Coordinated efforts needed to protect women, girls during pandemic
Child marriage and violence against women are on a rise during the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic. With no access to proper healthcare, women and girls face all sorts of health risks including unwanted pregnancies. Concerned persons have stressed the need for coordinated efforts at a government and non-government level to ensure the rights and health safety of women and girls.
These comments were made by government and non-government officials, health experts, women organisers, teachers and youth representatives, during a virtual roundtable on Saturday regarding ‘COVID-19: Ensuring health rights for women and girls.’
The meeting was organised by Prothom Alo and the Population Services and Training Centre (PSTC), with support from the Netherlands embassy in Bangladesh and the Unite for Body Rights (UBR) alliance.
Director general of the family planning Shahan Ara Banu said due to Covid, normal socio-economic life had been hit hard. Staying at home and financial problems were creating mental stress. This was leading to abuse too.
She said there was need for initiative to be taken in this regard at a government and non-government level. Men would also have to come forward to ensure women and girl’s healthcare and their rights. She said that despite the limited communication facilities, her office was ensuring health services for women and girls in remote areas by means of volunteers.
Senior consultant (Gender and SRHR) of the Netherlands Embassy, Mashfiqua Zaman, said the pandemic has created many problems outside of the health issue as well. In many families the men have become unemployed. Under financial and mental stress, they are turning violent against women and girls in the family. Discussions at a government and non-government level were needed to address this crisis.
The UNFPA representative in Dhaka, Asa Torkelsson said that Bangladesh ranks high in the gender-based violence that has arisen globally due to the pandemic. She said that damaging practices such as child marriage had been spurred. Many girls were not in school.
An unprecedented challenge had emerged globally, she said, adding that it was essential to take measures in order to ensure the safety of women and girls and also for reproductive health. Maternal mortality rates, unaddressed family planning demands and gender-based violence would have to be brought down to zero.
In the opening address, Prothom Alo’s associate editor Abdul Quayum said that the COVID-19 outbreak has placed the burden of extra housework on women, given rise to child marriage and also increased violence against women. Unless women and girls’ safety could be ensured, there would be a detrimental impact on the society and the economy.
Presenting the keynote at the meeting, PSTC’s executive director Nur Mohammad said unwanted pregnancies and unsafe deliveries has increased during the pandemic. As health service providers were preoccupied with worked related to COVID-19, women and girls were not receiving any assistance regarding reproductive health and gender violence.
Highlighting UNFPA’s global report, he said if the pandemic lingered on for six more months, 47 million women in low and mid income countries would be deprived of modern birth control services. This may lead to the birth of 30 million children.
Director (Maternal and Child Health) of the family planning directorate, Mohammad Sharif, said even though many field level workers are afflicted with COVID-19, women and children are still being provided with services. People’s representatives are being included in initiatives for virtual campaigns for the safety of adolescents in 285 upazilas.
USAID’s health expert Riad Mahmud said that the development partners were working with the government in this time of the pandemic. They were assisting in training field workers in testing for the virus, surveillance, prevention of virus transmission and other services as well as providing protective equipment where needed.
Country representative of Population Council, Obaidur Rab, stressed on the need of information collection and dissemination. He said it will not be possible for government officials alone to prevent child marriage. A change in family and social mindset was essential.
Executive director of Bangladesh Nari Progati, Rokeya Kabir, said that COVID-19 has brought to light many errors in the prevailing system. There is need to decentralise the prevailing system for accurate data collection and services.
Professor of Dhaka University’s population sciences department Mohammad Billal Hossain said, information flow must continue though the digital system and this will make decision making easier.
PSTC (Gender and governance) component manager Kaniz Gofrani Quraishi said, it was essential to change social mindsets in order to prevent violence against women and girls.
Neelima Nasrin, newly appointed to PSTC, said that youth must be included alongside the senior in this work. The youth must be given opportunity to apply their ideas.
UBR PSTC team leader Anita Sharif Chowdhury said, the local people would have to be included in the efforts to prevent child marriage and gender violence during the pandemic.
Youth representative from Gazipur, Zahidul Islam, said men’s awareness needed to be mobilised by apprising them about women and girls sexual and reproductive health.
Samia Afreen, youth representative from Chattogram, said that many incidents of child marriage and violence against women can be prevented by including youth is various initiatives.
The meeting was moderated by Prothom Alo’s assistant editor Firoz Chowdhury.