BANGLADESH ANNOUNCES WITHDRAWAL OF SOME RESERVATIONS TO WOMEN'S ANTI-DISCRIMINATION CONVENTION, DELEGATION TELLS COMMITTEE
Press Release
WOM/997
BANGLADESH ANNOUNCES WITHDRAWAL OF SOME RESERVATIONS TO WOMEN'S ANTI-DISCRIMINATION CONVENTION, DELEGATION TELLS COMMITTEE
19970723 The Government of Bangladesh had withdrawn its reservations to some provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women relating to such personal rights of women as family benefits and guardianship of children, the monitoring body for the implementation of the Convention was told this morning.Presenting the combined third and fourth reports of Bangladesh to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the State Minister in the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs of Bangladesh, Mozammel Hossain, said the instrument of withdrawal of reservation had been submitted to the Secretary-General today.
The withdrawn reservations of Bangladesh pertained to articles 13 (a) and 16 (1) (f) of the Convention. Article 13 (a) provides for the right of women to family benefits. Article 16 (1) (f), among other things, says that States parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that men and women have the same rights and responsibilities with regard to guardianship, wardship, trusteeship and adoption of children.
Bangladesh still maintains its reservations to articles 2 and 16 (1) (c) of the Convention. Under article 2, States parties agree to combat discrimination against women in various ways, including through the adoption of laws and ensuring that public authorities and institutions refrain from any discriminatory act or practice. Article 16 (1) (c) spells out the equality of women's rights in matters relating to marriage and family relations and states that men and women have the same rights and responsibilities during marriage and its dissolution.
The 23-member expert Committee reviews reports of States parties submitted in accordance with article 18 of the Convention. That article requires States to submit reports within one year after accession, and thereafter at least every four years. Such reports are to focus on legislative, judicial and administrative measures adopted by States to give effect to the Convention's provisions.
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Also this morning, the Committee was told by Najma Chowdhury, Professor of Political Science at Dhaka University in Bangladesh, that violence against women took many forms, including dowry, acid throwing, trafficking in women and girl children and repression at home and outside. The pernicious social custom of dowry through marriage had led to increased incidences of polygamy although both practices were discouraged by law. Further, the non-payment of promised dowry often resulted in violence and murder of the bride or wife.
Due to the average differences in age between the spouses, the likelihood of women becoming widows was higher, she said. Such widows were often impoverished due to the relative lack of income earning opportunities for women and the lesser ownership of assets. In addition, women had differential access to health care, and the household allocation for medical care for them was much lower than that of men.
In responding to questions submitted by Committee members, Ms. Chowdhury was joined by the Secretary of the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs of Bangladesh, Abdullah Haroon Pasha.
The Committee will meet again at 3 p.m. today to continue consideration of the combined third and fourth periodic reports of Bangladesh.
Committee Work Programme
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women met this morning to consider the combined third and fourth periodic reports of Bangladesh (document CEDAW/C/BGD/3-4) on its implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
The report, which is in three parts, deals with the period from 1990 to 1996 and highlights the developments in each area covered by the Convention. The first part provides information on the current socio-economic and political situation in the country resulting from the growing consciousness of women's issues, including the latest available data to evaluate the current status of women.
The second part provides specific information relating to articles 2 to 16 of the Convention, with emphasis on newly adopted legal measures, new policies and programmes to promote the elimination of discrimination against women, as well as remaining obstacles to women's participation on an equal basis with men in all spheres of life. Part three of the report provides information on measures taken to implement the 12 critical areas of concern of the Beijing Platform for Action adopted at the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women.
The Government of Bangladesh has expressed reservations to articles 13(a), 16 (1) (c) and (f) of the Convention, which relate to the personal rights of women, such as succession of property, marriage and divorce, and guardianship over children. All the reservations are in the process of being reviewed, the report indicates. The Constitution guarantees equality between men and women in the public sphere, but various discriminatory customs and practices persist. The report says the Government is committed to remove them.
The report quotes various indicators to show that the status of women in Bangladesh is much lower than that of men, mainly because of traditional cultural, social and religious values and practices. That has consequently limited their opportunities for education, technical and vocational training, employment and participation in the overall development process.
While poverty affects the household as a whole, women bear a disproportionate burden, according to the report. Over the last two decades, women have gradually become more visible in the labour force, in development programmes and local institutions. Their role as productive agents is increasingly being recognized. In addition, the measurement of women's economic activities has been modified to better capture their contribution, as a result of which their participation rates are higher than before.
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The report says the total fertility rate has fallen to 3.4 with 49 per cent of the total population in the reproductive age group. The contraceptive prevalence rate has increased to 45 per cent. As regards employment, the report says women in Bangladesh are far behind men. Nearly 43 per cent of women are involved in agricultural activities, but 70 per cent work as unpaid family labour.
In March, a national policy on women's advancement was announced by the Prime Minister. Its main objectives include the establishment of equality between men and women in all spheres; establishment of women's human rights; providing housing and shelter to women; and creating positive images of women in the media.
The country's fourth five-year plan (1990-1995) had, as its objectives, the acceleration of economic growth, poverty alleviation and increasing self- reliance. It also emphasized the development of poor and disadvantaged women. The fifth five-year plan (1997-2002), which is being prepared, outlines a set of comprehensive measures to implement the national policy for women's advancement. Its vision is to guarantee women equal access to opportunities for the realization of the goals of equality.
The report states that national machineries to further women's advancement include the Ministry of Women's Affairs, which deals with the development concerns of women, and the 44-member National Council For Women's Development, which ensures women's participation in socio-economic development work and takes measures to preserve women's interests, among other functions.
The report says that certain legislative actions, such as reform of family laws and laws on equal pay and employment, have been taken to protect the interests of women and reduce discrimination. Some provisions of the Muslim Personal Laws have been modified, but as yet no effective measures have been taken to reform the Hindu personal laws or laws of other minority groups. A new law -- the Women and Child Repression (Special Provision) Act of 1995 -- further increases the punishment for crimes against women. A high powered committee had been constituted to examine existing laws and update them to address all forms of discrimination against women.
Bangladesh does not have any Shariah Law as such, according to the report. Certain provisions have, however, been codified into legislation, such as the Muslim Family Law Ordinance. Provisions of the Shariah are not immutable, but subject to reinterpretation based on the needs of the time. There is a sizeable non-Muslim population to whom the Shariah is not applicable.
As regards the development and advancement of women, the report says that legally they have the same access as men to a number of programmes, but in certain cases temporary special measures have been formulated to increase
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that access, the report states. A "cell" has been established by the Department of Women's Affairs to provide legal counselling and assistance to victims of violence. Trafficking in women and girls is carried out by well- organized regional gangs who have links with the various law enforcement agencies. There are laws against forcing anyone into prostitution or into "immoral acts".
Prostitution is technically neither legal nor illegal, but exists in a gap in the law, the report states. Therefore, prostitutes do not have any legal protection, nor can the State take any legal measures against them.
The Constitution of Bangladesh provides equal opportunities for women to participate in politics and public life, and it is in the unique situation of having women in the posts of both Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition. Women voters are gaining in visibility and political strength. There are 30 reserved seats for women in the Parliament to ensure their participation in politics, in addition to the 300 elected seats.
Equal employment and training opportunities for women are unequal, the report says. Opportunities for professional technical and administrative positions, through special training, are inadequate.
The Government accords top priority to family planning, the report states. Attempts are being made to improve the status of women within the family and the community so that they are allowed to make their own decisions about pregnancy and family size. Bangladesh has established a project to address the possible emergence of AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases as a health crisis.
Although the Government has entered a reservation on article 13 (a), covering right to family benefits, the report says women in government service are receiving the same family benefits as men. In addition, they are given paid maternity leave.
The regular banking system with its requirements of collateral discriminates against women, the report states. Among the large number of non-governmental organizations helping women is the Grameen Bank, a private specialized financial institution, reputed for its successful approach to providing the rural poor with an institutional credit mechanism. The Bank has been able to provide credit to 1.9 million people for income-generating activities through organizing them in five member groups. Ninety-three per cent of the beneficiaries are women, and the repayment rate is 99 per cent. The borrowers of the Bank own 72 per cent of the shares, and the Government, the remaining 18 per cent.
The report also describes Islamic Law of marriage and divorce, asserting that a husband can divorce his wife without showing any reason and without his
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wife's consent. The wife can divorce her husband under certain conditions and only if she is delegated the authority to do so by her husband at the time of marriage. The Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act of 1939 for the first time recognized the right of an estranged wife to seek dissolution of marriage ties through court.
Referring to measures taken to implement the Beijing Platform for Action, the report states that the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs has been designated as the focal point for follow-up action. A national action plan, which is in the process of being finalized, concentrates on policy, institutional mechanisms, skill and competencies, research, linkage and monitoring. The plan emphasizes the strategy of mainstreaming women's development into government policies and programmes.
Introduction of Report
MOZAMMEL HOSSAIN, State Minister of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs and the Ministry of Social Welfare, introducing the report, announced that the Government had decided to withdraw its reservations to articles 13 a) and 16 (1) (f) of the Convention, which relate to the personal rights of women such as succession of property, marriage and divorce, and guardianship over children. He said the instrument of withdrawal of reservation to the articles had been submitted this morning to the Secretary-General.
[Article 13 (a) provides for the right of women to family benefits. Article 16 (1) states that States parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in all matters relating to marriage and family relations and in particular shall ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women,the same right to enter into marriage, among other provisions. Article 16 (f) states that women shall have "the same rights and responsibilities with regard to guardianship, wardship, trusteeship and adoption of children, or similar institutions where these concepts exist in national legislation; in all cases the interests of the children shall be paramount".]
He said the goal of equality of women and men in all spheres of public life was conceptualized by the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, long before the Convention. During the last two decades, however, the formulation of appropriate policy and implementation of effective programmes for the advancement of women had not been pursued in Bangladesh with the right earnestness.
Since her election to office a year ago, Prime Minister Sheik Hasina, the daughter of the Father of the Nation, and her Government had been fully committed to the establishment of equality between men and women and the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women. The Prime Minister and her party were doing their utmost to fulfil that commitment. The
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constitutional and policy measures that had been undertaken were reflected in the combined third and fourth periodic reports.
As a country constantly fighting against numerous and heavy odds to develop itself, he said, Bangladesh had been able to achieve considerable progress for the advancement and empowerment of women and integrating them in the development process to a remarkable extent. Among other measures, he said a national policy for women's development had been adopted with a formal announcement by the Prime Minister on 8 March, International Women's Day. The Government had formulated a national action plan for the implementation of the policy and the Beijing Platform for Action. Both documents were ground breaking and, it was believed, would help make real changes in women's status and position.
The Government had benefited from the initiative and expertise of many women's rights and human rights activists and non-governmental organizations in the formulation of both documents, as well as in various other initiatives undertaken by the Government for the advancement of women. A number of committees had been formed to review various problem areas of the documents and to submit recommendations, which would be promptly implemented. The Government had embarked on a nationwide mobilization for achieving women's rights. Issues such as violence against women, trafficking in women and children and legal reforms were at the forefront of attention of both the Government and civil society. In the reporting period, Bangladesh had made substantial progress on a number of fronts with regard to the advancement of women and girls. The Government believed in working in partnership with civil society and also its international partners.
He said women in Bangladesh were increasingly being represented in public life and in decision-making. The country was in a unique position of having women as Prime Minister and as Leader of the Opposition and in having two women succeeding each other as Prime Minister.
NAJMA CHOWDHURY, Professor of Political Science at Dhaka University in Bangladesh, in a further introductory statement, said that, although women's development had been a stated objective of the Government of Bangladesh, progress in the removal of disparities had been limited. Traditional cultural, social and religious values and practices had reinforced the lower status of women accorded them in society and had limited their opportunities for education, technical and vocational training and employment. The concept of sharing roles or their transformation was virtually absent. Support services provided by the community and the State were absolutely inadequate. The increasing practice of dowry, which was a recent phenomena, was one of the worst forms of discrimination against women.
The prospect of receiving dowry through marriage had led to increased incidences of polygamy, although both practices were discouraged by law, she
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stated. Dowry had absolutely no basis in Islam, but was a pernicious social custom. The likelihood of women becoming widows was higher, and widows often were impoverished because of the relative lack of income-earning opportunities for women and the lesser ownership of assets.
Giving gender specific indicators, she said women constituted 48 per cent of the total population, and the sex ratio of men to women was 106. Life expectancy at birth was 58 years for women and 58.9 for men. The mortality rate of 450 deaths per 100,000 live births was one of the highest in the world. However, she said that the figure registered a decline from 1985 rate of 600 deaths per 100,000. Sixty per cent child births were attended by traditional birth attendants and around 85 per cent of births took place at home. Women had differential access to health care, and the household allocation for medical care for them was much lower than that of men. Women themselves had low and negative perception of health needs and were more likely to receive traditional medical care. Rural to urban migration of women in search of jobs was a recent phenomenon.
Many obstacles remained to be overcome by women in order to gain equal rights, she said. Some of those factors included poverty, lack of family resources, deep-rooted and pervasive nature of prejudices against equality of women, a strong culture of son preference and low literacy rate. There was increasing awareness that women should enjoy the same political and civil rights and be equal beneficiaries to developmental inputs and interventions. The strategies adopted by the Government in mainstreaming women in development included bottom-up participatory approaches, capacity development and training of women. The Government had also taken special measures to promote girls' enrolment and retention at the primary school and secondary school levels. More women were joining in all fields of higher education, including engineering and agriculture.
Special measures had been taken by the Government to ensure women's participation in the formulation and implementation of public policy and for them to hold public office and perform public functions at all levels of administration. A quota system, applicable for all types of public appointment, had been introduced. Women's participation in local government was ensured by the Constitution by providing for reserved seats in all municipal and local government bodies.
Violence against women in Bangladesh had many faces, she said, such as rape, murder, acid throwing, trafficking in women and girl children, coercion of various kinds, repression at home and outside. Often the non-payment of promised dowry resulted in violence and murder of the bride or wife. Violence and the threat of it forced women to accept abuse and subordination. The practices continued, though laws had been enacted to curb and prevent them. The Ministry of Home had set up women's investigations cells in four police stations, staffed by women police officers to facilitate women's access to the
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police. The Department of Women's Affairs had also established a Cell against Violence against Women to provide legal counselling and assistance in both civil and criminal cases related to violence against women. In the lower levels of administration, unit committees had been set up by the Department to hear cases and complaints, help in mediation, provide counselling and, if necessary, assist with legal proceedings. She said women found it difficult to access and make use of the judicial system. The law enforcement agencies were often hostile or unsympathetic to them. The proof required to file a case of domestic violence or rape was an obstacle. A permanent law reform commission had been set up to review, among other things, existing laws and to address the question of amendment of existing or enactment of new law to safeguard women's rights and to prevent violence against women. Turning to implementation of international commitments in Bangladesh, she said the Convention had been translated into Bangla and disseminated widely within the Government, non-governmental organizations and field-level workers. Referring to the follow-up to the Beijing Fourth World Conference on Women, she said a national plan of action to implement the Beijing Platform for Action offered detailed and concrete programmes to achieve the goals. It provided a guideline for the sectoral ministries to develop more comprehensive plans for integrating women's development. The Beijing Platform for Action had been translated into Bangla at the initiative of the Government for wider dissemination. Responses by Bangladesh to Questions Submitted by Experts Replying to questions raised by experts in the pre-session working group, which had been forwarded to his delegation, ABDULLAH HAROON PASHA, Secretary of the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs of Bangladesh, said there was no plan to alter Muslim Personal Laws as they related to succession, inheritance, marriage and divorce. Those laws derived from the Quran and Shariah and while they conflicted with articles 2 and 16 (1) (c) of the Convention, there was no plan to amend or modify them. Under article 2, States parties agree to combat discrimination against women in various ways, including the adoption of laws prohibiting all such discrimination, and ensuring that public authorities and institutions refrain from any discriminatory act or practice. Similarly, article 16 (1) (c) spells out equality of women's rights in matters relating to marriage and family relations, and states that men and women have the same rights and responsibilities during marriage and its dissolution. Further, there was no programme to alter the personal laws of the Hindus either, he said. On the steps taken by the Government to withdraw its reservations to the Convention, he said the Government had already decided to withdraw its reservations with respect to articles 13 (a) and 16 (1) (f) of the Convention. However, there was no plan to withdraw reservations in respect of articles 2 and 16 (1) (c). He went on to say that labour force participation rates for women had increased from 4.1 per cent in 1974 to
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18.2 per cent in 1996, and life expectancy differences between men and women had almost been eliminated. Access of women to credit and employment was on the rise. Ninety per cent of garment workers were women. Replying to a question on the impact of appointing 30 seats for women in the Parliament, he said that had provided greater visibility for women in the public sphere and had served to initiate women in the political process. The women Members of Parliament brought up issues of concern to women to the parliamentary debate. Those issues included dowry, unequal wages and child marriages. The objectives of Bangladesh's Decade Plan for the Girl Child were well on the way to being achieved. Infant mortality rate had been reduced from 94 per 1,000 in 1990 to 77 per 1,000 in 1994. The enrolment rate for girls had increased to 79.5 per cent in 1995. The Convention had been translated and disseminated through government agencies, non-governmental organizations and women's organizations, he said. It was presently being simplified and illustrated for wider dissemination. The National Council for Women's Development was the highest policy-making body for women. Headed by the Prime Minister, it had a number of ministers, secretaries and ex-officio members. In answer to a question on the non-enforcement of women's rights, Ms. CHOWDHURY said there was a lack of awareness among women of their legal rights. Both officials of the law enforcement agencies and judiciary needed better orientation on women's rights. Social and cultural prejudices and gender stereotypes prevalent in the society influenced both law enforcement agencies and judicial processes. National media was being used to project positive images of women. A special communications initiative -- "Meena" -- had been launched to enhance the worth of the girl child. Speaking on domestic violence, she said victims of all kinds of violence needed to report the violence to the police. Often it was considered a private matter to be solved within the family. However, the police was trying to become more accessible to women and four women's investigation cells staffed by women had been set up on a pilot basis. Government hospitals provided assistance to victims, but such victims might not admit that injuries were caused by violence. Facilities such as trauma centres and specialized burns unit were lacking as was specialized care. On efforts by the Government to sensitize law enforcement agencies to violence against women, she said the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs would assist the Police Training Academy in developing a module on women's rights and violence against women. It was true that there were no separate prisons for women, she said. However, within existing prisons men and women were kept separately. So far as prostitution was concerned, the State had been enjoined by the Constitution to take effective measures to prevent prostitution. However, that provision was included as a Fundamental Principle of State policy and as such was unenforceable through court. In that context, all of the steps taken by the Government to eliminate poverty, particularly among women, assisted in preventing more women from entering prostitution. To counter trafficking of
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women, the need for closer regional cooperation had been recognized and the issue had been raised at the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.
On initiatives by the Prime Minister and the leader of the opposition, who are both women, towards women's advancement, she said the Prime Minister had appointed three other women to ministerial positions. She had approved a special scheme whereby women would be taken into joint secretary-level posts, through lateral entry from other government service cadres. The former Prime Minister had also undertaken a special initiative to appoint women to senior posts in the police. The procedure for recruiting women to the foreign service was the same as for men. They had to appear for the Bangladesh Civil Service competitive examinations. Further, women benefited from the 15 per cent recruitment quota for them, while also being eligible under the merit quota. However, sometimes the quotas could not be filled because insufficient number of women applied or qualified.
The Government was aware of the discriminatory nature of the law on citizenship, by which citizenship could be transmitted by Bangladeshi men to their children irrespective of who they married, whereas women who married non-Bangladeshis could not transmit citizenship to their children, Mr. PASHA said. The Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs had taken up the matter with the Ministry of Home Affairs, where it was under consideration. The Government had initiated the Food for Education Programme and free primary education to encourage parents to educate girl children. In 1995, there were 41 per cent of women students in medicine, 8 per cent in agriculture and 12.24 per cent in engineering.
Also, the Government was aware of problems in implementing the minimum wage rate, benefits, work hours, toilet and other facilities which had not been insured as per International Labour Organization (ILO) standards in many factories, he said. Television spots were being used to raise awareness in that context. In respect of blue collar jobs, the Ministry of Labour and Manpower made sure that women did not go abroad without the knowledge of their male "guardians" and without adequate information about the job abroad.
On the subject of health, he said the Government had decided to train an additional 31,000 traditional birth attendants. Further, extensive information, education and communication services were under way to sensitize family members on the risks of pregnancy and to improve the utilization of birth attendants. Prevalence of pregnancy related morbidities and abortion complications remained very high. One fifth of maternal mortalities in the country were abortion morbidities. As a means to prevent unsafe abortion and as a back-up of ineffective use of contraceptive methods, menstrual regulation services had been made available in all service facilities. Male methods accounted for 12 per cent of contraceptive prevalence rate and sex pre- selection was not yet a problem.
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