The long and winding road to end discrimination against women

It has been 41 years since the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) was adopted. Bangladesh ratified CEDAW in 1984 but with reservations about certain articles that uphold a state's responsibility towards women and their right to social and economic advantages, and address discrimination in matrimonial and family laws.

It's about time the government adopted these articles as these are fundamental to ensuring equal rights for women and girls who are subject to various forms of discrimination and violence. Ratification of these articles would commit government ownership as a first step. Then further advocacy would be required to ensure enforcement practices the impact of which would trickle down in our society, where women and girls continue to face practical challenges when it comes to living a life with dignity.

A few examples will shed light on the nature of problems and biases facing women and girls in their everyday life.

Violence on the rise

Rohima (not her real name) received a call from her employer informing her that she doesn't need to come to work because of the pandemic. She is a domestic worker living in a slum. Her husband is a rickshaw puller and found himself out of work after the city went under lockdown in late March. When she was approached by an NGO with cash support to help her in these trying times, her complaint was that her husband beats her every day, because he is "stressed" owing to his being out of work. When advised to call a help line that can support her, she expressed her fear that he would beat her even more if he knew that she had complained.

Thousands of women went through this kind of violence at home during the lockdown, but lacked the courage to speak up against it. Even though there are laws giving them protection on paper, many women like Rohima opt not to complain as our still largely patriarchal society "allows" this behaviour. Violence against women saw a 69 percent increase between 2019 and the Covid-19 crisis in 2020, according to findings by BRAC's Human Rights and Legal Aid Services.

Reduced wages for women

Henna is a construction worker and often works 10-12 hours a day to make ends meet. However, her daily wage is almost half her male counterpart's. When asked, she says that she earns less because she is a woman. Henna has accepted her fate even though she puts in the same effort as the men in her profession. When her employer was approached, he said that women are often less "productive". They also miss work when their children and older people in their family are unwell. For men, this is not an issue; thus he thinks it is justified that Henna gets less wage. This is the practice, he said.

While about 84 percent of people work in the informal economy in Bangladesh, the wage gap is more prominent in this sector as wage is unregulated. Even though women produce the same amount of work, with the same hours spent, they end up being paid less, without any additional benefits either.

Do women have the right to rent, let alone have equal share of property?

Onnonna, a young filmmaker, lives in Dhaka city with two other flatmates. The apartment's guard is her biggest guardian! He seems always curious about what Ononna wears and when she comes home. The other day, he refused to open the gate as she returned home at midnight from a shooting assignment. The guard's enabler is the landlord himself, who doesn't like Ononna's lifestyle and often asks her why she is still single. She is fed up and now looking for another place to rent.

Article 2c of CEDAW (which Bangladesh has yet to ratify) clearly highlights the need to "establish legal protection of the rights of women on an equal basis with men and to ensure through competent national tribunals and other public institutions the effective protection of women against any act of discrimination." Unless these basic principles are upheld by the country's law, women will continue to be the subject of such discrimination and harassment.

Dilara's story is also a telling example of such discrimination. Dilara was attacked on her Facebook page when she mentioned that India's Supreme Court gave equal inheritance rights to both son and daughter. Immediately, religious references were brought up. She had to answer to about a hundred messages justifying her stand. Many, mostly men, were unhappy that this issue was even being discussed, as the law in this regard is governed by religion, and thus justified. In reality, Dilara has been deprived of her rightful share of her father's property and was fighting her own brothers in court.

Marriage, divorce and protection after divorce

Beauty was married for 14 years and decided to leave her husband as he was abusive. Often he would hit her and their children. So she decided to leave him and claimed alimony to support their children. It has been three years since, and she is yet to get any support from her husband. She is unable to go to court as even in her own house her family thinks she is a burden and they would want her to go back to her husband. Her family is also open to her remarrying but she is stalling the process, as her ex-husband has threatened to take her children away from her. According to the law, the legal guardian of Beauty's children is their father and he can take them away if she marries again.

Our family laws are still rooted in patriarchy, and often guarded in the name of "religious sentiment". It must be acknowledged that Bangladesh has achieved notable progress in women's empowerment as a collective, but the struggles of individual women—especially the discrimination they continue to face in daily life—remain largely unaddressed. Bold steps are needed to counter these deep-seated problems and to establish women's rights. The government must take this fight forward and ratify the CEDAW in its entirety.

Tasmiah T. Rahman works at the Skills Development Programme of BRAC. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessary reflect her organisation's position.