The observance of the International Women's Day provides an opportunity to take stock of the progresses made and setbacks suffered by the country's women. Against the backdrop of persistent discrimination against women in almost all sectors, the UN-declared themes of the day (March 08) this year, 'Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50:50 by 2030' and 'Equal Rights for Women and Men in Economy with Commitment to Building a 50:50 Planet', as announced by Bangladesh Mahila Parishad (Bangladesh Women's Council), cannot be more appropriate in the Bangladesh context.
In spite of successive governments' spectacular promises to lift women out of the morass of myriad ills, those have largely remained undelivered. During the last one decade or so, however, women here have been able to make their presence felt in the area of economic activities. Developments are occurring in favour of rural women in the field of their self-reliance and income generation. Bangladeshi women have for some time been demonstrating their strong resolve and abilities to come out of the poverty trap. Their counterparts in the cities and towns do not lag behind. The number of urban women on employment rolls continues to rise, with pass percentage of girls in major public and higher-education examinations surpassing past records. At the same time, city-centred women entrepreneurship has been shaping into a reality.
Notwithstanding such developments, women are yet to be heartily welcomed to both rural and urban economic activities. Exclusion and male domination rule the roost on many counts. Although it sounds unpalatable, the truth is the state support has often faltered to match the expectation of women, especially in the rural areas. Had the gap not been filled up by non-government organisations (NGOs) through offering micro-credit, vast numbers of these women would have still remained bogged down in the vicious poverty cycle. There are many hazards that continue to blight the lives of women on the social plain in this country. Foremost among them is violence against them and lots of other persecutions. Given the apparently unending spate of sexual assaults on women and girl-children followed by sadistic killings in cases, the nation is enveloped by a miasmic depression. The savage and shabby treatment of women by males in society eventually makes the initiatives aimed at taking them to the door of emancipation disturbingly meaningless. It is only the echoes of rhetoric that fill the air, with women being pushed into abyss. Special days highlighting the plight of women cannot change their lot overnight, but these occasions do provide a medium to release their pent-up grievances.
Traditionally Bangladesh has for ages been a land adoring and respecting women. Mothers here play a premier role in the family. The rot of denigrating women in the family and society is a relatively recent development. It is shocking to see the unabated dowry-related deaths of women at the hands of a section of husbands. Cruelty meted out to women presumably has a lot to do with a highly complex mixture of corrupt values and deep-seated orthodoxies. This calls for multi-pronged actions to ensure women's empowerment and their effective integration into the country's development mainstream as equal partners of their male counterparts.
