitudes contribute to an abusive and exploitative workplace.

The informal economy contributes significantly to gender-based disparity, violence, and exploitation, especially in agriculture, small businesses, construction, and domestic work. Women workers often face financial exploitation and sexual abuse due to a lack of protective policies.

Discrimination against women begins with families' expectation of baby boys. Subsequently, boys receive more attention and support throughout their lives, compared to girls.

During adolescence and youth, boys gain more freedom, mobility, and chances to participate in social, sports, and educational activities. In contrast, girls face restrictions that limit their freedom and social interactions due to cultural norms and values.

In adulthood, pervasive gender-based discrimination, exploitation, abuse and violation the women face everywhere of the society including at family and at work in all contexts and in all forms due to patriarchal social norms.

Women who have not participated in economic activities become vulnerable in older age due to a lack of property and livelihood options, often because they are deprived of property rights. This forces them to rely on others, especially their sons, for support and care in their old age.

Many people today prefer to live in nuclear families, leaving elderly parents (especially mothers) without a proper place to live with dignity. The lifelong care and support that mothers provide often go unrecognised, and they need support and care as they age.

Violence against women and girls, especially sexual violence like child marriage, forced marriage, dowry, and rape, reflects a troubling situation that girls face in the country.

To advance gender equality and empower women, we need transformative actions instead of just transactional ones. This means dismantling discriminatory laws, norms, policies, and programs. Approaches like gender mainstreaming and gender-responsive planning, budgeting, and programming have shown significant improvements in the conditions and status of women and girls by placing them at the centre of decision-making.

To promote gender equality and empower women in the new Bangladesh, we must eliminate gender disparities in access to resources, wealth, and services. This includes economic, social, political, and cultural services. We also need to reduce gender-based violence and enhance the decision-making and influence of women and girls.

To create an equal and non-discriminatory Bangladesh, both state and non-state actors should focus on three key areas of gender inequality: the unequal roles of men and women in reproductive and economic work, unequal power relations, and the exclusion of women from rights, entitlements, and opportunities.

They should prioritise gender policy, planning, and programming. This means placing women and girls— especially the most marginalised and vulnerable— at the centre of all laws, policies, plans, and programs by using inclusive and representative approaches.

An inclusive, transparent, and accountable governance system is crucial for respecting, promoting, and protecting women's rights as equal human rights. This is essential for creating a just and sustainable future, as it ensures that everyone has a safe space in society to hold those in power accountable.

Building leadership, self-esteem, confidence, skills, and abilities in women and girls is essential for helping them claim their rights and entitlements effectively.

Engaging men and boys as champions of gender equality and justice in all areas of society is an effective strategy. It's important for them to believe in equality and to act as allies by being not only non-sexist and non-violent but also actively opposing such acts.

A gender-balanced curriculum and teaching materials that include concepts like positive masculinism and feminism are essential at all levels of education. They will help shape future generations' attitudes and understanding of women's rights as human rights, which is necessary for building a better, peaceful, and inclusive society.

It is not only a demand of time but also a pivotal measure to rebuild a just, non-discriminatory and progressive Bangladesh— a priority of the current reforms of the interim government. 

Md Siddique Ali. Sketch: TBS

Md Siddique Ali is the former country director (interim) and programme manager, education at the BRAC International in Afghanistan. He worked at several positions at Concern Worldwide and UCEP Bangladesh for over 25 years. Email: siddiqueewu@gmail.com 

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.