Speakers at a roundtable stated that the huge economic contribution made by women in society who work in the informal employment sector is not recognized as it should be, resulting in status and dignity crisis for them.
They also said recognition must boost the dignity of women in the family as well as in society.
Economists, women and media activists made the observation at the roundtable on highlighting contribution of women to raise their status jointly organised by Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF) and the Daily Star at its conference room in the capital yesterday.
The MJF has been conducting a nationwide campaign “equality through dignity” to change the mindset of the general people.
Executive Director of the MJF Shaheen Anam presented a keynote paper which depicted how women play a significant role in the economic development of the country and how women are subjected to various forms of violence.
Quoting Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), the paper reads 87% of women experiences some kind of violence by her spouce while 65% of married women experience physical violence.
According to Mahila Parishad, the national woman’s organisation, some 2,208 women were victims to some kind of violence between January 1 to June 30, 2014 this year so far.
Recently, a Unicef study revealed that Bangladesh tops the list in abuse of adolescent girls mostly through child marriage.
Director of news at Channel I Shaikh Shiraj said paddy and rice production from cultivating to marketing are processed in 23 phases and of them, 17 phases are completed by women. However, women are not getting the economic recognition, even though they greatly contribute to food security.
In Rajshahi, a man gets a wage of Tk280 per day while a women gets Tk180 for the same work.
“When I asked the owner, why do you practice such discrimination? The owner replied because she is a woman”, said Shaikh.
The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Research Director Fahmida Khatun said unrecognition of woman’s contribution is universal. According to Unicef, women spend two-third of their time on food production, but their total global income is only 10%.
According to a CPD survey, 50% of women said they wanted to do work in the formal sector so that they get some respect in the family, she said.
CPD Executive Director Mustafizur Rahman said most of the women do informal work and they do not get any honour.
Salma Khan, a member of Women for Women, said Bangladesh has improved in various areas including health, education and reducing child mortality, and most of these are contributed by women.
Executive Director of the Bangladesh National Women Lawyers’ Association Salma Ali said, “We have to recognise the contribution of female migrant workers, and ensure safe migration”.
Habibunnesa from Nari Paksha said, “Every woman should be recognised and we need to fight cultural stigma and the media can play a vital role in establishing women’s right.
Baishakhi TV CEO Monjurul Ahsan Bulbul said the politicians should come forward to recognise the contributions of women to the national economy.
Speaking as chief guest Women and Children Affairs Secretary Tariqul Islam said, “We want to recognise the contributions of women. Statistics Division has been working to assess the contribution of women to the GDP, he said.