Women Human Rights Development in Bangladesh: A Decolonizing Alternative Approach

Dr. Kazi Abdur Rouf

Paper presented Decolonizing the Sprit: Towards a Transgressive Pedagogy

6th Annual Decolonizing ConferenceCentre for Integrative Anti-Racism Studies

University of TorontoCanada

Indo-pak subcontinent Colonized by different rulers

• For centuries (11th- 20th century) Indo-Pak-Bangladesh subcontinent ruled by • Mogul Emperors

• Dutch, Portuguese

• British rulers

• Globalization (Metropolis centers)

Problems/Lack of Human Capability Services• Human capability services: education, health and skills development

services are not generated

• Money lenders exploitations

• Lack of access to financial services especially access to credit • • No income generating programs for rural women

• Gender inequality: Inequality in family space and community space

• Lack of equality in family/kinship resources

• Inequity in wages

Problems/Lack of Human Capability Services

• Forced marriage, dowry marriages and teen marriages • Women trafficking

• Depend on male partners income

• Violence against women

• Affects the basic human rights of these women

Consequences

• Poor women suffer most in poverty, feminization of poverty is increasing

• Largely impeded their socio-economic development• Depend on others to survive• Patriarchal domination through culture, norms, values, customs,

traditions and religion.• Lack of physical, social and cultural security; no social safety net• Lack of physical mobility, economic, cultural and social mobility • Living in miserable and unhygienic conditions• Suffering from injustice and exploitations• Resulting inequality of women human rights

External factors•Post-colonization effect•Globalization•Free market economy•Structural adjustment•Legal laws and systems: court, police and other judicial agencies•Religious fundamentalists customs •Weak civil society•Lack of good governance •Patriarchy

Factors effecting women human rights

Factors effecting women human rights

Internal factors

Gender inequality in family values• No decision making power• Subordination of male members of the family• No self-actualization

• Islamic sharia law•Religious family laws

•Customary heritage laws• No land property rights• Patrimonial customs• Dowry

•Resulted no status and no power in the family and in the society

Factors effecting women human rights, continue-2

Internal factorsPurdah : Confine women within home•Discouraged from working outside of the home•Discourage women’s physical mobility outside of home, market and other public places•Family decision making practices•Traditional family values•Gender preferences•Stereotyping mindset• Isolated from community networking

Bangladesh Feminism Perspective

• Bangladesh 75% rural women human rights sufferings are about fulfilling their survival needs and dowry

• Fulfilling basic need services: food, shelter, clothing, education, health and safety

• Focus on massive human rights extension education extension

• Poverty reduction

After Independence Bangladesh• An innovative social development program, collateral free group based micro

credit scheme has developed for disadvantaged women

• GB Sixteen Decisions

• Creates opportunities for these women to earn themselves, educate themselves and overcome poverty

• Makes a platform for these neighborhoods women discuss their socio-economic life, exchange their problems and ideas

• Husband and wife, bothers/sisters, mother and father together involved in income generating activities

• Act for fulfilling their family members basic needs, and for their economic, social and cultural liberation

• Become economic actors, community actors, social/civic actors in the family and in the community

Western Feminism• Western women human rights are about women’s equality in their

family space and public space with males

• Inequity in wages

• They fight for against patriarchy for their equality rights for votes and for equity in the workplace

• The west consciousness raising feminism strategies :

• Women sit together and discuss their daily life experiences

• Gender socially constructed

Western Feminism -2

• Gender discrimination

• Mainly focus on dismantling of patriarchy

• Share violence suffering

• Share sufferings stories in groups regarding unequal status, voices and choices in the society compare to males

• They share their sufferings from male torturing, battering, sexual abuse

and male subordination.

Comparison of Western Feminism and Contextual Feminism • The women liberation strategies should not be uniform for all women

• Western feminism and Bangladesh women human rights development strategies are different

• It needs to be contextual and act on community perspectiveComparison

• Story telling vs platform creation

• Consciousness raising strategy vs local dialogue process

• Women individual development vs Family focus development

• Patriarchy vs total development

• •

Alternative approaches

•WIB approaches•WAD approaches•GAD approaches •EAD approaches •CAD approaches

Women human rights development for Bangladeshi underprivileged women-continue 2

•Facilitate link between women micro borrowers with other community development agencies/women advocacy programs in Bangladesh

•Joint taskforce program for violence against disadvantaged women through

• Department of Women Affairs, • Palli Karma Shahauk Foundation (PKSF) • Credit Development Forum (CDF)• Other taskforce action programs through other apex organizations

•Direct legal action violence against rural women in Bangladesh•Law enforcement at the village level•Post-follow up of the consequences of the legal action•Open victims centers at the District and Up-zilla (sub-district) levels

Questions/Suggestions

Thank You