Women in Bangladesh should be given a greater role in making decisions on financial matters as it directly affects their empowerment, speakers said at a dialogue on Wednesday.
The dialogue, titled “Break the Bias for a Gender-Equal World,” was organized by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) in marking the International Women’s Day.
Panellists at the dialogue said women sometimes even lose control of their monthly salaries as male family members, including husbands, often operate their bank accounts.
“Old women cannot always take decisions on how to spend the government assistance given to them as they are dominated by male relatives,” they also said.
Professor Rounaq Jahan, distinguished fellow of CPD, chaired the dialogue, while Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman, chairperson of Brac and a former advisor to the caretaker government, spoke as the special guest.
CPD Executive Director Fahmida Khatun, while moderating the discussion, said bias creates discrimination, which in turn leads to discrimination and inequality.
So, in order to have a sustainable, and inclusive society, there needs to be gender equality, she said.
“In Bangladesh, we have seen that over the last five decades, there has been much progress in all areas — economy, society and in the political arena. And women have also progressed a lot. Their participation in the labour force has increased. Their participation in the political arena has also increased,” she noted.
However, Khatun said, Bangladesh has yet to achieve gender equality.
“In order to have gender equality in a society, we need to keep our focus on that at the centre of our policies, be those legal, social or economic policies,” she said.
For example, she said, the country does not need a separate budget. Gender equality should be integrated in each and every bill.
“Every ministry, each and every department, should have its own gender budget which will ensure women’s equality and equal access to resources,” she said.
Barrister Rashna Imam, managing partner of Akhtar Imam and Associates, said that as a nation, Bangladesh has a long way to go in terms of women empowerment.
“In the last 20 years of my professional life as a lawyer in Bangladesh. I have come across many laws that are discriminatory in one form or another against women,” she said, referring to rape and inheritance laws.
“It is shocking that we still have a provision that exempts marital rape from offensive rape… We still have a section in the evidence act that allows admissibility of character evidence in rape trials to destroy the credibility of the rape victim’s testimony,” she said.
She also said that the legal profession is completely male dominated as there is very low representation of women in the top tiers of the bar or the judiciary.
“The only way to change this would be to have female leaders in the bar. If we do not have women in leadership positions, the atmosphere is not going to change. Because no one really has our interest in mind,” she also said.
Alexandra Berg von Linde, ambassador of Sweden to Bangladesh, said that to effectively tackle the problem of gender inequality, everyone needs to be engaged.
“Women’s empowerment is not a women’s issue. We need the active involvement of men and boys,’ she said.
She also said that women empowerment is a part of sustainability.
“Sustainability includes many different aspects of society. It is about the eradication of power and hunger. It is about ensuring the lasting protection of the planet and natural resources. It is about achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. But ultimately, it is about realizing the rights for all. And women rights are human rights. For Sweden, this is a key component in realising sustainable development,” the ambassador said.
Linde also noted that the Covid-19 pandemic has contributed to a severe backsliding on women’s rights.
“We know that when women’s economic empowerment increases, society as a whole benefits. Distributing resources in an equal way and investing in women’s economic empowerment. It’s not only the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do for any society,” she added.
Among others, Syed Nasim Manzur, director of the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) and Managing Director of Apex Footwear; Dr Firdausi Qadri, emeritus scientist at ICDDRB; Taslima Akter Lima, president of the Bangladesh Garments Sramik Sanghati and Rizvana Hredita, COO of Hydroquo+, also addressed the event.
