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How did Bangladeshi women fare in 2022?
For a country in the grips of an epidemic of sexual violence, and which witnessed mass protests demanding an end to impunity for rapists – the amendment of the Evidence Act, 1872 was perhaps the year’s most important event in terms of gender justice.
For decades, activists campaigned against probing questions about survivors’ “immoral character” in rape trials – including on sexual history – arguing it causes trauma and deters women from speaking out. The repeal of Section 155(4), which allowed this practice, is thus historic, although Section 146(3), which allows cross-examination that may “injure the character of the witness in order to verify their credibility” is still allowed.
The amendment of the Labour Rules, 2015 is another milestone; the most significant being the new rule that clearly defines sexual harassment, and imposes a duty on employers to implement a process of complaint and redress.
Unfortunately, when it comes to women’s rights, one step forward can lead to another in the wrong direction. It has been argued that the new method of calculating maternity benefits may actually reduce them, although the provision to give leave for miscarriages is appreciated.
The High Court this year also asked some key questions regarding the unconstitutional nature of legal gender inequalities, such as why Hindu women cannot inherit paternal property. While it’s interesting that similar questions on other personal laws governing inheritance were not asked, it did question why the law allows only the sons of marriage registrars (kazi) to become kazis.
Unfortunately, in terms of macro-changes, this is where the positives end, and 2022 has, predictably, been a violent year. According to Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK), 886 cases of rape were reported till November, and the real number is likely to be far higher.
Media reports point to a disturbing trend of not only gangs and miscreants committing violence, but teachers, cousins, classmates, colleagues and family friends being perpetrators too. There were also 236 known cases of domestic violence, with abusers ranging from truck drivers and policemen to actors and ex-state ministers.
This corroborates the well-known fact that women are equally vulnerable in private spaces, even though there is a common perception that public spaces are more unsafe. Having said that, a survey found that 36 percent of over 5,000 respondents faced sexual harassment regularly on public transport, and nearly 87 percent faced some form of harassment at least once in their lives – an issue that remains largely unaddressed.
It was disturbing to find just how many perpetrators occupied positions of power, including in law enforcement agencies. This was epitomised in June, when a 15-year-old girl appeared in front of the High Court bench with the simple plea: “Sir, I have been raped. We have no money for moving the case. I want justice from you… I have been raped by a member of the BGB. The lower court in Nilphamari has acquitted the offender.”
There were even instances where women faced more abuse while trying to access justice. In January, a girl was found dead in the victim support centre of Kotwali Police Station in Rangpur. In March, a woman suffered a miscarriage after being assaulted at Kashimpur Police Station in Gazipur. And in May, this daily investigated a policeman who reportedly raped a victim of harassment, and then continued to harass her himself.
That abuse of power has become part and parcel of gender-based violence became clearer during the year’s student movements. A group of alleged BCL men attacked students of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University (BSMRSTU) in January while they protested their classmate’s gang-rape. At Chittagong University, a sexual assault survivor’s friends reported of threats from several BCL men after organising protests.
During the Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) protests in January, which started as a women-led movement for an improved campus environment, university authorities used police force to suppress legitimate protests. And the VC’s sexist comments – on how no one wants to marry women who roam around at night – reflected the misogyny in our society, and how women’s rights continue to be trivialised by those in power.
From the 88 percent of female migrant workers who had no written job contracts, putting them at the mercy of recruitment agencies and making them vulnerable to abuse, to the 84 percent of women whose complaints to police cyber support went unaddressed – 2022 was full of far too many examples of Bangladeshi women being deprived of their rights.
Even when an issue affected a specific population, women faced greater disadvantages, whether it’s coastal communities bearing the brunt of climate change, tea workers from fighting for a living wage, or households struggling with the cost of living crisis. The rising rates of child marriage and adolescent pregnancy post-pandemic is testament to how women continue to be disproportionately affected during times of turmoil.
Against this bleak backdrop, it is amazing to see what Bangladeshi women can still achieve when exercising their agency. Bangladeshi women worked on the James Webb Space Telescope, received recognition for working in genome sequencing, operated the country’s first ever metro, and became pioneers in climate-resilient farming. The women’s football team made history by winning the SAFF Championships (although even here, the Bangladesh Football Federation failed to treat them with any respect).
At the beginning of the year, 12-year-old Poly Khatun and 15-year-old Mim Akhter, inhabitants of Mirpur’s informal settlements, defeated internationally rated chess players after only three months of training.
Now that the year is ending, how many more Polys and Mims are out there, deprived of living their fullest lives, because we have failed to correct even the most blatant gender inequalities in the country?