Gender development and women's status in Bangladesh

Abstract

Bangladesh is densely populated with a population of approximately 140 million. The majority of its population is Muslim. 75% of the population lives in the rural areas and half of the total population are women. Ignorance, low status, traditional inhibitions have influenced the life of women and poverty has been detrimental to socioeconomic development. The focus of this paper is the development of women and their status. Using social development indicators with emphasis on cultural barriers, education, health and socio-economic factors data was collected for a time series trend over a period of 8 years from 1995 to 2003. The data was then analyzed to see the changes in women’s development and status in Bangladesh. Women’s participation in the labor sector and small agricultural businesses in the rural areas has brought about a change in behavior and attitude of men towards women. These changes have made an impact on women’s role in the family and society. Many NGOs have helped to influence women’s lives, socially and economically. Major contributions by them have been in the areas of micro-credit, education, health, sanitation, nutrition and environmental issues. Government policies indicate positive attitude and commitment towards empowerment, health and development. There has been and increase in literacy rates, and an increase in girls primary school enrollment. Also, improvements in women’s health were indicated by the decrease in maternal mortality ratio, and decrease in fertility rate. The economic indicators showed an increase in female paid labor force. In general, there has been considerable development of women. However, the rate of development for women is still very slow. Cultural barriers and political instability has slowed the progress of development for women. Nevertheless, the improvement evident are expected to continue in the near future.