Women and Girls in Bangladesh

Women and Girls in Bangladesh
Girls are fed last, and less than their brothers. They are
more vulnerable to trafficking, sexual abuse, rape, acid
throwing and other forms of exploitation, including child
labour and child prostitution. Many are married by age
15 and their families must pay hefty dowries. Dowry
violence, such as murder and induced suicide, still
poses real threats to girls.
Girls are less likely to go to university and if they do go,
their dowry increases. Many are mothers by the time
they are 19. Their youth doubles the risk of fatal
complications in pregnancy. About 11,000 women die in
child birth every year. Almost half of all mothers are
malnourished. Women are likely to die before their
husbands.
There were 266 acid attacks reported recently over a one
year period, affecting 322 people1. Of these, 183 were
women, 76 were children under 18, and 63 were men. Marital, family and land disputes,
dowry, refusing sex and marriage were the main reasons for the attacks. Special, speedier
courts have been introduced to deal with acid attacks, which now carry the death penalty.
Dowry and dowry-related violence, such as acid attacks and murder, are still prevalent. A
recent report2 stated that 165 women were killed in one year, 77 had acid thrown on them,
one was divorced and 11 committed suicide over dowry demands. Dowry is officially
prohibited by law.
Girls aged 14 to 17 are more likely to commit suicide, and attempt suicide than boys. The
Bangladesh Health and Injury Survey reported more than 2200 children committed suicide in
one year – or about six per day. Of those six, four were female. Suicide is the biggest killer
among this age group3.
There are substantially more “undetermined” causes for female deaths by injury than for
male deaths. Boys are more likely to be victims of non-fatal violence4.
More than half of married men (55 per cent) feel justified in hitting or beating their wives. In a
health survey, nearly one in two said if their wife went out without telling them, it would justify
violence5.
1 UNICEF ‘Support to the Acid Survivors Foundation and the Kishori Abhijan Project in Bangladesh,’ June
2005.
2 Written statement of the Asian Legal Resource Centre on ‘Dowry related violence against women in
Bangladesh,’ distributed at the 61st session of the UNHCR in Geneva, April 5, 2005.
3 Bangladesh Health and Injury Survey Report on Children, UNICEF and Government of Bangladesh, 2005.
4 Bangladesh Health and Injury Survey Report on Children, UNICEF and Government of Bangladesh, 2005.
5 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey, 2004, National Institute of Population Research and Training,
2005.
© Shehzad Noorani/UNICEF
About 55 per cent of married women lack the
freedom to go alone to a hospital or health
centre, or outside their village, town or city6.
Domestic violence remains a huge threat to
the security of adolescent girls. A UNICEF
report found that extreme physical abuse at
home that led to death accounted for more
than 70 per cent of the reported domestic
violence cases involving young housewives
and girls aged 13-187.
Bangladesh has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world. More than two-thirds
of adolescent girls are married (of those aged 10-19)8. Nearly two in five girls aged 15-17 are
married, despite 18 being the legal age for marriage9.
More than half the adolescent girls (55 per cent) become mothers by the time they are 19,
and half of these mothers are acutely malnourished. The maternal mortality rate among
adolescent mothers is double the national rate10.
The national maternal mortality rate is one of the worst
in South Asia, at 320 deaths per 100,000 births11. This
means about 11,000 women die giving birth every year.
Most deliveries take place at home away from
emergency obstetric care and without a skilled
attendant.
Almost one in every seven maternal deaths is caused
by violence12.
Nearly half of all mothers are malnourished (45 per
cent)13. Anaemia is a severe public health problem for
pregnant women, which has been estimated at around
46 per cent. Almost one third of adolescent girls also
suffer from anaemia14.
Girls are typically fed less and last. Nationally, 4.8 per
cent of girls aged 12-59 months were malnourished
compared with 3.6 per cent of boys15.
Almost one in every two husbands decides their wife’s
health care (48 per cent). They often solely determine their children’s health care (32 per
cent)16.
6 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey, 2004, National Institute of Population Research and Training,
2005.
7 UNICEF Bangladesh website: www.unicef.org/bangladesh
8 The State of World Population 2005, UNFPA.
9 UNICEF Bangladesh Country Programme document, 2005.
10 The State of World Population 2005, UNFPA.
11 SVRS 2002, BBS, according to BMMS 2001 by NIPORT, MMR is in the range of 320-400 per 100,000 live
births in UNICEF and BBS Progotir Pathey 2003.
12 Government of Bangladesh and UN ‘Millennium Development Goals, Bangladesh Progress Report,’ 2005.
13 Government of Bangladesh and UN ‘Millennium Development Goals, Bangladesh Progress Report,’ 2005.
14 Anaemia Prevalence Survey of Urban Bangladesh and Rural Chittagong Hill Tracts 2003, UNICEF.
15 UNICEF and Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics Progotir Pathey 2003.
© Shehzad Noorani/UNICEF
© Shehzad Noorani/UNICEF
Although the life expectancy gap between men and women has narrowed over the last
decade, Bangladesh continues to be one of the very few countries in the world where
women’s life expectancy is lower than that of men: with men at 68.6 years and women 68.0
years17.
Women are put at risk of HIV/AIDS by their partners’ sexual behaviours, despite the fact
Bangladesh’s overall prevalence rate is believed to be less than one per cent. Most married
men who have unprotected sex with sex workers continue to have sex with their wives.
Consistent condom use among sex workers in Bangladesh brothels is four per cent. For
street-based sex workers it is two per cent. Brothel workers have an average of 19 clients a
week, one of the highest turnover rates in Asia18.
Only 57 per cent of girls aged 10-19 years have heard of HIV/AIDS19.
The tertiary education ratio for female to
males is 36:64, below the MDG target of
50:5020. Early marriage is one of the main
causes of poor enrolment and high female
drop-out rates at the higher education levels.
Increasing tertiary opportunities for girls is
expected to boost the mean age of marriage.
Literacy rates in females aged 20 to 24 years
compared to their male peers is 55:71 (up
from 42:65). This is still well short of the MDG
target of 100:100. In 2000, it was estimated
only 43 per cent of women were literate21.
Net primary school enrolment rates have
achieved gender parity, at 81 per cent for
boys and 84 per cent for girls22.
Almost one in five paid agricultural labourers
is female (19 per cent). However, they only
earn 70 per cent of their male counterparts’
wages. In other sectors, women make up 22
per cent of paid employment. Their wages are
less than half the male wage. (Public servants
have equal wages)23
For one in eight women who earn a wage, someone else decides how that wage will be
spent. More than two in five decide with someone else, such as their husband24.
16 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey, 2004, National Institute of Population Research and Training
2005.
17 UNICEF BCO PowerPoint 2007.
18 Government of Bangladesh and UN ‘Millennium Development Goals, Bangladesh Progress Report,’ 2005.
19 UNICEF and Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics Progotir Pathey 2003.
20 Government of Bangladesh and UN ‘Millennium Development Goals, Bangladesh Progress Report,’ 2005.
21 Government of Bangladesh and UN ‘Millennium Development Goals, Bangladesh Progress Report,’ 2005.
22 UNICEF Bangladesh Country Programme document, 2005.
23 Government of Bangladesh and UN ‘Millennium Development Goals, Bangladesh Progress Report,’ 2005.
24 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey, 2004, National Institute of Population Research and Training
2005.
© Shehzad Noorani/UNICEF
Female-headed households face serious poverty. Nearly one in every two female-headed
households falls below the poverty line, compared to less than two in five patriarchal
households.25
There were only six women in the previous 300-seat National Parliament of Bangladesh – or
two per cent of the representation26. Both leaders of the main political parties are women:
the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Begum Khaleda Zia, widow of former
president Ziaur Rahman; and the Awami League (AL) leader Sheikh Hasina, daughter of
former president and Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
In local government, about 25 per cent of the elected members are women27.
25 Government of Bangladesh and UN ‘Millennium Development Goals, Bangladesh Progress Report,’ 2005.
26 Government of Bangladesh and UN ‘Millennium Development Goals, Bangladesh Progress Report,’ 2005.
27 Government of Bangladesh and UN ‘Millennium Development Goals, Bangladesh Progress Report,’ 2005.
© Shehzad Noorani/UNICEF