State of women in urban local government in Bangladesh (2001)
Before the Gazette notification (the Pourashava Ordinance 1977, Ordinance No. XXVI of 1977 which was amended on 1998, July and Gazette Additional copy 22/3/1999) for municipalities and city corporations respectively, female ward commissioners were appointed by selection. For the first time Dhaka City Corporation elected 19 female ward commissioners (elected by male commissioners) for reserve seats in 1994. With a view to promote women’s participation in urban local government, the Pourashava Ordinance and City Corporation Ordinance have been introduced which are mandatory for every Pourashava and City Corporation. These ordinances stipulate that whatever the number of ward commissioner, depending on the area of the Pourashava and City Corporation; there should be reserved seats, exclusively for women equivalent to one third of the number of commissioners fixed by the government. The women ward commissioner will be elected directly. During the last 1998 local government election (Union Parishad) more than 12,000 women members were elected directly for reserved seats. In the near future, after completion of municipal election, another 887 women ward commissioner will be directly elected. Download the document from our server. BACK TO TOP

Law and Order Situation and Gender-based Violence Bangladeshi Perspective
While domestic violence against women has always been a general feature of the social structure of both rich and poor nations, women’s increased participation in outside activities has endangered her external security as well. Incidents of rape, gang rape, acid throwing, sexual harassment and violence at the work place, eve teasing and the like, have not only increased recently, but have also turned much more ominous. We already know that gender-based violence is deeply associated with the existing patriarchal social structure, which is also manifested and reproduced in the legal system of the nation-states. However, there may be other factors too such as the rapid deterioration of law and order situation or problems of governance and the like.

This research focuses on whether there exists any linkage between the increase in gender-based violence and the law and order situation. However, it does not intend to view the issue as a separate entity, excluding the existing patriarchal system. It explores whether women’s increased activities in the public sphere have jeopardized her basic security at the external environment and if so, how this has taken shape. The study also looks into the role of the law enforcing agencies vis-à-vis women security. It also attempts to look into the social response to the role of irresponsible acts of the law enforcing agencies. BACK TO TOP

Women in Bangladesh
In recent years, there has been an increasing awareness of women's productive roles, mobility and contribution to development in Bangladesh. They have been found to contribute tremendously to their households and economy and they have participated well in Bangladeshi society as teachers, lawyers, journalists, politicians and as informal workers. In 1978, the country was one of the first developing countries that established a Ministry of Women's Affairs. Moreover, the government has already prepared a National Policy for Advancement of Women and made some noteworthy progress in implementing the National Action Plan, prepared in response to the Beijing Platform for Action.

However, in spite of these achievements gender discrimination is widespread in all spheres and at all levels, as indicated by official statistics on health, nutrition, education, employment and political participation. For instance, despite the quota which ensured women's presence in local government and the National Parliament they still faced an ominous challenge. There has been a growing influence of money in Bangladeshi politics, particularly in electoral politics, which acts as a further constraint on women's political participation since fewer women have access to financial resources.

The Asian Development Bank published this country briefing paper in January 2001. Download this file in pdf format. BACK TO TOP

Voices From the Commonwealth: Women in Politics (1999)
Commonwealth Secretariat Publication
The case studies profiles 33 women in politics from 11 countries of the Commonwealth: Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Dominica, Guyana, India, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles, South Africa, and Uganda. The study illustrates the diversity of experiences from regions of the Commonwealth. The study focuses on the realities of life for those committed and courageous women who have taken the decision to take up politics. The recounting of the particular experiences emphasizes the challenges and barriers which women politicians face. At another level, the study attempts to analyze, through the life accounts of these 33 women, the different strategies that women could develop, and put into place for entry into the world of politics. These profiles demonstrate the critical role which women can play as the Commonwealth strives to achieve the goals of gender equality, development and peace for the Commonwealth into the new Millennium. Get a copy now.

The Politics of Integrating Gender to State Development Processes
This paper provides an assessment of efforts in six of the seven countries to improve public accountability to women in the development process. The paper begins with a brief theoretical discussion of feminist perspectives on the developmentalist state (PART I). It then goes on to provide an overview of some of the more prominent political, economic and social trends of the past two decades, against which efforts have been made to institutionalize gender in state development processes (PART II). In the main body of the paper (PART III), the author provides a historical and comparative analysis of efforts in the six case study countries to institutionalize gender concerns. The picture that emerges is one of extraordinarily fractured trajectories of institutionalization within the public administration.

Most of the gender units within government bureaucracy that are studied here have a mandate to pursue their agenda across other government departments — a project that is sometimes called "mainstreaming". For this they have devised a range of policy instruments (e.g. gender guidelines, gender training) intended to bring about gender-sensitive institutional, policy and operational changes across the public sector in order to make responsiveness to women's interests a routine part of each sector's activities. Despite significant efforts, the attempts to routinize gender concerns have for the most part been ineffective because gender units have been unable to provide the necessary incentives to encourage a positive reception in other departments.

Some of the critical areas for gender mainstreaming considered in the paper include the national development plan and budget which constitute important public statements expressing politically selected priorities for change and progress, and are based on a macro-economic framework designed to create the conditions under which this national vision can be realized. Efforts so far in the countries studied have failed to ensure a systematic connection between national policy commitments to the integration of gender in development and the budgetary allocations that are necessary to realize those commitments. The chronic short-staffing of gender administrative units, compounded by their weak analytical skills, has tended to contribute to this failure. Equally important, however, has been the political weakness of gender constituents outside the state. In the politics of policy-making a critical point of leverage on decision makers is popular pressure and public opinion — the presence of an active constituency. Click here to download this paper. BACK TO TOP

Bangladeshi Women and the Politics of Religion
Like most of the predominantly Moslem nations, Bangladesh has been witnessing a tremendous escalation of violence on women, provoked by the emergence and growth of power-seeking Islamic extremists. Women, who dared to venture in the public spheres, have been ostracized, deserted, denied medication, stoned, lashed and even burnt to death. But, are Islamic practices and politics really to blame?

This paper looks at the cultural specificity, social and political structures as well as the level of economic development within which Islam politics is exercised. It also tries to understand the processes through which religious extremism flourished in Bangladesh and the manner in which women become the primary target of religious politics.

For the researcher, Gitiara Nasreen, Islamist politics in Bangladesh have emerged in the wake of three processes: (1) economic crisis, including the uneven process of development and distribution of advantages between groups and classes; (2) a crisis of political legitimacy, previously a decline in popular support for the religious groups and now for the state; and (3) changes in traditional patriarchal system, with the growing visibility and the public participation of women. While it is highly doubtful that the fundamentalists will be able to achieve their goals, it is probable that we will see continued violence by frustrated activists. In the absence of fully developed, socially rooted, and credible social alternatives, the fundamentalists will continue to pose a threat. BACK TO TOP

Behind the Veil: The changing face of women in Bangladesh
From the time of birth, a Muslim woman's place in Bangladeshi society is largely pre-determined. While a son is welcomed into the world with the cry of "Allah Abkar" (God is Great), a female child receives only the whisper of the Qurannic prayer. A student from the Columbia University looks in to the situation of Bangladeshi women amidst these religious traditions and their increasing economic empowerment brought about by the various micro-lending programs instituted by international and local organizations. BACK TO TOP

The NGO Intervention and Women's Empowerment—the Bangladesh Experience
This presentation describes the experiences from the NGO intervention in women's empowerment in Bangladesh, with a focus on experiences from the field, and on development and empowerment. The topics that are dealt with are the meaning of empowerment, the growth of NGOs in Bangladesh, the relationship between NGOs and empowerment, constraints that NGOs have met in the field and the relation between empowerment and reproductive health.