নারীর অধিকার ও সম্মান প্রতিষ্ঠায় হৃদয় রুপান্তর প্রয়োজন

 

“আমার স্বামী যখন আমাকে নির্যাতন করে, তখন আমি মনে করি আমি সেটা আমার কোন ভুলের পরিণাম”—এমন কথা বিবেকবান পুরুষ ও নারীর কাছে ভয়ংকর আঘাতের মত মনে হলেও বাংলাদেশে অনেক বিবাহিত নারীর জীবনে এটাই এক কঠিন বাস্তবতা।

এ বছরের শুরুর দিকে বাংলাদেশ পরিসংখ্যান ব্যুরোর (বিবিএস) একটি জরিপের ফলাফল দেখে দেশ ও বিদেশের অনেকে, বিশেষ করে নারীবাদী ও নারী অধিকার কর্মীগণ বিস্ময় প্রকাশ করেছিলেন। বিবিএস-র Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2019-র মতে, বাংলাদেশে প্রতি ৪ জন বিবাহিত নারীর মধ্যে ১ জন অথবা শতকরা ২৫ ভাগ মনে করেন বিভিন্ন তুচ্ছ ভুল বা ক্ষুদ্র অধিকার প্রয়োগ করার কারণেও স্বামীর নির্যাতন যৌক্তিক। এসব কারণের মধ্যে রয়েছে, স্বামীর অনুমুতি ছাড়া বাড়ীর বাইরে যাওয়া, সন্তানের যত্ন সঠিকভাবে করতে না পারা, স্বামীর সাথে তর্ক করা, ভালভাবে রান্না করতে না পারা এবং স্বামীর ইচ্ছামত যৌন সম্পর্ক করতে রাজি না হওয়া।

বিবিএস-র সাম্প্রতিক জরিপ কতটা বাস্তবসম্মত সেটা তর্কসাপেক্ষ, তবে বাংলাদেশ নারীর প্রতি সহিংসতা, বিশেষ করে গৃহ নির্যাতনের ক্ষেত্রে বিশ্বে অন্যতম শীর্ষে তাতে কোন সংশয় নেই। ২০১৩ খ্রিস্টাব্দে জাতিসংঘ জনসংখ্যা তহবিলের (UNFPA) অর্থায়নে পরিচালিত বিবিএস-এর একটি জরিপ মতে, বাংলাদেশে শতকরা ৮০ ভাগ বিবাহিত নারী তাদের জীবদ্দশায় স্বামী ও শ্বশুরবাড়ীর লোকদের দ্বারা বিভিন্ন শারীরিক ও মানসিক নির্যাতনের শিকার হন।

বিশ্ব জুড়েই গৃহ নির্যাতন নারীর প্রতি সহিংসতার মধ্যে অন্যতম। ধর্ষণ ও যৌন নির্যাতনের পর গৃহ জাতিসংঘের নারী বিষয়ক সংস্থার মতে, গৃহ নির্যাতন বিশ্ব জুড়ে নারীর প্রতি সহিংসতার অন্যতম কারণ এবং প্রায় ৩৫ শতাংশ নারী তাদের জীবদ্দশায় নানা প্রকার গৃহ নির্যাতনের শিকার হয়ে থাকেন।

দক্ষিণ এশিয়া ও আফ্রিকার মত রক্ষণশীল ও পুরুষতান্ত্রিক সমাজ ব্যবস্থায় নারীর প্রতি সহিংসতা একটি নিত্য নৈমিত্তিক ও বিয়োগান্তক বাস্তবতা।

The scourge of fair and lovely

 

There were muted cheers among feminists and women’s rights campaigners in South Asia at the news at the end of June that the Indian arm of global consumer goods giant Unilever would rebrand its popular skin-whitening cream for females, Fair & Lovely, to Glow & Lovely. It also announced dropping the words “fair, light and white” from its line of beauty products.

Other global conglomerates like L’Oreal made similar announcements to drop words like “fairness” and “whitening” from its products, while Johnson & Johnson said it might step away from the beauty products business.

For decades, these companies have made millions from skin-lightening products and have been accused of promoting colorism or light-skin supremacy in their prime markets in Asia, Africa and the West. There was little objection because whitening is big business. The global skin-lightening industry made over US$8.3 billion in 2017 and is expected to peak at $31.2 billion by 2024, according to Global Industry Analysts, a market intelligence firm.

Since its inception in 1971, Fair & Lovely became Unilever’s most iconic beauty product found in markets and supermarkets of Asia, Africa and the West, selling to some 300 million teenagers and women annually. This is despite the fact the product has faced extensive criticism for promoting colorism and making darker-skinned girls feel insecure and worthless. It has been quite evident as the brand has always used lighter-skinned actresses and models from countries like India, Bangladesh and elsewhere to advertise the cream and promote the unethical and unfair idea that light skin means a good marriage and a good job. 

Ensuring equal rights and dignity for women

Mexican students perform 'El violador eres tu' (The rapist is you) during a demonstration on March 5 against gender violence and patriarchy at the Jesuit University of Guadalajara as part of the run-up to International Women's Day on March 8. (Photo: AFP)

"I accept it as a logical consequence when my husband beats me up for making mistakes" — this may sound harrowingly shocking to sane men and women but it is what many married women in Bangladesh believe, according to a recent national study.

About 25 percent of wives consider beatings by their husbands logical for making trivial mistakes or trying to exercise their rights, such as by leaving the house without the husband's permission, failing to take care of children properly, arguing with her husband, cooking badly and disagreeing to sexual intercourse, according to a 2019 study by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

Whether the study reflects reality can be a topic for debate but it is well known that Bangladesh has one of the highest rates of domestic violence. A BBS study in 2013 found that more than 80 percent of married women face physical and mental abuse by husbands and in-laws in their lifetime.

Domestic abuse is a very common form of violence against women all over the world. After rape and sexual assaults, domestic violence is another major driver that results in up to 35 percent of women facing various forms of violence globally in their lifetime, according to UN Women.

When it comes to largely conservative and male-dominated societies in regions such as South Asia and much of Africa, violence against women is a common and tragic everyday reality.

Forgotten and invisible: modern-day slaves

Indian sex workers look out from their brothel in the red light district of Kamathipura in Mumbai. Socially conservative India, Bangladesh and Pakistan do not permit legal prostitution but all have brothels spilling with sex workers. (Photo: AFP)

In today’s modern world overshadowed by extravagant globalization, materialism and consumerism, it is very common for people to forget about people who are less fortunate.

These people with relative fortune and comfort might get a jolt if asked what they think about slavery and slaves. In most cases, the answer is likely to be simple: slavery was abolished in the 19th century.

The British parliament passed its Slavery Abolition Act in 1833 and the US government made the 13th amendment to the constitution in 1865, marking the official abolition of slavery.

However, slavery didn’t end with its abolition 154 years ago. It has just changed forms and continues to plague millions of people in the world today.  

The International Day for the Abolition of Slavery on Dec. 2 passed almost unnoticed in much of the globe as if our world today has almost pulled itself out of the curse of slavery.
The reality is that about 40 million people are trapped in various forms of modern-day slavery and one in every four victims are children, according to the United Nations.

Ending sexual violence against women requires major changes

Despite political strife, poverty and natural disasters, Bangladesh takes pride in having many women in top leadership positions, including the Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina.  

And Bangladesh is probably the only country in the Islamic world where more girls go to school than the boys.

A majority of the 4 million workers in the US$25 billion garment industry are women.

However, it is not all good news when it comes to female empowerment.

Many Bangladeshi women are routinely denied their rights, equality and justice.

Humiliation and denial of justice

A recent upsurge in rape, ongoing harassment of victims and denial of justice constitute the ugly side of what on many levels is still a male-dominated society.

Violence and sexual crimes against women can be met with apathy and vilification by members of the public and the state.

A recent rape case underscored the scale and gravity of the problem. In March, two young university students were allegedly raped by Shafaat Ahmed and two of his friends in a Dhaka hotel during Shafaat's birthday party. His driver and bodyguard allegedly held the women at gunpoint and filmed the entire incident.

Fearing the social stigma associated with rape, and claimed threats from the culprits, the women kept silent for weeks, but went to police when they could no longer bear the torment. 

Initially, police refused to register the case when the identities of the alleged rapists were revealed. Shafaat is the son of the owner of a top gold trading company, Apan Jewelers. It was only after a public outcry and street protests that police accepted charges and the accused men were arrested.

A clash of classes  

Even though in this case there was an angry public reaction to the rape, the names and photos of the victims were posted on social media, despite it being illegal to do so. Some people tried to portray the victims as "bad girls," who went to a night party wearing "revealing clothes." Even worse, they were accused of trying to extort money by filing the case.

Despite, reported confessions, doctors failed to establish forensic evidence, citing the time that had elapsed between the alleged attack and it being reported to police.

It now appears unlikely that the victims will get justice despite the trauma they have gone through.

Many police investigations and court procedures are so lengthy that poor victims compromise with offenders out of court, avoiding public humiliation.

Until 2010, rape investigations required victims to undergo a ridiculous "two-finger" medical test. To do the test, a doctor would put two fingers into female genitalia to determine whether the victim was "used to" sexual intercourse or not. It was nonsense because for a married woman, for example, the test might well be positive without having any bearing on whether she was raped or not.

The test was so humiliating that some women activists termed it "second rape." The controversial test was scrapped after a court verdict, and a series of objections from rights' groups.

Rape can be portrayed as a "loss of honor" for a girl or woman. In 2013, a schoolgirl, aged 14, was gang-raped over several days. The crime went unreported for weeks because the family tried to keep the girl in hiding to prevent it becoming widely known that she had lost her her virginity.

This girl recovered from the physical trauma after a period, but it seemed all but inevitable that she will face a lifelong social stigma.

Disturbing figures

Rights group Ain-O-Salish Kendra recorded 93 reported rapes, 21 attempted rapes and five cases of murder after rape from January to March, while the Bangladesh National Women Lawyers' Association estimates 3,992 women were victims of rape between 2010 and 2014.  

Children are not spared. A total of 446 children were victims of rape and 48 were gang raped, while 21 were murdered after rape, according to the Bangladesh Child Rights Forum.

The rate of trials and punishment of rapists is very low.

Figures from the government-run One Stop Crisis Center, which provides medical, legal and police support for female victims of violence, show 4,361 rape cases were filed with police between 2001 and 2017, of which only 578 cases completed trials and in 68 cases offenders were punished.  

Most sexual and other forms of violence go unreported and justice is often denied. Attackers can wield immense social, political and financial influence.

Patriarchal society

In many rural families, a daughter is rarely considered equal to a boy and is often provided with fewer opportunities for education. She is taught not to go outside home alone and never after dusk.

In most cases, the parents of a girl choose a husband for her even if she is under 18 years of age or not wishing to marry. In Bangladesh, one in every three girls marries before 15, and 64 percent of girls get married before they reach 18, making them vulnerable to 'marital rape.'

Child marriage has been a major driving factor behind domestic and sexual violence in marriage. Instead of battling child marriage, the government this year amended the child marriage law, to allow marriage of girls under 18 in "special circumstances" like rape and teen pregnancy. In other words, it legalizes child marriage and even sexual violence such as rape.

Many men, by virtue of marriage, believe that they have unlimited access to their wife's body. Yet, sexual violence or rape in marriage is not considered an offense and is hardly ever talked about.

Often violence against women is seen as a correcting tool. People think a woman was abused because she had done something wrong. Many conclude that a woman was raped because she dared to move about alone or wore "revealing clothes," thus inviting the rape.

In order to eliminate violence against women, especially sexual violence and rape, Bangladesh needs to implement major change.

It must start from the family, with both boys and girls having equal rights and opportunities. Families need to teach their sons to respect women, instead of telling girls what to wear or restricting their movements.

When a woman faces violence, people need to stand up to ensure justice for her, instead taking the side of the culprit.

The state needs to realize rape is no petty crime, but a serious human rights violation. It needs to empower law enforcement agencies and the judiciary further, so that no sexual offender is spared or allowed to repeat their crime.

A humane society is possible only if women have equal rights and are protected from all forms of violence.

END

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The unforgiving legacy of Rana Plaza

A memorial in front of the empty plot where Rana Plaza once stood in Savar, near Dhaka in this 2015 file photo. (ucanews.com photo)

Four years is not enough time to get over the ramifications of one of the worst industrial disasters in world, the Rana Plaza collapse, which killed 1,136 workers and injured over 2,000.

So, on April 24, all major national and international media outlets ran stories to remember the accident that shocked the world; workers and activists rallied to pay tribute to the dead and injured victims; while rights and advocacy groups released statements issuing stark warnings to the government, international brands and factory owners to avoid such a tragedy in future.

Reportedly, apparel industry groups, brands and unions have reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring long-term reform in the Bangladesh garment industry.   

There was a prevailing sense of grief, guilt and loss across the events but it was not felt by everyone. 

The government deployed hundreds of riot police, armed with batons and water canons at a memorial ground at Savar, near Dhaka where Rana Plaza once stood. Police did not allow a group of protesters to hold rally although they were simply demanding compensation and justice for victims, and fair wages and rights for garment workers.

Siddiqur Rahman, the president of country's most powerful trade body the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) claimed that owners of five Rana Plaza factories were not responsible for the disaster but only Sohel Rana, the owner of the ill-fated complex.   

Ironically, he made this comment while visiting a graveyard in Dhaka where some 311 unidentified Rana Plaza victims were buried.

It seems his visit was simply a courtesy call but like most garment factory owners he was apathetic to the plight of workers even after such a massive disaster.

Fatal accidents are nothing new in Bangladesh's US$25 billion garment industry, the second largest in the world after China. It supplies clothes to Europe and the Americas and counts for 80% of Bangladesh's annual exports.

The Rana Plaza disaster was not a bolt from the blue. It was a culmination of grim, atrocious irregularities and malpractices in the industry that employs some 4 million workers, mostly poor rural women. 

It came about six months after Tazreen Factory blaze that killed 112 workers. Altogether, over 2,000 workers have died in various accidents in the industry in the past two decades, occurring on average two to four times per month.

These accidents were not only a fault of greedy profiteers but were a product of the collective negligence and apathy of all who are directly or indirectly involved with the industry and benefit from it.

So, the Rana Plaza collapse brought collective shame on all, not only Bangladeshis but across the globe, sparking an unprecedented national and global outcry for long overdue safety reforms and worker's rights.

The accident was heavy to swallow for most governments and companies, forcing them to pay heed to the call for real change and accountability in the industry. Four years on, the industry has seen a push for major changes.

The government has raised the minimum wage of workers about 76 percent, from US$37 to US$68 per month, although it is still among the lowest monthly wages in the world.

Two bodies of Western brands: the European-dominated Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh and the American-backed Bangladesh Alliance for Worker Safety have invested millions of dollars in two separate five-year deals to conduct safety inspections and implement a corrective action plan in over 2,000 source factories. The Bangladesh government and the International Labor Organization have been inspecting the remaining factories.

The actions have yielded fruits, as there have been no major accidents in garment factories or casualties since Rana Plaza.

Amid pressure from international trade unions and governments, including the suspension of trade privileges in the U.S. for Bangladesh, the government amended the labor law to allow workers to unionize. Hundreds of trade unions have been formed and workers are more vocal about their rights than ever.

In Bangladesh, garment factory owners wield immense political and financial clout. In the present parliament, 60 percent of parliamentarians are businessmen and at least 30 percent own garment factories.

Before Rana Plaza, labor law was friendlier to owners and no owner was held accountable for previous accidents. But now, both owners of Tazreen and Rana Plaza are facing trial, although justice is elusive.

These are all strong, positive signs for major changes. But there is little reason to be cheerful, because it's just one side of the coin.

After the Rana Plaza collapse, the government and the BGMEA raised about US$20 billion in compensation for the victims, while the ILO created Rana Plaza Trust Fund of US$30 million with donations from international brands sourcing clothes from Bangladesh. However, to date none of the victim families have received the full amount of US$1,250 in cash and US$19,000 in saving as promised.

A recent report from non-government organization ActionAid Bangladesh shows 42 percent injured victims of Rana Plaza are still unemployed as they are physically and psychologically unfit to work and they never received compensation or rehabilitation.

Most of them are still traumatized to work in garment factories due to their horrific experience, trapped under concrete rubble before being pulled out alive. No concerted effort has been taken to address their problems through psychological counseling.  

The minimum monthly wage was raised to US$68 but high inflation and a price hike on daily essentials have lessened workers' purchasing capacity. So, workers' living standards have actually gone down as they cannot afford good housing, nutritious foods or even school for their children.

The abuse and ill treatment of workers has not stopped either. This was vividly illustrated in December 2016 when factory owners dismissed some 1,500 workers in Dhaka after they took part in demonstrations for a wage hike. The owners collaborated with police to charge hundreds of workers with false cases, jailing and torturing them in custody.

Workers are free to form trade unions but many are reluctant as owners threaten them with termination and pay officials to root out unionists to be fired.

The labor law provisions labor courts to resolve any dispute, but in reality poor and powerless workers do not have the money and time to fight legal battles. It provisions US$1,250 in compensation from a factory owner if a worker dies or is injured in a workplace accident. No sane person would agree to that amount for a lost life. There have been debates between labor groups, owners and the government to fix a lifetime compensation package but nothing worked out in the end.

While Accord, Alliance and ILO are checking for safety upgrades in large factories there is a vast underworld of smaller factories operated by subcontractors that continue business in shoddy apartments, basements, rooftops and shops, where workers sew clothes under immense pressure from abusive bosses. These factories are largely out of touch and devoid of any kind of inspection, keeping the door open for disasters.

Labor leaders are concerned about what will happen after the five-year safety upgrade ends. Will there be constant vigilance and monitoring? There is no such indication or commitment so far.      

On the legal side, two cases filed after the accident are in limbo. The police, in 2016, charged 41 people including the Rana Plaza owner, factory bosses and government officials for murder and negligence.

While Rana remains in jail, 16 others are freed on bail and the rest are at large. The trial procedure has yet to start as the government is still trying to save officials accused in the cases, citing they were simply monitors of inspection and safety, not direct accomplices in the incident. So, it's highly unlikely that justice will be done.

Global brands are also failing to keep promises as well.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said only 29 out of 72 global apparel and footwear companies contacted were disclosing information about their source factories, failing to comply with a transparency pledge endorsed by a coalition of labor and rights organizations.

The scar of Rana Plaza will continue to haunt Bangladeshi workers unless real changes take place.

Rana Plaza could go down in history as a catalyst for change and reform in the Bangladesh garment industry. If not, the unforgiving legacy of the disaster will continue to remind us we have failed as collective humanity to pay back the innocent victims, who truly deserve to be remembered as lives, not merely numbers.

END

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Honor, disgrace and the call of duty

The world was struck by shock and grief over last month’s brutal gang-rape and tragic death of a 23-year-old woman in Delhi.

This inhuman crime drew immense media coverage and provoked an unprecedented outpouring of public anger in India.

The victim is dead and buried and her molesters are facing murder charges. Yet the name of the girl is unknown. The authorities have remained tight-lipped on revealing her name in order to save her honor from possible social disgrace.

Before the Delhi crime, a 14-year-old Bangladeshi schoolgirl was gang-raped for several days. The vicious crime went unreported for weeks because the family tried to keep the girl in hiding, to prevent it being widely known that she had lost her "topmost honor" -- her virginity.

The girl’s mother was worried for the health of her daughter, but even more anxious about her future. A typical Bangladeshi parent, she believes that no one will marry a girl once she has been defiled in this way.

The girl is now out of danger physically, but no one knows what is going to happen to her. It seems all but inevitable that she will have to bear a social stigma for as long as she lives.

This may sound astonishing to Western ears, but in countries such as India or Bangladesh, where the social system is still medieval and male-dominated, rape cases meet mostly with apathy, both from the authorities and society at large.

If a woman falls victim to rape, even more than the pain and humiliation she will surely feel, she and her family mostly feel ashamed about what happened. Society indirectly blames the victim for inviting disaster.

So, the victim’s family show reluctance to file a complaint; the law enforcers and judiciary tend to treat such incidents lightly; cases are poorly investigated and sentences are often all too short. Rapists can get out of jail quickly and many soon start raping again.

The government records a total 174,691 cases of violence against women including torture, killing, rape and sexual harassment between 2001 and last year. No exact figures on rape cases are available, largely because of the social disgrace factor.

Rape is not simply a crime, it is a serious inhuman act, like all other forms of violence against women. A better and more human world is possible only if men learn to respect women, and help create an environment where women can feel proud of who they are.

The Third Eye is a pseudonym for a Dhaka-based journalist and analyst

Read the original post here- Honor, disgrace and the call of duty 

The path through the fields: From 'basket case' to model

The road to development has been hard and long, but Bangladesh has made it.

ON THE outskirts of the village of Shibaloy, just past the brick factory, the car slows to let a cow lumber out of its way. It is a good sign. Twenty years ago there was no brick factory, or any other industry, in this village 60 kilometres west of Dhaka; there were few cows, and no cars. The road was a raised path too narrow for anything except bicycles.

Now, Shibaloy has just opened its first primary school; it is installing piped water and the young men of the village gather to show off their motorcycles at the tea house. “I have been a microcredit customer for 17 years,” says Romeja, the matriarch of an extended family. “When I started, my house was broken; I slept on the streets. Now I have three cows, an acre of land, solar panels on the roof and 75,000 taka ($920) in fixed-rate deposits.”

Bangladesh was the original development “basket case”, the demeaning term used in Henry Kissinger’s state department for countries that would always depend on aid. Its people are crammed onto a flood plain swept by cyclones and without big mineral and other natural resources. It suffered famines in 1943 and 1974 and military coups in 1975, 1982 and 2007. When it split from Pakistan in 1971 many observers doubted that it could survive as an independent state.

In some ways, those who doubted Bangladesh’s potential were right. Economic growth since the 1970s has been poor; the country’s politics have been unremittingly wretched. Yet over the past 20 years, Bangladesh has made some of the biggest gains in the basic condition of people’s lives ever seen anywhere. Between 1990 and 2010 life expectancy rose by 10 years, from 59 to 69 (see chart 1). Bangladeshis now have a life expectancy four years longer than Indians, despite the Indians being, on average, twice as rich. Even more remarkably, the improvement in life expectancy has been as great among the poor as the rich.

Bangladesh has also made huge gains in education and health. More than 90% of girls enrolled in primary school in 2005, slightly more than boys. That was twice the female enrolment rate in 2000. Infant mortality has more than halved, from 97 deaths per thousand live births in 1990 to 37 per thousand in 2010 (see table). Over the same period child mortality fell by two-thirds and maternal mortality fell by three-quarters. It now stands at 194 deaths per 100,000 births. In 1990 women could expect to live a year less than men; now they can expect to live two years more.

The most dramatic period of improvement in human health in history is often taken to be that of late-19th-century Japan, during the remarkable modernisation of the Meiji transition. Bangladesh’s record on child and maternal mortality has been comparable in scale.

These improvements are not a simple result of increases in people’s income. Bangladesh remains a poor country, with a GDP per head of $1,900 at purchasing-power parity.

For the first decades of its independent history Bangladesh’s economy grew by a paltry 2% a year. Since 1990 its GDP has been rising at a more respectable 5% a year, in real terms. That has helped reduce the percentage of people below the poverty line from 49% in 2000 to 32% in 2010. Still, Bangladeshi growth has been slower than India’s, which for most of the past 20 years grew at around 8% a year. Nevertheless the gains in its development have been greater. The belief that growth brings development with it—the “Washington consensus”—is often criticised on the basis that some countries have had good growth but little poverty reduction. Bangladesh embodies the inverse of that: it has had disproportionate poverty reduction for its amount of growth.

Read the original story here Bangladesh and Development
Source: The Economist