Women Empowerment in Bangladesh

With the outstanding advancements in economics, technology and the growing literacy rate of the world population, women empowerment has also increased noticeably among the nations of the world. Yet the society at large is perceived as male-dominant which even in the dawn of the new millennium remains unaltered. As the eternal fight for women rights still continue, several western countries claim to have set equal rights for men and women and consequently women are said to be given the privilege of equal freedom as men. If acutely examined the scenario is not as such. Rather, women empowerment is still kept in the shadow. Only a small proportion of the leaders of the nations across the world are females, which if not a major issue, can at least convey a pretty clear message of who holds the highest authority of running a nation. A significant example would be the United States of America, for till today there have been no women president of the United States and it palpably shows that despite women working in demanding jobs in several sectors of the different industries, authority of running the world’s most influential and powerful country, still remains under the grip of the male.

However in Bangladesh, the leaders of the two most dominant and influential political groups of the nation, are women. They have both had their shares of being the Prime Minister of the country more than once, and their popularity among the people of the country is overwhelming. As ironic as it sounds, since the country is still much deprived of women empowerment, women prime ministers in this case do not exactly represent the state of the average woman of the country. It should be noted that apart from the prime minister, most of the remaining members of the parliament are men, revealing the fact that women empowerment is yet to be taken seriously. Sadly, despite having women leaders for much of the time span after the country’s independence, women empowerment is still not a widespread. A large proportion of the conservative society refuses to see women working beside men, and the several campaigns that speak for women’s rights seldom seem to raise awareness among the ignorant males of the society not to mention many such women.

There are various factors that refrains women empowerment. Initially there is the basic perception of the society, of women as not being as smart as men. Although a large number of women are now working in several sectors of the country’s different industries, most married women still continue to be housewives. This can be a cause of a woman having doubts about her own abilities but most often it is the husband who refuses to let his wife get employed or attain adequate education required to obtain a respectable job.
Secondly, in the rural areas and suburbs, women are not given the opportunity of proper education and in today’s fast-paced world education is a vital necessity for one to be employed.
Sexual harassment in the workplace is also common and hence women are not inclined towards working for fear of losing their dignity.
Women are also judged on their physical ability and almost never hired in strenuous jobs.
Lastly, superstitions considering women working in the society may also play a role in the refraining of women empowerment. Many short-sighted employers view women as a symbol of causing adverse effects on their business.

Regardless, women empowerment has definitely improved over the past years in Bangladesh at a slow pace, but the effects have been positive. The result can be observed in our everyday life. For example, even a couple of years ago it would be hard to imagine seeing a woman driving a car in the capital city but today, a small proportion of women are driving cars and not just in the capital city. Women are doing errands that were previously only done by men and they are more involved in business and technological sectors than they had ever before.

In the conservative society where the average person still believes in several vague superstitions, it is a long way to go for women empowerment. I believe for any nation to function proficiently the male and female should both participate and consist of the working population for only the men cannot guarantee economic growth and welfare of an entire nation when almost half of the population (ie. Women) is unemployed. The road ahead for women empowerment definitely looks promising but there is still a lot to work on and with due time, women empowerment can be regarded as a widespread.