bangladesh woman

Women's Work in Urban Bangladesh: Is there an Economic Rationale?

2010-01-30T23:32:00.000-08:00

Women's Work in Urban Bangladesh: Is there an Economic Rationale?
Simeen Mahmud
Copyright Institute of Social Studies 1997
ABSTRACT
The general phenomenon that women in Bangladesh engage less frequently in market work than men is commonly explained as the lack of response of female labour to economic imperatives due to the overarching influence of purdah. However, this emphasis on a cultural rationale for gender-differentiated work behaviour diverts attention away from the deep-rooted economic inequalities at the societal level. This article examines women's work in urban Bangladesh from a female labour supply and demand perspective that is rooted in the socio-economic institutional context. The study finds that, despite the strong gender segregation of economic roles, women's roles are more flexible and lend themselves to changing household strategies more easily compared to men's. The evidence indicates that female labour market participation is largely the outcome of the supply effect shaped by the pattern of gender roles and gender-specific access to human capital. Consequently, women are relegated to low-skill market activities and have lower earnings than men, even without any overt discrimination in labour demand. The covert discrimination that leads women to pursue a different pattern of labour use than men is the fundamental gender bias of socio-economic institutions that govern household allocational decisions and dictate gender-specific behaviour.

The garment and shrimp processing industries are the highest employers of female laborers. Forty-three percent of women work in the agriculture,

2010-01-30T23:31:00.005-08:00

The garment and shrimp processing industries are the highest employers of female laborers. Forty-three percent of women work in the agriculture, fisheries, and livestock sectors, but 70 percent of them are unpaid family laborers. Many women work as manual laborers on construction projects as well, and constitute nearly 25 percent of all manufacturing workers. Women also are found in the electronics, food processing, beverage, and handicraft industries.
Sources:
Bangladesh: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices (2000) http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2000/sa/692.htm
ADB Country Briefing Paper: Women in Bangladesh (2001)
http://www.adb.org/Documents/Books/Country_Briefing_Papers/Women_in_Bangladesh/default.asp

The garment and shrimp processing industries are the highest employers of female laborers. Forty-three percent of women work in the agriculture,

2010-01-30T23:31:00.003-08:00

Education and Employment

2010-01-30T23:31:00.001-08:00

Education and Employment
For the most part, women remain in a subordinate position in society, and the Government has not acted effectively to protect their basic freedoms. Literacy rates are approximately 26 percent for women, compared with 49 percent for men. In recent years, female school enrollment has improved. Approximately 50 percent of primary and secondary school students are female. Women often are ignorant of their rights because of continued high illiteracy rates and unequal educational opportunities, and strong social stigmas and lack of economic means to obtain legal assistance frequently keep women from seeking redress in the courts. Many NGO's operate programs to raise women's awareness of their rights, and to encourage and assist them in exercising those rights.
Under the 1961 Muslim Family Ordinance, female heirs inherit less than male relatives do, and wives have fewer divorce rights than husbands. Men are permitted to have up to four wives, although this right rarely is exercised. Laws provide some protection for women against arbitrary divorce and the taking of additional wives by husbands without the first wife's consent, but the protections generally apply only to registered marriages. Marriages in rural areas often are not registered because of ignorance of the law. Under the law, a Muslim husband is required to pay his ex-wife alimony for only 3 months, but this rarely is enforced.
Employment opportunities have been stronger for women than for men in the last decade, which largely is due to the growth of the export garment industry in Dhaka and Chittagong. Eighty percent of the 1.4 million garment sector workers are women. Programs extending micro-credit to large numbers of rural women also have contributed to greater economic power for them. However, women still fill only a small fraction of other wage-earning jobs. According to a report by the Public Administration Reforms Commission publicized in October, women hold only 12 percent of government jobs, and only 2 percent of senior positions. The Government's policy to include more women in government jobs only has had limited effect. In recent years, about 15 percent of all recruits into government service have been women.

The law prohibits rape and physical spousal abuse, but it makes no specific provision for spousal rape as a crime.

2010-01-30T23:30:00.007-08:00

The law prohibits rape and physical spousal abuse, but it makes no specific provision for spousal rape as a crime. A total of 3,516 rapes and 3,523 incidents of spousal abuses were officially reported during the year. Of the spousal abuse cases, 2,814 were related to disputes over dowry. Of the 2,130 alleged rapists that were prosecuted, 63 persons were convicted. The Government reports that other rape cases are under trial. During the year, the Government acceded to the U.N. Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. The Government also has enacted laws specifically prohibiting certain forms of discrimination against women, including the Anti-Dowry Prohibition Act of 1980, the Cruelty to Women Law of 1983, and the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act of 1995, which was replaced by the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act of 2000. However, enforcement of these laws is weak, especially in rural areas, and the Government seldom prosecutes those cases that are filed. According to a human rights organization, there are 7 government-run and 13 privately run large shelter homes available for use by women who are victims of violence. Some smaller homes also are available for victims of violence. However, these are insufficient to meet victims' shelter needs. As a result, the Government often holds women who file rape complaints in safe custody, usually in prison. Safe custody frequently results in further abuses against victims, discouraging the filing of complaints by other women, and often continues for extended periods during which women often are unable to gain release.
There is extensive trafficking in women for the purpose of forced prostitution within the country and to other countries in Asia.

The law prohibits rape and physical spousal abuse, but it makes no specific provision for spousal rape as a crime.

2010-01-30T23:30:00.005-08:00

Violence Against Women

2010-01-30T23:30:00.003-08:00

Violence Against Women
Violence against women is difficult to quantify because of unreliable statistics, but recent reports
indicated that domestic violence is widespread. A report released by the U.N. Population Fund in
September asserted that 47 percent of adult women report physical abuse by their male
partner. The Government, the media, and women's rights organizations have fostered a growing
awareness of the problem of violence against women.
Much of the violence against women is related to disputes over dowries. According to a human
rights group, there were 81 dowry-related killings during the year. Human rights groups and press
reports indicate that incidents of vigilantism against women--sometimes led by religious leaders--
at times occur, particularly in rural areas. These include humiliating, painful punishments, such as
the whipping of women accused of moral offenses. Assailants who fling acid in their faces
disfigured numerous women. One human rights organization reported that 181 women suffered
acid attacks during the year. The most common motivation for acid-throwing attacks against
women is revenge by a rejected suitor; land disputes are another leading cause of the acid
attacks. Few perpetrators of the acid attacks are prosecuted. Often the perpetrator flings the
acid in through an open window during the night, making cases difficult to prove. Some arrests
have been made, and one person has been given the death sentence

Cabinet and Public Services

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Cabinet and Public Services
Although two women Prime Ministers have headed the Government during the last six years and
the leaders of the opposition in Parliament were also women, this does not reflect the gender
composition of participation and decision making at the highest policy level. At the ministerial
level, women’s representation has never risen above 3 percent.
Before 1996, women were never given full responsibility over any important ministry. Apart from
being Prime Minister, others were state or deputy ministers responsible for insignificant ministries
such as Culture, Social Welfare, and Women. Currently one woman Minister, who had become a
Member of Parliament in 1991 and 1996 through direct elections, is responsible for a ministry,
i.e., Agriculture. Another woman minister is responsible for the Ministry of Forest and
Environment.

Local Government

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Local Government
Women were first elected to local bodies in 1973. The Union Parishad Election of 1997 is a
milestone in the history of political empowerment of women in Bangladesh. The Government of
Bangladesh enacted a law for direct elections to reserve seats for women in local level elections.
In 1997 through an Act, the Government reserved three seats for women in the union parishad
where women members are elected from each of the three respective wards. Apart from the
reserved seats women can also contest for any of the general seats. Previously, the process of
selection of the women representatives was on the basis of nominations and/or indirect election.
Around 12,828 women were elected as members in the 1997 local level elections. A total of 20
and 110 women were elected as chairpersons and members, respectively, for general seats. The
Government has already issued different executive orders to ensure women members’
participation in various decision-making committees.
The majority of women representatives regularly attended parishad meetings, but only a few of
them participated in the deliberations and decisions. The female representatives usually involved
themselves with mass education, family planning, immunization, handicrafts, relief activity, and
shalish (mediation in the village court). The women representatives have the potentials to
become change agents for rural women and various NGOs. A few government institutions such
as the National Institute of Local Government are training women on various development-related
issues, legal aid, and organizational structure of local bodies and their roles and functions to
enable them play their role effectively.

Women’s Rights in Bangladesh

2010-01-30T23:29:00.001-08:00

Women’s Rights in Bangladesh
Politics
Women have been more politically stable in the last two decades. A quota has ensured women's presence in the local government and National Parliament. Among women politicians, the older group entered politics through social work, while some among them and the new generation of have emerged from student politics. Despite many odds, statistics and analyses reveal a slowly growing trend towards women's political participation. However, they face an ominous challenge. There has also been a growing influence of money in Bangladesh politics, particularly in electoral politics and in guarding/promoting spheres of influence. This acts as a further constraint on women’s political participation since fewer women have access to financial resources. It is very difficult for women to work effectively in this system unless such practices are eradicated.
Political Parties
Party affiliation depends on membership drives and on the organizational and electoral needs of each party. The actual number of women members in different political parties, however, cannot be determined, since gender-specific records are not maintained. Nevertheless, a slow trend towards women's greater participation has emerged over the decade. As party workers, women render valuable contributions in the mobilization of voters, especially among other women. Although there are only a few women in leadership positions, their numbers have increased over the last two decades. There is limited female involvement in party hierarchical structures. However, women occupy the top leadership positions in each of the two largest parties. They became leaders during crisis periods and have been successful as driving forces and unifying factors of their respective parties. Significantly, neither of them inherited the mantle of leadership when their party was in power. Once placed in the position of leadership, they were able to generate their own dynamics and momentum to lead their parties through difficult times. Nevertheless, their close and inner circle of advisors mostly consists of men. In occupying the role of a leader in public life, they have perhaps contributed to liberalizing values in a predominantly Muslim culture where traditionally men had exclusive prerogative in politics. They played a crucial role toward democratization and brought about a certain degree of continuity into the political process. They have a strong potential to be positive role models for women of all ages in Bangladesh, provided they demonstrate a commitment to gender equity by involving more women in their parties and in government. The election manifestos and constitutions of different political parties reveal that there is little emphasis on gender equality in party platforms.
Electoral process
Although women do not hold key positions during the electoral process, they render significant contributions during election campaigns by taking part in organizing public meetings, processions, and rallies. Women leaders and party workers engage in the task of mobilizing and canvassing voters, particularly women, for their party candidates. By making special arrangements such as separate election booths for women, and females presiding as polling officers, the turnout rate of women voters has increased. During the general elections of 1991 and 1996, and local level elections in 1993 and 1997, the level of enthusiasm among women to exercise their voting rights was very encouraging. Because of the special arrangements and security measures taken by the Government, there were few disturbances and the presence of women in polling centers was significant.
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UPCOMING WORK

2010-01-30T23:28:00.000-08:00

Creating the First Women's Broadcast News Service in Bangladesh
In a country where women play a minor role in TV news, Knight International is working with female journalists to start a new broadcast news service. Knight Fellow Kawser Mahmud, an experienced broadcaster, is training women to become TV reporters and producers and feed their stories to major networks. Their reports will focus on social issues of particular concern to women that are not covered in mainstream media. Broadcast media are proliferating in Bangladesh after the country recently began licensing independent television news channels. Learn more about the project.

UPCOMING WORK
Recruit and train print journalists to participate in broadcast news service.
Focus coverage on social issues.
Market coverage to newly licensed independent television networks to build sustainability

UNDP Report outlines policies for sending and host countries to protect migrant women

2010-01-30T23:27:00.002-08:00

“Many migrant workers around the world are subject to exploitation and mistreatment, and
that is a worldwide problem that we are very concerned about.” says Engr. Khandaker
Mosharraf Hossain, Honourable Minister for Labour, Employment, Expatriate Welfare and
Overseas Employment “Host countries and countries of origin have an equal responsibility to
provide protective policies and programmes. However, progress is being made and there is
more dialogue between origin and host countries which is helping us ensure that migrant’
rights are respected and protected while they are abroad.”
People move to other countries in search of improving their economic status. Often they are
pushed into migrating because of poverty, socio-economic instability and inequality, political
unrest, gender inequity, uneven distribution of resources and/or natural disasters. Without
adequate preparation and knowledge about the various risks associated with movement few
are aware of their vulnerability to HIV and human trafficking or know how to protect
themselves says the UNDP-OKUP study.
“When analyzing the unsafe conditions that Bangladeshi women face when migrating to work
overseas, we found that the absence of laws and regulations in the recruitment process for
migrant domestic workers and the poor working conditions they face once on site render
women very vulnerable, altogether contributing to a higher risk of contracting HIV” says
Shakirul Islam Lead Researcher and chairman of OKUP. “Inadequate pre-departure
orientation on HIV and health vulnerabilities for departing migrants is also a big gap. Most
importantly, although migrants are included in the country’s national strategic plan for
HIV/AIDS, there is no national HIV response for migrant workers” he says.
A majority of Bangladeshi migrants – around 60 per cent – find jobs through family networks
and do not receive adequate pre-departure briefing. For instance the Government’s Bureau of
Manpower Employment and Training (BMET) runs just one pre-departure briefing centre for
the whole country. Coupled with the weak monitoring system, the inability to reprimand
defaulting recruitment agents, and loopholes in existing laws all contribute to continued
violations of the compulsory pre-departure briefing policy.
The Bangladesh study, forms one of the country chapters of the regional report titled: HIV
vulnerabilities faced by women migrants: from Asia to the Arab states launched earlier in
March 2009.
“The regional report highlights that the deportation of HIV-positive migrants by host
countries and the absence of reintegration programmes in countries of origin can be
devastating for the health, well-being, and livelihoods of migrants and their families” says
Caitlin Wiesen, UNDP HIV Team Leader and Regional Programme Coordinator “There is an
urgent need to set up effective reintegration programmes for returning migrants and ensure
their access to health services and livelihood options.”
For information:
In Bangladesh: sakil.faizullah@undp.org Tel: +88 01713049900
In India: surekha.subarwal@undp.

Bangladeshi Women Migrants Face

2010-01-30T23:27:00.001-08:00

Bangladeshi Women Migrants Face
Abuse and Health Hardships abroad
UNDP Report outlines policies for sending and host countries to protect migrant women
24 November, Dhaka – A majority of Bangladeshi women migrants work as domestic
workers in the Arab states. Many of them face physical and sexual abuse at the hands of their
employers. Subject to mandatory testing they are deported when they test positive for HIV.
These are some of the findings of a study released here today by the UN Development
Programme (UNDP) and OKUP (Ovibashi Karmi Unnayan Program).
“The economic gains generated by migrant workers are enormous, reaching almost 9.4 % of
GDP in Bangladesh in 2007” said Stefan Priesner, UNDP Country Director. “It is therefore
critical that good working conditions and support are provided to migrant workers throughout
the migration cycle” he added.
The report, HIV vulnerabilities faced by women migrants: from Bangladesh to the Arab
States, reveals the social, economic and health toll that migration imposes on emigrating
women, particularly low-skilled ones who are lured by job prospects. The findings of the
study are based on almost 250 interviews which included women migrant workers who
experienced undocumented migration and faced vulnerable situations such as sexual abuse
and deportation on the grounds of testing HIV positive.
“Although migration itself is not a risk factor to HIV infection, the conditions under which
some workers migrate and their living conditions in the host countries make them highly
vulnerable to HIV” says Dr. Salil Panakadan UNAIDS Country Coordinator “In many cases,
HIV testing in both countries of origin and host countries breaches migrants’ rights – testing
is undertaken without consent, counseling, confidentiality or support,” he says.
The Arab States are the primary destination for many migrant workers from Asia including
Bangladesh. The host countries examined in the study are: Bahrain, Lebanon and UAE.
The Bangladesh study reveals that there is no minimum wage for Bangladeshi domestic
workers either in Bahrain or in Dubai. The study found that domestic workers in Bahrain and
Dubai are paid just around $100 a month.
Women migrants also face numerous hardships, including irregular payment of salaries, long
working hours, physical and sexual abuse. In situations of abuse, domestic workers
sometimes resort to running away, which increases their vulnerability to other forms of
exploitation, including forced prostitution or trafficking.
Domestic work in the Arab countries where the study took place and in Bangladesh is not
covered by labour laws and women migrants, therefore, have no access to legal redress when
exploited or abused.

Interview: Bangladeshi women should be inspired

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DHAKA, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- "More and more Bangladeshi women are involved in different professions, either in garment industry or in politics. This is a big progress for women empowerment in Bangladesh," said UN Under Secretary-General Ameerah Haq.

At an exclusive interview with Xinhua recently, the newly appointed UN under secretary general who is a Bangladeshi said that she hoped Bangladeshi women should be inspired by what she has achieved.

Over the past 34 years, Ameerah has been working for UN in different assignments in Indonesia, Afghanistan, Laos, Malaysia and Sudan. She is the highest-ranking UN staff from Bangladesh.

"As a Bangladeshi, I am happy and feel proud to take the post as UN under Secretary-General. I think it can be a source of inspiration to Bangladeshi women to work hard and realize their values," Ameerah said.

Bangladesh is still a male-dominated country though it has a female prime minister. Women take less posts in the government and non-government organizations compare with the men.

"Women can do well if they are given a chance," Ameerah said.

"Many Bangladeshi women are taking responsibilities of taking care of the families," she said.

Ameerah encouraged Bangladeshi women to be educated. "If a woman is educated, the whole family will be benefited," she said.

"A woman can have a better life when she is educated," she added.

Ameerah joined the UN in 1976 after getting two master's degrees in America.

Ameerah said that nowadays it is very competitive to apply for a post in UN headquarters. "As a applicant, you must have a good command of languages, you must follow the political and economic development in the world and have a good knowledge of it. That's the basic conditions," she said.

Ameerah has faced many difficulties in her career, saying "from2004 to 2009, I worked in war-ravaged Afghanistan and Sudan. It was quite difficult to work in these countries. There were so many frustrations."

"In those difficult times, strong will and perseverance helped me get through," she added.

Regarding to her new post in Timor-Leste as a special envoy of the UN secretary general which she will take very soon, Ameerah said "I am looking forward to taking the new post. It is a new challenge for me, but I will try my very best to work well."

Women's Work in Urban Bangladesh: Is there an Economic Rationale?

2010-01-30T23:26:00.001-08:00

Social Exclusion of Pakistani and Bangladeshi Women

2010-01-30T23:22:00.000-08:00

Social Exclusion of Pakistani and Bangladeshi Women
Dale, Angela
Abstract: This paper explores some of the processes that influence access to higher education and employment for Pakistani and Bangladeshi women in Britain. We ask what changes we can expect amongst younger Pakistani and Bangladeshi women who have grown up in the UK? How do we expect educational qualifications and family formation to influence labour market participation amongst these women? What barriers do these women face in obtaining qualifications and paid employment? To what extent are these barriers imposed by the family and community and to what extent are they imposed by the local labour market? We find evidence of change across generations. By contrast with their mothers' generation, younger women who had been educated in the UK saw paid work as a means to independence and self- esteem. Women with higher level qualifications often showed considerable determination in managing to combine paid work and child-care. Whilst most women subscribed strongly to the centrality of the family, it is clear that the majority will follow very different routes through the life-course from their mothers. However, even with higher level qualifications, women are facing considerable barriers to employment. If the expected increase in economic activity amongst Pakistani and Bangladeshi women is not to lead to even higher unemployment, there is a pressing need to ensure that potential employers do not hold negative and out-dated stereotypes of traditional Muslim women.

Ethnicity; gender; employment; unemployment; education, marriage, South Asian; family formation

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Bangladesh Women's Cricket team returns

2010-01-28T03:36:00.001-08:00

Bangladesh Women's Cricket team returns
Bangladesh Women's Cricket team, which emerged champions of the first-ever ACC Women's Cricket Tournament, returned Thursday, reports UNB.

BCB vice president Nurul Kabir Shaheen, joint secretary Rafiqul Islam Babu and chairman of BCB women wing Fahima Hossain Jubilee warmly received the victorious women cricketers at the Zia International Airport.

Talking to the reporters, Bangladesh captain Tajkia Akhter said the three-month rigorous preparation before the tournament was the key to their success in the eight-nation meet.

She thanked the BCB for its generous support and said: "We will be able to do well against the big teams if the BCB continue to extend their helping hand in the future as well."

Player of the tournament Panna Ghosh said the best player award gave a boost to "my self-confidence."

Bangladesh beat Nepal by eight wickets in the final on Wednesday to clinch the title of the first Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Women's Cricket Tournament with all-win record.

On way to the final, Bangladesh beat Hong Kong by 59 runs in the first semifinal while South Asian country Nepal booked their seat for the final crushing China by nine wickets in the second semis at Johor Cricket Academy on Tuesday.

Earlier, Bangladesh moved to the semifinal, outplaying both the UAE and Singapore by 10 wickets, and beat China by 86 runs in the group matches.

bangladesh village woman

2010-01-28T03:35:00.001-08:00

jointly arranged for a 4-day exhibition-cum-sale (2nd-5th May) showcasing various types of handiwork created exclusively by home based women workers and assimilated from all over the country.

V. On June 8th, 2003, BHWA obtained registration as a trade union under the Trade related notification of 1969. This association could now fight for trade union rights on behalf of its member homeworker associations. This was the first time that workers in the informal sector have got Trade Union status in Bangladesh.

VI. On August 30th-31st, BHWA conducted a 2-day workshop on Health, Safety and Social protection issues affecting women homebased workers in Bangladesh. The major concerns listed by the participants include protection from occupational hazards and safe working environment, medical treatment and expenditure reimbursement facilities, social protection measures such as retirement benefits, savings schemes, micro-credit, legal assistance etc. All the above provisions need to be included in the National Policy for Homeworkers.

Association (BHWA) had organized a 2-day Homebased women workers' Handicraft mela. The mela was inaugurated by Mr. Abdul Matlub Ahmed, Chairman, NITOL-NILOY Group. His speech on the occasion outlined the excellent quality of the products displayed at the stalls. He stressed on the export potential of these products and said that the need of the hour was to explore the export market for better

BHWA conducted a 2-day Workshop on Homebased Workers

2010-01-28T03:34:00.002-08:00

BHWA conducted a 2-day Workshop on Homebased Workers and National Policy in Dhaka on 25th-26th January 2003. Its theme was to devise a mechanism to frame a National Policy on homebased workers. Various aspects of organization, marketing and training were discussed and debated. A few major areas that needed attention were identified.

>> A major improvement is required in government attitude and support for the cause of Homebased workers.

>> There is a need to identify and organize all homebased workers in the country for more efficient sharing of resources and benefits.

>> Memorandum drafted for Labor Ministry to finalize National Policy as soon as possible.
Bangladesh delegates at the BHWA Auditorium in Dhaka. The meeting demanded trade union rights for HBWs, inclusion of HBWs in the Labour code being finalized and provision of state facilities for the Homeworkers. Leaders of different organizations in the country who are part of the HomeNet network took part in the meeting. This meeting also passed draft proposals for the activities to be conducted in the forthcoming year.

III. On 26th April, BHWA organized an information seminar on DRY FLOWERS AND EXTRA INCOME. Ms. Rina Rehman, a training teacher on this subject and a member of BHWA gave a lecture to all the participants. She also gave a demonstration of the process of making these products and how this knowledge can help women improve their status and become a financially independent and self-sufficient individual.

Statistics For home-based workers demanded

2010-01-28T03:34:00.001-08:00

Statistics For home-based workers demanded

If the government takes some initiatives for the development of the home based workers like inclusion of them into Bangladesh’ Statistics Record and providing policy support they can be self reliant through contributing to the national economy.

It was demanded at a daylong workshop titled Statistics for women home Based workshop at the head office of Sanirvor Bangladesh at Lalmatia in the city on Tuesday.

Bangladesh Homework women Association (BHWA)
And Home net Bangladesh (HNB) arranged the work shop in association with United Nations Development Fund for Women.

Home based workers leader and Secretary of Bangladesh Home workers women Association (BHWA) Dilruba Anguri was present as the chief discussant.

Working president of Bangladesh free Trade Union Congress A A Mukit Khan and trade union leader Bangladesh Nizam, Fazlul Haque and Coordinator
of Home Net Bangladesh Selim Reza also spoke on the occasion.
In his speech, Badruddoza Nizam said “when our neighboring country India has taken some pragmatic initiatives for the development home based workers then our home based workers are lagging behind due to lack of facilities.”

“If we are able to take some in some initiatives especially designed keeping in view the socio economic back ground of the home based workers we can improve in some sectors like reduction of child labour ,” he also said.

Speakers said Bangladesh has been experiencing population sector needs encourage and support so that it can help remove unemployment from the country that is creating a great threat to the development of our socio economic condition.

A total of 45 home based workers leaders across the country and representatives of the governments organization and NGOs and trade union leaders attended the workshop.

Workers who produce products at their homes and favorite places without control of any ownership are called home based workers. BHWA, an NGO is now working country wide with a view to improving socio-economic conditions of home based workers.

Home-based workers seek nat'l wage policy

2010-01-28T03:33:00.000-08:00

Home-based workers seek nat'l wage policy
Matia Banu is a housewife. She has opted for working as a home-based worker to earn some extra money for her family. Making various types of cakes is her job, a sub-contractual one for which she has been assigned by a city super chain shop. But Matia has been unhappy over the years as she is denied a price fair proportionately with her hard labour and time.

"I work at home during my leisure time, though. Whatever the amount I get as wage is considered as an extra income. But it's not enough because the job is laborious and time-consuming as well," Matia grumbles.

There are thousands of Matias here and there. These home-based workers are often denied fair wages for jobs due to lack of a national wage policy recognising such workers' contribution to the country's economy.

The observation came yesterday at a workshop on Minimum Wages for Home-based Workers at the Swanirbhar Bangladesh auditorium in Dhaka.

Bangladesh Women Home-workers Association (BWHA) and Homenet Bangladesh in association with United Nations Development Fund for Women organised the workshop.
Speaking on the occasion, Dilruba Anguri, general secretary of BWHA, quoting the Home Work Convention 1996 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) said a person who produces different components of a product or a whole product in his own home for money on a contract is regarded as home worker.

Referring to the Clause 3 in the ILO Convention that laid emphasis on formulation and implementation of national policies for development of the home workers, Dilruba lamented that no government paid any heed to the matter in the last 10 years.

"The need for a national wage policy is urgent because it would help mitigate the deprivation of the home workers, many of whom produce exportable quality goods," she observed.

She demanded the government should ratify the ILO Home Work Convention 1996 to protect the home-based industry.

Touhidur Rahman Rony, president of the Garment Industry Workers Federation, announced at the workshop that a series of programmes would be chalked out to press home a wage security for the home-based workers.

He also made a clarion call to organise dialogues with small entrepreneurs, including Grammen Bank and Aarong, to fix a minimum wage for the home-based workers.
Addressing as the chief guest, Mahmud Hasan Khan Babu, director of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), asked for ensuring social security, healthcare and facilities for the home-based workers.

He also suggested that adequate opportunities be made for the home workers to participate in different exhibitions and fairs, which might directly help them to get fair prices of their products.

Representatives from different organisations in Gazipur, Tangail, Shirajganj, Barisal, Khulna, Chuadanga and other areas of the country took part in the workshop.
They demanded fixing a category of the home-based works at first before raising the issue of minimum wages.

They also called for forming provident fund for the home-based workers immediately as fixing a minimum wage is a long process.

Badruddoza Nizam, general secretary of Garment Tailors Workers League, Selim Reza, coordinator of Homenet Bangladesh, and Abdul Mukit Khan, president of International Free Trade Union Congress, also spoke on the occasion.

BANGLADESH WOMEN RECLAIM THEIR RIGHTS

2010-01-28T03:32:00.000-08:00

BANGLADESH WOMEN RECLAIM THEIR RIGHTS
context: an estimated 90% of the more than 3,780 export garment factories in Bangladesh violate women's legal right to 3 months full pay maternity leave. Some companies harass and pressure the pregnant women workers to force them to quit. Others give the leave but will only take the women back as new employees. Only a handful of companies in fact pay the benefits. The vast majority of factories simply cheat the women. A couple of eloquent examples:
For the last 8 years, at the Shah Makdhum factory in Bangladesh, young women have been forced to work over 15 hours a day, 7 days a week. They have been denied maternity benefits, been beaten and paid just 15 cents for each $17.99 Disney shirts they sewed. When the women stood up for their rights and denounced the violations, Disney responded by cutting and running, pulling its work from the factory and dumping the women on the street with nothing.

On March 2, 2004, the National Labor Committee (NCL) released a new report about the Disney contractor’s Niagra in Bangladesh: 22 union members demanding their legal overtime pay were beaten, fired, and imprisoned on false charges. The factory requires 19 hour shifts, pays no overtime, and denies maternity leave & benefits.
the campaign: against this background, NLC, the Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity (BCWS), and the National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF) launched a joint campaign to demand that the maternity rights be respected. They are asking Wal-Mart, Disney, Kohls and other companies to sign The Pledge - that any woman in Bangladesh sewing their garments, will be guaranteed her legal right to three months maternity leave with full pay. This campaign is just a start. If it is successful, the campaign will move on to other countries.

maternity benefits cost: some garment workers earn as little as 8 cents an hour, while the top wage for an experienced sewer is just 18 cents an hour. This means the US companies and their suppliers in Bangladesh would be responsible to pay anywhere between $15.76 and $36.44 a month for three months for a grand total of $47.28 to $109.32 in maternity benefits. It is pretty probable that multinationals could afford this! Less than $110 in benefits might not seem like a great deal of money to us, but for mothers earning just eight to 18 cents an hour, and trapped in abject poverty, it is a matter of life and death to them and their infants.

women on the frontline: in Bangladesh, the women are leading this struggle to demand that their right to maternity leave with benefits be respected. They are marching, demonstrating, holding press conferences, distributing flyers in a massive popular education and outreach campaign, writing to all 3,780 export garment factories, pasting up posters on factory walls and meeting with the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturer Export Association. The three promoters (NLC, BCWS and NHWF) are spearheading this campaign, but new local organisations are joining the effort every day. These women feel they can win - but they need a broader support: multinationals only react when they feel pressure in their marketplace.

take action: NLC has published on its web pages a downloadable model letter to be addressed to the companies asking them to sign The Pledge. Moreover, NLC keeps a running score card highlighting companies that do the right thing and, in the same vein, companies that refuse to respond to do the right thing.

Women in Bangladesh

2010-01-28T03:29:00.000-08:00

Available data on health, nutrition, education, and economic performance indicated that in the 1980s the status of women in Bangladesh remained considerably inferior to that of men. Women, in custom and practice, remained subordinate to men in almost all aspects of their lives; greater autonomy was the privilege of the rich or the necessity of the very poor. Most women's lives remained centered on their traditional roles, and they had limited access to markets, productive services, education, health care, and local government. This lack of opportunities contributed to high fertility patterns, which diminished family well-being, contributed to the malnourishment and generally poor health of children, and frustrated educational and other national development goals. In fact, acute poverty at the margin appeared to be hitting hardest at women. As long as women's access to health care, education, and training remained limited, prospects for improved productivity among the female population remained poor.

About 82 percent of women lived in rural areas in the late 1980s. The majority of rural women, perhaps 70 percent, were in small cultivator, tenant, and landless households; many worked as laborers part time or seasonally, usually in post-harvest activities, and received payment in kind or in meager cash wages. Another 20 percent, mostly in poor landless households, depended on casual labor, gleaning, begging, and other irregular sources of income; typically, their income was essential to household survival. The remaining 10 percent of women were in households mainly in the professional, trading, or large-scale landowning categories, and they usually did not work outside the home.

The economic contribution of women was substantial but largely unacknowledged. Women in rural areas were responsible for most of the post-harvest work, which was done in the chula, and for keeping livestock, poultry, and small gardens. Women in cities relied on domestic and traditional jobs, but in the 1980s they increasingly worked in manufacturing jobs, especially in the readymade garment industry. Those with more education worked in government, health care, and teaching, but their numbers remained very small. Continuing high rates of population growth and the declining availability of work based in the chula meant that more women sought employment outside the home. Accordingly, the female labor force participation rate doubled between 1974 and 1984, when it reached nearly 8 percent. Female wage rates in the 1980s were low, typically ranging between 20 and 30 percent of male wage rates.

bangladesh woman

2010-01-28T03:26:00.001-08:00

Canon 1Ds Mark II with 70-300mm f/5.6 DO lens at ISI 400
We were on the deck of our boat, moored near a public dock in downtown Dhaka, Bangladesh. A ferry pulled alongside us, and we watched as passengers got on and off. Of course they watched us too (foreigners are quite rare in Bangladesh).

I suppose I may have looked curious to these two woman, but probably no more so than they appeared to me.

Look at the curve of the white metal port that they are standing in, and then look for complimentary curves in the rest of the image; faces, glasses, shawl...

I was doing photography in an abandoned building in the ancient capital of Sonargoran. A parapet on the third floor faced across a narrow street to a building where people were living. This woman was turned, talking to someone else in the room. What drew me, in addition to the muted yet colourful tonalities, were the unanswered questions. Who was she? Who was she talking to? What was this unknown life all about?

I was wandering though the courtyard of a Hindu temple. This woman lived within, part of the caretaker's family. I was photographing some architectural detail, and when I turned around at one point, saw her whipping her long hair though a twisted towel in an almost balletic motion. Pure poerty, and this photograph is my attempt to translate that poem into a visual record.

The Women

2010-01-28T03:22:00.000-08:00

The Women
This is one of a series of small portfolios taken from my January, 2005 shoot in Bangladesh.
These photographs will form part of a gallery exhibition in Toronto in March, 2005,
together with a collector's print portfolio, which will be made available at that time.

I selected these three photographs for use here before thinking about what I wanted to say about them. What I realized then was that in each one the woman's faces are either obscured, or turned away.

This wasn't intentional, and I certainly took quite a few straightforward photographs of woman's faces while in Bangladesh. I also found that everyone there, including woman, were quite open to having their photographs taken. More often than not it was hard to prevent them from smiling or waving, rather than have them put off by being the subject of one of my candid moments.

So why did I select these three images?

I think because of their enigmatic character. In each of these photographs we are presented with a bit of a mystery. Who are these people? What are they doing? And, why? It's that characteristic that can make photographs of people most appealing, and I've explored this aspect of photographing people here on

We were on the deck of our boat, moored near a public dock in downtown Dhaka,

2009-12-30T23:46:00.002-08:00

We were on the deck of our boat, moored near a public dock in downtown Dhaka, Bangladesh. A ferry pulled alongside us, and we watched as passengers got on and off. Of course they watched us too (foreigners are quite rare in Bangladesh).

I suppose I may have looked curious to these two woman, but probably no more so than they appeared to me.

Look at the curve of the white metal port that they are standing in, and then look for complimentary curves in the rest of the image; faces, glasses, shawl...

Available data on health, nutrition, education, and economic performance indicated

2009-12-30T23:46:00.001-08:00

Available data on health, nutrition, education, and economic performance indicated

2009-12-30T23:46:00.000-08:00

The Women

2009-12-30T23:44:00.000-08:00

The Women
This is one of a series of small portfolios taken from my January, 2005 shoot in Bangladesh.
These photographs will form part of a gallery exhibition in Toronto in March, 2005,
together with a collector's print portfolio, which will be made available at that time.

____________________________________________________________________________________
I selected these three photographs for use here before thinking about what I wanted to say about them. What I realized then was that in each one the woman's faces are either obscured, or turned away.

This wasn't intentional, and I certainly took quite a few straightforward photographs of woman's faces while in Bangladesh. I also found that everyone there, including woman, were quite open to having their photographs taken. More often than not it was hard to prevent them from smiling or waving, rather than have them put off by being the subject of one of my candid moments.

So why did I select these three images?

I think because of their enigmatic character. In each of these photographs we are presented with a bit of a mystery. Who are these people? What are they doing? And, why? It's that characteristic that can make photographs of people most appealing, and I've explored this aspect of photographing pe

Once a group is formed, its members elect a leader and a treasurer who deposits

2009-12-30T23:16:00.000-08:00

Once a group is formed, its members elect a leader and a treasurer who deposits their savings in a joint account. Individual members may only be able to save about two taka (one cent) a week, yet the members of Banchte Shekha have saved a total of more than thirty million taka in this way. Members can take loans from the group savings for emergency, personal, or business reasons. The group approves the loans, which are given at no interest and with no set payback schedule. Nevertheless the default rate is only one percent.

The groups meet weekly to talk, work together, participate in training sessions, and make decisions about what they will do with savings or any money generated by their agricultural, craft, and small trade projects. The income from these projects is not large, but in a country where the per capita income is $220 a year, it is significant. A 1988 study by sociologist Monawar Sultana found that members were earning up to 700 taka (approx. $15) a month, and that, in some families, these earnings represented fifty percent of the total family income. Where the women are the sole wage earners, these earnings may be all the family has to survive on.

Banchte Shekha offers members a practical, basic education that focuses first on empowerment and income-generating skills, then on legal literacy, health issues, and family planning. In Gomes' pragmatic idealism, a woman who can create her own job and feed herself and her family is an educated woman. She is disdainful of people who emerge from higher education with no job and no idea of how to take care of themselves. She also has no use for education programs aimed at the poor that do not provide the knowledge and skills that they need to survive.

Dissatisfied with the teaching materials that were available for adults, Gomes has created her own: songs, plays, posters, and books that convey Banchte Shekha's message. Reading and writing are important, says Gomes, but not as important as eating. Not as important as staying alive and understanding that you are not powerless.

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The road to the village of Chadpur is a rutted dirt track that divides row upon row of bright green rice paddies. It ends in a grove of banana trees about fifty yards from the scattering of bamboo and thatch houses.
The most prominent building in the village is a sturdy bamboo pavillion. It was built by Chadpur's Banchte Shekha group and sits on land that the women purchased with pooled savings from their cottage industries.

About forty Banchte Shekha members are gathered in the pavillion to welcome Angela Gomes and some visitors from the United States. Their talk is lively as they settle on the floor with their embroidery.

The arrival of the strangers attracts a curious crowd of villagers: women with bright saris pulled protectively around their heads; a few men in lungis who stand on the edge of the crowd; and the usual army of brown-eyed children who gather close around, gaping and laughing.

Gomes introduces the visitors and talks to the women about their work.

2009-12-30T23:15:00.001-08:00

Gomes introduces the visitors and talks to the women about their work. She describes the accomplishments of the group-how they have worked together to learn 'to survive their lives.' "Today," she says, "these women know they have value."

In Chadpur the women's main projects are doing embroidery and casting concrete latrines. Use of the latrines, Gomes explains, can prevent seventy-five different diseases.

The group has decided to perform a play for the visitors. Several women hang a sari across the back of the pavillion and, laughing, disappear behind it. The women on the floor move to create an open space.

Suddenly the actors emerge, transformed into village characters by a few twists of their saris and a bit of charcoal and powder. The crowd of villagers pushes closer in anticipation.

"Ah-ee! Ah-ee!" The story begins with the shrieks and wails of a young wife who is being beaten by her mother-in-law. She can never do anything right. Her husband wants more dowry from her family, but her father has already sold his land to get her a husband. He has nothing more. The village moneylender tells the husband that, for a small fee, he could easily find him another younger, wealthier wife. So the wife is thrown out. Abandoned.

The story is a familiar and ancient one, and everyone laughs at the women's lively portrayals of the evil moneylender, the arrogant husband, the cruel mother-in-law.

But in scene two, a new figure emerges. A paralegal from Banchte Shekha explains to the wife that what her husband is doing is illegal. He cannot ask for dowry or abandon her without support. She can take him to court.

Together they confront the husband's family with the threat of a lawsuit.

Suddenly, it is all a misunderstanding! They love the young wife very much! Nothing could make them happier than to have her back! And so the wife and husband are reunited.

The audience claps and cheers. The eyes of the young girls are especially intent as they watch their mothers and sisters and aunts-women who once seldom left their homes-bowing to the large crowd.

After the performance, the women quickly resettle themselves and turn to the visitors. They have shared the story of their lives, now they want information in return.

"What is it like for women in your country?" they ask. "Are women tortured there too? Do women go to school? Do you have divorce? Can you inherit?" They lean forward eagerly, awaiting the answers.

"Some things are better," says one of the visitors, "but in many ways we have exactly the same problems. Women are still not treated equally. Many are still beaten and abused."

The women nod knowingly as they discuss this news among themselves.

It is time to go. Angela Gomes asks the women to join her in a song she has taught them. It is a song the visitors know too.

"We shall overcome, we shall overcome, we shall overcome someday. O, deep in my heart, I do believe, that we shall overcome some day.

"Women shall be free, women shall be free, women shall be free someday. O, deep in my heart, I do believe, that women shall be free someday."

As a grassroots organization by, for, and of poor women, Banchte Shekha is unusual,

2009-12-30T23:15:00.000-08:00

As a grassroots organization by, for, and of poor women, Banchte Shekha is unusual, if not unique. Development organizations in Bangladesh are usually founded by the educated elite, and even those targeted at women are most often run by men. Long-time friend and colleague Shahjahan Kabir attributes Gomes' success with Banchte Shekha to fact that she is a village woman herself. "She is one of them," he says. "She lives with them and she speaks their language."
Banchte Shekha embodies Gomes' belief that respect and empowerment begin at home. That means not just in the home, or in the village, but also within the organization. The philosophy of the organization is embodied in the autonomy of group members and groups, as well as by policies such as the requirement that each staff person must do at least one hour of manual labor every day.

Although the leadership of Banchte Shekha is no longer exclusively women, the majority of field positions are still held by experienced women members, and Gomes has made a point of bringing village women up into key positions.

Each of the major programs of Banchte Shekha has grown out of the felt needs of the members. They usually began in an ad hoc fashion.

The legal assistance program, for example, has its origins in early confrontations between members and other villagers, usually husbands. If a man beat his wife, he might find himself surrounded by thirty or forty angry Banchte Shekha women who would gather to publicly denounce him. Often they would make him sign a paper saying that he would not harm his wife again. A man who tried to desert or divorce his wife, or take a second wife, had to contend with Banchte Shekha members who were supported not only by group strength, but a knowledge of the law.

In 1987 Banchte Shekha decided to launch a village-based paralegal program, and, with support from The Asia Foundation, this Legal Aid Cell has become one of the most innovative paralegal programs in the country. It is also the only one run entirely by women.

The volunteer paralegals are village women who receive training in Muslim family law on dowry, the marriage system, legal divorce, and inheritance. These paralegals provide information to members and other villagers about their rights, and they participate in the shalish, the village form of mediation in Bangladesh.

Until recently, women were not represented at a shalish, even when their own future was at stake. Their male relatives were supposed to represent them, and all the decisions were made by the village men. Banchte Shekha's paralegal program has helped change that.

Three hundred and fifty women have been trained so far as paralegals. They work under the direction of one of the earliest Banchte Shekha members, Rokeya Sattar, herself a village woman who was married at thirteen and abandoned at twenty-two with her four children.

The paralegals have proven to be very effective. By July 1991, they had settled 2,119 disputes at the village level and effected 2,382 marriages without dowry. Attorneys who have evaluated the program have been struck by the poise and confidence of the women as they put their cases before the shalish or hold their own in difficult negotiations.

The legal program has been further strengthened by Asia Foundation support that gives the women the money and the clout to say that they will take a case to court and litigate if mediation fails. In the first four years of the program they have won 278 court cases.

The Mother and Child Health Project has its roots in the early days of Banchte Shekha when Gomes would go to hospitals and plead with the nuns to give her free medicine for village children.

Dr. James Ross, a former program officer with the Ford Foundation, says that when Banchte Shekha approached them in 1987 about funding a primary health care program, one of the things that really excited him about the project was their intent to recruit the health care workers from their own membership.

Initially Ford supported the training of nine women as paramedics. Today the program includes not only paid paramedics, but also more than 100 volunteer health workers-village women who teach members about nutrition, safe water and sanitation, family planning, and prenatal and child care. With the support of regional doctors and the paramedics, the health workers provide routine medical services, such as the distribution of vitamin A.

Village midwives are also offered training as traditional birth attendants (TBAs). According to Banchte Shekha program officer Anup Saha, "Before the TBA training, village midwives followed traditional practices, such as witholding food from the mother and the baby after the delivery. We teach them how to manage a normal delivery and ensure breast feeding, and we provide medical support and advice if they need it." Some 200 women have completed the TBA training.

The Ford Foundation has also capitalized a revolving loan fund that helps women get started with income-generating projects. A woman may request fingerling grass carp, for example, and, after she raises and sells the fish, she repays Banchte Shekha in taka.

Funds generated in this way have been used for a variety of projects, including the purchase of the organization's compound and demonstration farm in Jessore.

The demonstration farm is an important center for training in environmentally sound agricultural methods and income-generating activities. Produce from the farm feeds the staff and as many as 120 women a day who come there for training and refuge.

The manager of the farm is Manowara "Dolly" Begum. An illiterate woman who was divorced when her family could not meet her husband's demands for dowry, she came to Gomes and said she would do anything if she could stay at the Banchte Shekha compound. Gomes trained her to help take care of the cows, and she has now risen to a management position and runs the livestock breeding and production program.

"She is an illiterate woman, but she is educated," says Gomes emphatically. "She can take care of herself. The money she brings in from the farm pays the salaries of the professional staff here."

Farm profits from crops such as fodder also fund scholarships for village girls to attend secondary school and college.

Gomes is particularly proud of this next generation. "They are the ones who will become our leaders," she says. "The mothers, they can only go so far because of the disadvantages of their lives. But their children can do anything now."

In the spring of 1994, Gomes realized another goal: the opening of Banchte Shekha's own training center at the compound in Jessore. In a country where a tin roof is a status symbol, this complex of two-story brick buildings rising out of the red mud is a dramatic illustration of how far Banchte Shekha has come.

Funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), the new center will not only serve members, but will also provide a place where representatives from government and other organizations can learn what has made Banchte Shekha a success.

Operating a facility of this size-and the budget it requires-has necessitated some changes. In the past year the staff has increased by twenty-five percent to 261 people. Now, in addition to the group organizers, there are field supervisors and area managers who oversee all the activities in a specific geographic area. At the compound there are college-educated, English-speaking accountants and lawyers and secretaries putting in their one-hour-a-day of manual labor alongside trainees from the villages and the older staff.

Despite its rapid growth and the inevitable expansion of management-and management problems-Banchte Shekha remains true to Gomes' original vision.

"What's important to me is that Banchte Shekha is a movement, more than just a development project," says Nick Langton, the Asia Foundation's representative in Bangladesh. "It existed before any funders came along, and it would continue to exist-although on a smaller scale-without us. If you go out and talk to women in these groups, you get a very definite sense that they have been empowered, that they are women making decisions who would not have been making decisions before."

NORAD's Reidar Kvam agrees. He sees Banchte Shekha as a successful working model for other groups.

"This is an example of what woman leaders can achieve in this country," he says. "I think they have been able to demonstrate to a larger audience that there are strong, capable woman leaders here, and that they are addressing issues of concern with an impact even beyond their target organization."

Gomes hopes Banchte Shekha will continue to grow and that other organizations will learn from their experience.

"We have never claimed that this is the only approach to development," she says. "Certainly there may be other ways. The problems of poor women in Bangladesh have been centuries in the making. By comparision, eighteen years is not a long time. But every day is a new day. We have to be creative to cope with the changes it brings."

In the small village in Bangladesh where Angela Gomes grew up

2009-12-30T23:14:00.000-08:00

In the small village in Bangladesh where Angela Gomes grew up, women worked hard all day, but, she says, "they were treated like house servants-underfed, beaten, and mentally tortured. No one respected them, not even themselves. They had no solutions to their problems. Life just went on."
Like the other girls from her village, Gomes was expected to marry at fourteen and settle down. But she resisted that idea and won a scholarship to a mission school run by the Sisters of Charity in Jessore.

At the Sacred Heart School, Gomes progressed from student to teacher while still in her teens. She began to work with the nuns and Father Ceci, a Xaverian priest whose program for poor people in the slums of Jessore impressed Gomes greatly.

"Through the sisters and Father Ceci, I became very interested in finding out why women are so exploited and dominated," she recalls.

But unlike the nuns, who called the problems of poor village women 'God-given', Gomes believed that these women could learn to help themselves.

"I wanted to find a solution for them, to work on the 'woman problem', but everyone-Father Ceci, the sisters, my family-thought I should go back to my own village and get married."

Angela Gomes is an extraordinary mixture of warmth, good humor, strength, and determination. No is never a final answer for her. It took all of her persuasive powers, but within a year she was pursuing her own ideal.

"In 1977, I finally began to work in the villages," she says. "The women didn't trust me at first because I was a Christian. They thought I wanted to convert them. Some women thought it was bad luck to look at my face because I had no children. I would try to talk to them about their problems and they would say 'Where is the problem?' They had all kinds of problems, but only I was aware of them."

Gomes went from village to village, alone and on foot. In each village she was able to find someone to take her in, and, while she was there, she lived, ate, and worked side by side with the women.

"They were my university," she says. "Every woman. Every life. I have learned everything I know from them."

She tried to communicate her vision of a different life for village women: a vision in which they were respected for their contributions, not victims of violence and domination; where they could earn their own living and take care of themselves and their children.

When she had gained their confidence, she talked to the women about the struggle between rich and poor-that the poor always lose-and about the particular problems they faced as women.

Gradually a small cadre of women-usually destitute women

2009-12-30T23:13:00.001-08:00

The way she approached them, Gomes explains, was to "start with what the women wanted, what they needed. They could not eat education. They needed food and work. Once they were sure they would have food-through having work and income-they began to understand how the question of getting more food is dependent on the question of getting more education. Then they became hungry not only for food but also for education."

Gradually a small cadre of women-usually destitute women who had been widowed, divorced, or deserted-became inspired by her ideas and joined her in her work.

For Rokeya Sattar and other early members, the experience was life-changing. "Before we met Angela, we didn't even know we were human beings," says Sattar. "We thought we were like cattle and deserved to be tied in the jungle with the cows."

it is done today-by pooling their talent and resources and

2009-12-30T23:13:00.000-08:00

The first women who joined Banchte Shekha started changing their lives the same way it is done today-by pooling their talent and resources and saving money. Ten paisa, twenty paisa, one taka, ten taka. Enough to buy one chicken, two chickens, ten chickens. When their chickens kept dying, Gomes found a way for two of the women to attend a training program in poultry-raising. Then their project began to bring in a little money, and more women were attracted to the group.

Other income-generating projects began on a trial-and-error basis too-growing silkworms and raising fish, making nakshi kantha (traditional embroidered quilts) and jute crafts, keeping bees, fattening cows and goats.

Their projects weren't successful all of the time, but the women's progress was steady. As one woman learned a new skill, she would pass it on to other women. Soon there would be a whole group in a village earning and saving money. The women of a neighboring village would hear about it and want to participate too.

But the women of Banchte Shekha weren't always well received.

"There were people who did not want us because they did not want to see the women improve themselves," Gomes explains. "If women could create their own jobs, they would not need to be servants in wealthy people's homes. If they knew their rights, they couldn't be tricked or beaten. If they had money, they wouldn't need to go to the moneylenders."

"We had rocks and human excrement thrown at us," says Gomes. "They said that I was a characterless woman because I was not married. They called us prostitutes and claimed we were trying to destroy Muslim family life."

At one point a sixteen-page indictment was drawn up against Gomes, accusing her of being a bad influence on the community. She fought the charges successfully, but decided to take the magistrate's advice-he told her that she would be less vulnerable to such attacks if she had "a foundation under her feet."

In 1981, Gomes created that foundation by registering as a nongovernmental organization called Banchte Shekha. "The aim of Banchte Shekha," she says, "is not to rescue women, but to help them learn to live."

Poor women around Jessore were eager to do just that. By 1985, Banchte Shekha had attracted 5,000 members. That figure more than doubled by 1990, and today there are more than 20,000 members in about 700 village-based groups around Jessore.

In traditional Muslim families, a woman does not leave her home without the permission of her husband or mother-in-law. Unless it's absolutely necessary for survival, she does not work outside the home. She does not even go to the marketplace to shop. The marketplace is the province of men, and Muslim women are taught to avoid contact with men outside their families. So the activities of the Banchte Shekha members are changing generations of training and custom.

Banchte Shekha works with women in groups because the group provides support for women undertaking these changes and because, Gomes says, "the problems of the poor are so big they can't be handled either at the individual or family level."
Village groups are formed with the help of organizers-experienced Banchte Shekha members who go to villages where the women have expressed interest in the program.

"We have a good reputation now, so people want us to come," explains Gomes. "Women hear that relatives in another village are making money, and they want to do it too."

Women Helping Women in Bangladesh

2009-12-30T23:07:00.000-08:00

Women Helping Women in Bangladesh

It is dawn on a December morning in Bangladesh. The sun is rising in a luminous red ball over fields of yellow mustard flowers. Chickens scratch and peck under tall banana trees, their leaves heavy with dew. A dog barks at the empty sky, and, in the distance, the plaintive call of Muslim prayer undulates along the cool, moist breeze.

Outside the thatch and bamboo huts that dot the roadside, squatting women fan breakfast fires. The rising smoke sways and mingles with clouds of fog that hang over tiny ponds and paddies.

Along the road is a sign, Banchte Shekha: Development Program for Women and Children. A red arrow points across a small pond to a compound of bamboo buildings where a group of women is gathering for breakfast. Banchte Shekha founder Angela Gomes-a tall, vibrant women in her early forties-laughs and chats with the women as she helps serve a meal of porridge, chapatis, and papaya.

Many of these women have spent the night at Banchte Shekha-a safe haven for them from an abusive husband or in-laws. For others, Banchte Shekha-which is Bangla for "learning to live"-is part of a longer journey, a first step toward self-sufficiency and dignity. For all of them, Banchte Shekha offers hope, because one woman believed that poor village women could have better lives, even when they didn't believe it themselves