Women face systemic discrimination despite progress in many areas, speakers at a webinar held recently said.
Organized by the Gender Justice Forum on ‘Gender Mainstreaming in Bangladesh’, the online conference was attended by educators and legal experts.
Professor Dr Syeda Sultana Razia of the Department of Chemical Engineering, BUET attended as a special guest where she emphasised the importance of gender mainstreaming with a view to achieving social justice.
Although significant progress has been made in increasing women’s participation in the fields of education, maternal health and employment, she noted that much needs to be done to address the issue of insecurity and violence against women, inadequate access to energy as well as limited access to vocational and skill development centres.
Professor Dr Nazmul Haque Robi of Ispahani Islamia attending as a discussant emphasised undertaking coordinated and concerted measures to reduce gender inequality.
Barrister Imran Siddiq, Advocate of the Supreme Court pointed out that there are quite a number of laws which are inherently discriminatory and undermine gender equality. He also stated that the Supreme Court has generally taken a robust approach to the protection of women’s rights and has struck down laws that discriminated on the basis of gender.
The program was moderated by Azizun Nahar, Assistant Professor of the Department of Law and Human Rights, University of Asia Pacific.
