Religious Patriarchal Values Obstruct Bangladeshi Rural Women’s Human Rights

Dr. Kazi Abdur RoufVisiting Scholar

Leadership, Higher and Adult education (LHAE)OISE

and

Assistant ProfessorNobel International University, USA

2012-2013 Religion and Public Life ConferenceWilfrid Laurier University

Waterloo, Ontario, CanadaMarch 01, 2013.

Overview of women status in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is a highly patriarchal Muslim dominated society Men make household decisions and have property rights “Denial of women’s autonomy is everywhere in Bangladesh” (Kabeer 1983:8).

Thesis statement

• This paper argues British colonization, gendered division of labor; • Patriarchy and religious customary laws and values have denied women access to

Equal rights; Property rights and; Other financial resources.

Statistics- women portfolio

Bangladesh has 160.4 million people within a 147, 570 square kilometer Half of the population is female; women hold up half the sky Density of the population is 763 per square kilometer Adult female literacy rate (43%) is much lower than the national average (86%) Individual’s per capita income is $370 Asian women have only 1% of the wealth in the world, they do 66% of the work

that is needed for human survival (Wong, 2002 : 47) 30% of the total population has access to basic health services; women cases lesser 76% of all households are deficient in calorie intake 50% of women live under the poverty line.

Table 1. Male and female literacy rate in BangladeshYear Male (%) Female (%)

1911 13.9 1.0

1931 15.4 2.9

1961 29.3 10.7

1991 30.2 19.2

1994 30.3 19.5

2001 54.6 42.5

2002 52.3 35.0

Source: UNDP: Human Development Report (HDR) 2002.

Table 2. Number of Women in Ministers in Bangladesh during different Political Regimes

Govt. Regimes Total # Ministers

Total male Ministers

Total # femaleMinisters

% Women Ministers

Shk. Majib 1972-75 50 47 02 4

Ziaur 1979-82 101 95 06 6

Ershad 1982-90 133 127 04 3

Khaleda 1991-96 39 36 03 5

Hasina 1996-2001 46 42 04 8.89

Khaleda 2001-06 60 58 02 3.5

Hasina 2009- 43 37 06 13.95

Source: Mahtab, Nazimunnessa (2007). Women in Bangladesh from inequality to Empowerment, Dhaka: A. H. Publishing House, p. 58 and Diary 2009, Bangladesh Parliament.

Table 3. Women and National ElectionYear Women

candidates %

Reserved seats for women

% of women in national assembly

Successful women candidates by direct election

Successful in election as women candidates

Total successful women candidates

1973 .3 15 4.8 X X x

1979 .9 30 9.7 X 2 2

1986 .3 30 10.6 5 2 7

1988 .7 30 10.6 4 X 4

1991 1.5 30 11.2 4 2 6

1996 1.3 30 11.21 5 2 7

2001 2.0 X 2 6 X 6

2008 3.0 45 15.00 19 x 19

Source: Unnayan poddokhep (2009).

Table 4. Selected Candidates for the Civil Services in different BCS Examinations by Gender

BCS batch

Year Selected Candidates male #

Selected candidates male%

Selected Candidates female #

Selected candidates female%

Total#

Total %

22th 2000 1903 81.50 432 18.50 2335 100.0

23th 2000 46 64.79 25 35.21 71 100.0

24th 2002 3809 72.90 1416 27.10 5225 100.0

25th 2004 2029 74.54 693 25.46 2722 100.0

26th 2005 703 66.13 360 33.87 1063 100.0

27th 2006 2417 74.62 822 25.38 3239 100.0

Source: Annual report-2003, 2008, Bangladesh Public Service Commission, Dhaka: Government of People’s Republic Bangladesh, 2009. P. 65.

British Regime and its discrimination to women

Before the British colonized India, it was a self-sufficient village community-a land-based agriculture

Fostered an egalitarian status for women in the family Self-sufficient agricultural village collective culture and economy was destroyed by the British

capitalist colonialism from 1750 Colonizers introduced the male dominant nuclear family norm Private lands ownership system promotes individuality, and hierarchy in families •  Created a new male class called Zamindars, revenue collectors The Permanent Land Settlement Act by British in India in 1773 robbed women land ownership British created the new petty bourgeoisies as the ruling class State experiences hegemonic crisis and political instability Produced misery in the society Created unequal inheritance laws for women

Gender Division Work

• Women contribute the majority of agricultural activities• This new land tenure system forced farmers into cash crop production and commercialized

agriculture • Women were left out from land ownership and the new system of agriculture• Loss assets and status in the society; women have left with no rights and no power in the society•  Men work outside, earn money and provide financial support to the family• Women are responsible for domestic obligations • Men are the breadwinners and women are the homemakers• Women have taken these socially prescribed roles for granted • Women domestic work is stereotyped as “women’s work”- not valued • Involved in unpaid family subsistence agricultural work • Women have internalized the existing societal values of men’s instrumental, advantage of men.• Confines women at home with unpaid domestic chores • Gender division of labor exploits women

Pardah

• Pardah dominates women.• Dichotomy of public and private realm in Islam underpin gender subordination, and

dependence • Women breaking pardah are seen as an outsider or deviant. • Kinship arrangements in Bangladesh are rigidly patrilineal • Names of sons and grandsons are listed in the traditional family genogram.

Religious laws (Hindus and Muslim laws) Islamic Sharia law and Hindu law encourages male dominated patriarchy Religious laws (Muslim and Hindus) discriminate women’s property laws Islam and Hinduism have discriminatory inheritance laws against women Muslim traditional cultures and laws dominate people lives One MP warned a feminist in 1994 to “never try to touch the Hindu Law in the name of

women’s welfare; otherwise blood will be flooding the floor of parliament”.

Religious laws (Hindus and Muslim laws)-continue-2

• Women Lawyers and Bangladesh Human Rights Council challenge the male dominated customary law on property rights

• Shura (high level religious leaders) and Islamic organization united together to maintain Islamic Family Law

• These laws and cultures place men in control of women’s labor, choice of marriage, access to resources, and legal rights

Muslim Sharia Laws

In Islam, a widow can only own 12.5% of her husband’s property under Sharia Law. In practice widows cannot even own this property due to village politics of Fatawa and

customary laws Muslim laws often contradict legal laws and impede the application of justice for women Most widows give up their claims to property because fear of violence and anger The media is totally silent in these affairs.

Table-5. Media reports Violence against Women: 1997-2003

Years Incidents Murders/Torture Fatawa (Mollas Case filed/acid throwing/rape unethical monopoly

decisions

1997 177 109 109 28

1998 239 145 96 26

1999 253 193 152 31

2000 181 165 - 34

2001 186 177 - 32

2002 358 262 - 46

2003 374 249 - 46

* Note: represents data not available.

Mahar and Dowry demand

• Muslim marriage laws protect women partially through the custom of Mahar and dowry• Mahar is money, property, jewelry or clothing that is to be given to the bride upon divorce)• But not written these conditions in the marriage registration, Kabin Nama• Practice of Mahar now has been replaced by dowry in Bangladesh• Dowry is a demand for wealth by the groom’s family for the bride • Dowry exploits, victimized and discriminates women’s equal rights to wealth• Dowry related violence is common in Bangladesh.

Table-6. Court Filed Dowry Cases and Status of Decisions on Them in 2000

Status Dowry Physical Violence

Complaints filed 873 143

Disposed 599 97

Pending 274 46 (Source: Ain O Shalishi Kendra 2000)

Customary laws dominated by religious elites• Customary laws dominate rural women, governed by the rural religious male elites • Some reform has been made in property rights, but in practice still do not have property in

their names • Mullahs and other customary values prevent women from working outside the home • Promotes a dichotomy of private and public realm • Barrier to women’s participation in economic activity outside home• Many feminists talk about women’s equality• Feminists have challenged the “Muslim Family Property Laws Ordinance 1961.” • Raised the question of male bias in village council.

Women access to property rights• Women equal access to property rights would help them to be economically, socially and

politically empowered• Such empowerment would facilitate women leaving abusive, violent and male dominated

environments, and overcoming poverty • The Constitution of Bangladesh appears to strongly approve gender equality• Still a big gap between the law and its actual implementation.

Income generating programs for women economic and social liberation

Grameen Bank (GB) Sixteen Decisions- a combination of socio-economic and environmental messages campaigns for women liberation in Bangladesh

GB credit creates opportunities for poor women in Bangladesh to find from male dependence It provides distressed women with education, life skills training, credit, and other support

services for income generating purposes Grameen Housing Loan Program introduced a policy that house loans could only disburse to

those female borrowers who have house land in their own name Through GB, 3.6 million Bangladeshi rural women are able to have land in their own name Still 18% of women saw a rise in verbal aggression after they received loans from their

husbands.

New steps In recent years government and NGOs initiated to improve the status of women by providing

free education up to class V111. Mohila Samilty (women cooperative), BRAC, BRDB and Proshika run various programs to

help women to achieve self-reliance However, their initiatives are confronting the customary religious Muslim and Hindu laws and

traditional rural values Civil society organizations can initiate gender equality action program in collaboration with

state law enforcing agencies to fight for women’s equal rights in Bangladesh

Thank you

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