Why women are neglected in the discussion of state reform

On 5 August 2024, the long 15-year rule of the Awami League government came to an end due to a mass uprising by students and the public. The 'Students against Discrimination' movement, which originated from the demand for quota reforms in government jobs, quickly became a symbol of the fight against discrimination and oppression. It evolved into a single-point demand for the fall of the government. The spontaneous participation of students from public and private educational institutions, men and women from various professions, people of different gender identities, persons with disabilities, and people of various ethnic and religious backgrounds played a vital role in this movement. Particularly, the courageous presence of women added a new dimension to this movement.

In the context of reshaping the country under the interim government, the most urgent issue that has come up for discussion is reform. Alongside, another topic that is being widely discussed is an inclusive social system. However, in the post-5 August period, we have seen that women and female coordinators of the movement seem to be gradually becoming invisible from most initiatives and discussions. This raises the question, will the discourse on state reforms be able to pronounce the share and participation of approximately 51 per cent of women in the total population of Bangladesh in terms of state settlement and distribution of facilities? Will it be able to include unresolved issues regarding women's rights over the past 53 years of the independence of Bangladesh in the state reform agenda?

In the post-5 August period, the most discussed issue in state reforms is constitutional reform. A committee on constitutional reform has already been formed. Various articles of the 1972 Constitution of Bangladesh, such as 19(1), 19(3), 28(1), and 28(2), under the universal principles, broadly and securely address the equality and equal participation of women in all spheres. However, the complexity lies in the fact that while the constitution speaks of equal status for women alongside men in all state and public life, it also recognizes Sharia or religious law in personal and family life, which is unequal for women and varies by religion. For example, four specific aspects of a woman's life—marriage, divorce, child custody, and inheritance—are governed by family law, where women cannot enjoy equal rights with men. There is also a difference between one religion and another. So, isn't the discriminatory provision of family law completely contradictory to Article 28(1) of the Constitution, which states that "the State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth"?

Although Bangladesh ratified the global convention 'Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)' in 1984, it still retains reservations on Articles 2 and 16.1(c). Article 2 of CEDAW obliges the state to take necessary legal reform measures, including constitutional amendments, to change and abolish any law, policy, provision, custom, or practice that creates gender inequality, and Article 16.1(c) speaks of equal rights in marriage and divorce. The reservation on CEDAW has not yet been lifted on the grounds that no provision can be made that conflicts with Sharia law. However, several Muslim-majority countries, including Turkey, Yemen, Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia, and Kuwait, have ratified CEDAW without any reservations. Additionally, ensuring a uniform family code for all citizens of all religions in the country has been a long-standing demand of the women's movement. Furthermore, in response to the demand for an Anti-Discrimination Act, the previous government published a draft, which faced much criticism due to various inconsistencies, and the initiative stalled.

Since the state is constitutionally committed to implementing equal democratic rights for all citizens, it is desirable that the state prioritizes the issue of equal rights for women in the agenda of constitutional reform and takes initiatives to abolish all discriminatory provisions in family law and lift all reservations from the CEDAW convention.

According to the World Economic Forum's Gender Gap Report 2024, Bangladesh holds the top position in South Asia in terms of achieving gender equality. Although Bangladesh's position against various gender indicators is promising, the picture of violence against women in Bangladesh is extremely disappointing. According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics' Violence Against Women Survey 2015, 72.6% of women experience one or more forms of violence by their husbands at least once in their marital life. The rate of child marriage in Bangladesh is 51%, the highest in South Asia. According to the police headquarters, over 27,000 rape cases and over 60,000 incidents of violence against women have been reported in police stations in the last five years. Although the number of rape cases has increased every year, only 24 people have been convicted in the last five years (Kaler Kantho, 16 February 2023).

In 2009, the High Court Division of the Supreme Court issued a directive defining sexual harassment against women, girls, and children as a crime and instructed every government, private workplace, and educational institution to report on sexual harassment against women. However, the reality of the last 15 years is that this directive is not being followed in most cases. According to the University Grants Commission, sexual harassment complaint investigation committees have been formed in 45 out of 55 public universities and 97 out of 114 private universities (Azra Humaira, The Daily Star, 21 March 21 2024).

In the post-July-August movement state, when the discourse on reforms and the demand for inclusion is being strongly voiced, have we heard anywhere about the need to change the social attitude towards violence against women? Instead, we saw the mob assault on three female tourists in Cox's Bazar on 12 September 12 (Dhaka Tribune, 14 September 2024). On 21 September a female mountaineer was publicly attacked and assaulted in broad daylight in Dhaka (The Daily Star, 21 September 2024). In the political questions arising from the political change after 5 August, it is essential that reform agenda must prioritize legal, administrative, and social initiatives to overcome the terrifying situation of violence against women.

According to economists from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), by eliminating gender discrimination in the workplace and increasing women's participation in the economy, Bangladesh can increase its GDP growth by 40% (The Daily Star, 16 June 2024). According to recent data from BBS, women's participation in the workplace in Bangladesh increased by 9.5% between 2003 and 2016, which is higher compared to neighboring regions. During this period, women's participation in the workplace was 36%. In 2022, it increased to 42.7%. On the other hand, women's participation in the informal sector is 92%, where no standard for decent work environment has yet been established. Women's participation as entrepreneurs in the country is only seven percent (World Bank).

The garment sector, where women's participation made Bangladesh a global example of women's development, saw a significant decline in women's participation in  post-COVID period. To know the current reasons and the exact percentage of women's participation in the workplace, a labour survey is urgently needed.

Ensuring equal pay for equal work, providing training, skills, and equal opportunities for women in jobs, ensuring reproductive health services for women, reforming labor laws, and accelerating the actual participation and empowerment of women by protecting all rights under existing laws are now extremely necessary. While the Constitution grants women equal rights in all spheres of the public life, will the present government take up the challenge of not only enacting laws but also bringing them on the agenda of social change?

The amount of violence, harassment, and humiliation women face daily while moving freely on the streets has a significant impact on women's participation in the labour force. Does the current government's reform agenda have plans to find ways to address this and take appropriate measures soon? In this regard, keeping in mind the 2009 High Court directive on preventing sexual harassment in workplaces and educational institutions, it is necessary to quickly enact a law to prevent and protect against sexual harassment.

In the Political Empowerment sub-index of the Global Gender Gap Index 2023, Bangladesh ranked seventh among 146 countries. According to Article 65 of the Constitution of Bangladesh, 50 out of 350 seats in the National Parliament are reserved for women. The issue of direct participation of women in elections has been discussed for a long time. However, just as we have seen fewer women directly contesting the 300 seats, no direct voting system has yet been established for the 50 reserved seats. On the other hand, at the local government level, each of the 4,480 Union Parishads has three reserved seats for women. At this level, only 0.79% of women; only 44 women were nominated for leadership positions compared to 5,541 men.

The main goal of the current interim government is to organize a free and fair election through various reforms to uphold and re-establish the democratic environment of the country. In the reform discussions, it is very important to know the political parties' plans regarding the participation of women in their committees under the Representation of the People (Amendment) Order (2009) and take measures accordingly. It is noteworthy that this order requires political parties to reserve at least 33% of committee positions for women. However, there is no updated information on the current number of women in any party.

We see the massive participation of women in the student-public movement as a continuation of the women's political rights movement from the pre-independence era. But with the immense enthusiasm and ‘participation’ of women in the recent mass movement and in past, have we ensured their 'representation' in the same way? In our political life, will we only see women as 'participants' in times of crisis, or will we see them as 'equal partners' and 'representatives' in nation-building—this is now a very important consideration.

As a democratic country, are we fully prepared to ensure the equal human rights of women by fully realizing their hopes, aspirations, and dreams? We want to be optimistic, and therefore we expect that a 'Women's Rights Commission' will soon be formed in the ongoing reform process to ensure the participation and voice of women at all levels and to encourage political parties to increase women's representation.

* Farhana Hafiz is a gender analyst, Shammin Sultana, is a gender analyst, Jyotirmoy Barua is a lawyer of the Supreme Court and Sabina Parveen is also a gender analyst