Meaningful Development through women participation in governing process: Local Government Perspective in Bangladesh.
Meaningful Development through women participation in governing process: Local Government Perspective in Bangladesh.
--Mohammad Elyas Khan
Women empowerment or participation in governing process through gender sensitive particular policies are prerequisite for achieving meaningful development in any developing country such as Bangladesh. This particular issue has been recognized as such in the context of policy reforms in both governmental and local government domain. Recent local government reform in Bangladesh has led to creation of quota for women in grassroots independent institutions (Khan and Fardaus, 2006). In the context of local government, women’s concerns had risen irregularly and were emphasized in the government transformation agenda as evident in the last Local Government Reform of 1997 (Khan and Fardaus 2006). As a momentous effect Local Government (UP) Amendment Act 1997 was broadcasted. It provides 3 directly elected women members in the Union Parishad from 3 reserved seats (Khan and Fardaus, 2006). However, there are serious gaps in gender balancing both in terms of governance policy and reform agenda. Union Parishad is the most popular democratic institution at the grassroots level. Therefore, the state of women’s participation at this level is vital and deserves special attention to empower them as participation and empowerment are closely related. Otherwise sustainable as well as participatory development would not ensure. In this paper I am going to explore the real scenario in gender perspective development in the local government arena.
Introduction
What is development and whose participation in this process? It is question of a country’s strength and self-respect as well as sustainability. The overall development of a country depends upon the maximum deployment of her people, both men and women. In Bangladesh women consist of nearly half of the total population it proved from 2011 consensus primary report by BIDS. But the status of women is much lower than that of men in every scope of life. Women are identified with domestic life while politics is viewed as a male-dominated public action that is typically male in nature. With the progression of time, the fact has now been recognized that without ensuring women development, the national development cannot be achieved and or not sustainable. Women’s equal participation in political life plays a pivotal role in the general process of the advancement of women. It is not only a demand for simple justice or democracy but can also be seen as a necessary condition for women’s interests to be taken into account. Without the active participation of women and the incorporation of women’s standpoint at all levels of decision-making, the goals of equality, development and peace cannot be achieved. (FWCW, 1995)
Systematic integration of women enhances the democratic basis, the efficiency and the quality of the activities of local government. If local government is to meet the needs of both women and men, it must build on the experiences of both women and men, through an equal representation at all levels and in all fields of decision-making, covering the wide range of responsibilities of local governments. Women’s role in decision-making is one of the most important questions for consideration in the movement for their empowerment. Keeping in mind, the importance of women’s participation in decision-making, like the other government in the world, the government of Bangladesh has initiated efforts to widen the scope of women for participation in the development process. The Local Government (Union Parishad) Second Amendment Act 1997 of Bangladesh is a milestone towards ensuring women’s equal access and increased participation in political power structures. This amendment provided for direct elections to reserved seats for women in local level elections. As a strategy of affirmative action for providing the structural framework for women’s participation in political decision-making and provided an opportunity to bring women to the center of local development and develop new grass-roots level leadership. This paper is an attempt to explore the status of women’s participation and how their participation in local government lead to empowerment in local government in Bangladesh particularly the Union Parishad and will identify the factors that hinder women’s participation. At the same time in this paper I shall be suggested some remedial measures to inspire this situation as well as overcome.
Methodology and Approach has uses:
This study is basically based on the review of material together from secondary sources i.e. printed books, reports, study works, journals and news reporters. Little bit information is also collected through various websites by internet searching.
Operational Definition of Women:
A “woman” is a mature female human being, as analogized to men, a grownup male, and a teenager, a female child. The term woman (uneven plural: women) is used to designate biological sex differences, ethnic gender role divisions, or both (Wikimedia, 2005:1). Women constitute about half of the total population of the country proved by 2011 primary data source of BIBS. Separately from the domestic accomplishments, they are contributing significantly to the domestic economy. Bangladesh is one of the first developing countries to establish a Ministry of Women’s Affairs in 1978, three years after the First World Conference on Women in Mexico. In spite of these attainments, the popular of women in Bangladesh have yet to be empowered to join actively in the social, cultural, economic and political life of the country. Gender discrimination is widespread in all spheres and at all levels notwithstanding, the Constitution of Bangladesh [Article 27, 28(1), 28(2), 28(3), and 65(3)] guarantees equal rights to all citizens clearly incorporated provisions for equal status of women. The strategies and programs of the Government, NGOs, and other institutions do not satisfactorily discourse the requirement for women’s empowerment (ADB, 2001:1).
Why and how to Participation:
Participation is a development approach, which recognizes the need to involve disadvantaged segments of the population in the design and implementation of policies concerning their wellbeing. The strengthening of women’s participation in all spheres of life has become a major issue in the development discourse. Socio-economic development cannot be fully achieved without the active participation of women at the decision making level in society. Various scholars define ‘Participation’ in various ways. Norman Up Hoff (quoted in Khan1993:111) identified four main kinds of participation, which are distinct but interrelated. They are as follows:
“a. Participation in decision making in identifying problems, formulating alternative planning activities, allocating resources etc;
b. Participation in implementation in carrying out activities, managing and operating programs;
c. Participation in economic, social, political or other benefits individually or collectively; and
d. Participation in evaluation of the activity and its outcomes for feedback purposes.”
Women Empowerment: Why and how to ensure it
Political participation in Bangladesh also requires massive financial involvement. And because of this ‘money politics’ women are discouraged to make them involve in politics. Many women who decide to participate in elections are forced by prevailing political culture to spend huge amount of money. Women in Bangladesh are mainly economically dependent on their male family members. If they participate in elections with the financial help of those males, they have to return the favor by giving ‘preferential or special treatment’ (even in spite of that special treatment is wrong) if they win in that election. In Bangladesh, the existing patriarchal system reinforces women’s dependency on men and men have strong reservations regarding women in leadership and management positions. Patriarchal values and institutions here do not demonstrate positive and supportive views about women leadership. Though Bangladesh has two women leaders in two dominant positions in the politics of the country, they are actually the ‘toy of man’, all of their decisions are influenced by any male and they seldom take any decision according to their wish. Conventionally, in a patriarchal society like ours, women are always identified with domestic life while politics is viewed as a male-dominated public activity. Even after the completion of the UN declared Women’s Decade (1976-85), politics in Bangladesh remains male-dominated with respect to number, position in the party hierarchy, presence and effectiveness in the national legislature and other political structures or whatever other criteria are set for measuring the extent of participation in this particular activity. Presence of women in the national parliament does not really reflect the level of political consciousness of the women of the country. The condition of women’s participation in local level politics is sometimes more acute than national politics. Women’s involvement in the political process at the local level is needed to make them familiar with the problems of the local community in general and women’s needs and issues in particular. The activities of the local level women politicians, their constant contact and interaction with the women of the local community go a long way in raising the political consciousness of women around them.
Local level government plays an influential role in grass-root level development through responding on local needs. Local government means an intra-sovereign governmental unit within the sovereign state dealing mainly with local affairs, administered by local authorities and subordinate to the state government (Jahan, 1997:92). According to the Article 59(1) of the Constitution of Bangladesh, “Local Government in every administrative unit of the Republic shall be entrusted to bodies, composed of persons elected in accordance with law. Union Parishad is the lowest layer of local government was made subservient to the upazila parishad (Banglapedia). The main functions include public welfare, maintenance of law and order, revenue collection, development and adjudication. Its source of income includes grants, taxes, rates, fees etc. According to the Local Government (Union Parishad) Ordinance of 1983, Union Parishad consists of a chairman, nine members, and three women members. Candidates for open seats can be male or female but because of being highly patriarchal society, those who are elected from the open seats are mainly male. The UP structure in Bangladesh includes a system designed to guarantee some degree of female representation by including additional 3 seats as reserved for female candidates. Participation of women in local government bodies is a crucial factor for women’s development, particularly at grassroots level.
As Union Parishad is considered as an important area for empowering, mobilizing and transforming local people for their development so from that aspect the Local Government (Union Parishad) Second Amendment Act 1997 of Bangladesh can be seen as a mile stone towards ensuring women’s equal access and increased participation in political power structures. This amendment provided direct elections to reserved seats for women in local level elections. As a strategy of affirmative action for providing the structural framework for women’s participation in political decision-making and provided an opportunity to bring women to the center of local development and develop new grass-roots level leadership. But the number of women in elective positions of chairperson and members in the Union Parishad was abysmally low and practically infinitesimal even after 3 seats are reserved for women candidates as women elected from reserved seats are feeling lack of institutional support and they are often not be able to include themselves in mainstream activities and even their responsibilities are sometimes not clarified clearly. Even those who are elected as chair or general member are often neglected in times of decision making only because of being woman.
Empowerment is a process, though the result of the process may also be termed empowerment. But more specifically, the outcome of empowerment should manifest itself as a redistribution of power between individuals, genders, groups, classes, castes, races, ethnic groups or nations. Empowerment means the transformation of structures of subordination, through radical changes in law, property rights, control over women’s labor and bodies, and the institutions that reinforce and perpetuate male domination (Batliwala, 1993:5). Empowerment of women is now a global issue. Although this term is usually used for improving women’s condition, in real sense it may be applied to any disadvantaged group of society for bringing them to the same level of advanced section. The Copenhagen Declaration of the World Summit on Social Development (WSSD) called for the recognition that empowering people, particularly women, to strengthen their own capacities is a main objective of development, and that empowerment requires the full participation of people in the formulation, implementation and evaluation of decisions determining the functioning and well-being of societies. The Report of the UN Fourth World Conference on Women called its Platform for Action ‘an agenda for women’s empowerment’ meaning that ‘the principle of shared power and responsibility should be established between women and men at home, in the workplace and in the wider national and international communities’ (Oxaal, and Baden, 1997:3).
CEWDA:
The Convention defines discrimination against women as "...any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field." States parties also agree to take appropriate measures against all forms of traffic in women and exploitation of women. Countries that have ratified or acceded to the Convention are legally bound to put its provisions into practice. They are also committed to submit national reports, at least every four years, on measures they have taken to comply with their treaty obligations. So it can be said that empowerment means a process to establish control over resources and also means to acquire ability and opportunity to participate in decision-making process and its implementation.
Local Government
Local government is basically an organized social entity with a feeling of oneness. By definition, local government means an intra-sovereign governmental unit within the sovereign state dealing mainly with local affairs, administered by local authorities and subordinate to the state government (Jahan, 1997:92). In political terms, it is concerned with the governance of a specific local area, constituting a political sub-division of a nation, state or other major political unit. In the performance of its functions, it acts as the agent of the state. In other words, the local government is an integral part of the political mechanism for governance in a country. Then, as body corporate with juristic person, it represents a legal concept (Muttalib and Khan, 1983:2). According to the article 59(1) of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, “Local Government in every administrative unit of the Republic shall be entrusted to bodies, composed of persons elected in accordance with law” (GOB, 1993:43).
Union Parishad
Union Parishad is the lowest tier of administrative unit in Bangladesh. And Union Parishad is the second tier of rural local government from below. As per the statutes at present Bangladesh contains a four-tier local government structure. But in compliance to the constitutional provision an elected local government body exists only at the union level. According to LG (UP) Ordinance, 1983, ‘union’ means ‘a rural area’ declared to be a union under section 3 (Declaration of union and alteration of limits thereof) [GOB, 1990:2-3)]. It is entrusted with forty functions. The main functions include public welfare, maintenance of law and order, revenue collection, development and adjudication. Its source of income includes grants, taxes, rates, fees etc. The Union Parishad consists of a chairman, nine members, and three women members. The voters of the Union Parishad directly elect all.
Evolution of Local Government in Bangladesh
It is usually assumed that local government was the basic form of government in the sub-continent till 6th century B.C. Village self-government in the sub-continent is as old as the villages themselves (Siddiqui, 1994:24). Therefore, Local Government of one sort or another has a long history in the geographical area that now constitutes Bangladesh. This country was a colony of the British for about two hundred years. Most of the local government bodies in Bangladesh owe their origin to the British rule, which ultimately passed through the Pakistan period to independent Bangladesh. The origin of Union Parishad can be traced back to the Village Panchayets introduced in the 1870s by the British to maintain law and order in the rural areas with the help of local people. More than one hundred and thirty years have passed since the creation of the act and local government at union level over the years have changed its name, area, functions and power from time to time. Still it is the only and oldest democratic institutions in the history of Bengal. The introduction of local government in British Bengal goes back to the passing of the Bengal Village Chowkidari Act of 1870, which established Chowkidari Panchayet consisted of five persons all nominated by the District Magistrate. Subsequently the Local Self-government Act, 1885 and the Village Self-government Act, 1919 are some principal instruments that led to the development of the present local government in Bangladesh. In the Pakistan period the Act of 1959 introduced a new local government system called the Basic Democracy System in the East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). During the British and Pakistan period the local government at the union level not only had changed its name several times but also its functional jurisdiction and financial powers were widened (Ahmed and Nabi, 2001:3). The constitution of independent Bangladesh was adopted in late 1972, where in Article 59 provided for elected local government institutions at all levels (Ali, 1986:2). The P.O. of 1973 changed the name of Union Panchayet to Union Parishad without any significant changes in its character. Since then the Union Parishad is acting as the lowest administrative unit of rural local government in Bangladesh. Recently the Gram Sarkar Act of 2003 has introduced Gram Sarkar as an associate unit of the Union Parishad instead of an independent local government body. It would help to speed up the pace of development in the rural areas under the guidance of Union Parishad (UNESCAP, 2003:6). There are at present two types of local government institutions in Bangladesh: one for rural areas and the other for urban areas. The local government in rural areas comprises four tiers, i.e., Gram Sarkar, Union Parishad, Upazilla Parishad and Zilla Parishad. On the other hand local government in the urban areas consists of Pourashavas and City Corporations. State of Women Participation in the Union Parishad
Constitutional Provision:
The Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh recognizes basic and fundamental rights of the citizens irrespective of gender, creed, cast, religion and race. It also makes provision for promoting causes of the backward sections of the population (Ahmed et al, 2003:14). Related articles of the constitution regarding women’s participation may be seen in the following sentences.
Article 9: The State shall encourage local government institutions composed of representatives of the areas concerned and in such institutions special representation shall be given, as far as possible, to peasants, workers and women.
Article 10: Steps shall be taken to ensure participation of women in all spheres of national life.
Article 19 (1): The State shall endeavor to ensure equality of opportunity to all citizens.
Article 27: All citizens are equal before law and are entitled to equal protection of law.
Article 28 (1): The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. (2): Women shall have equal rights with men in all spheres of the State and of public life. (4): Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making special provision in favor of women or children or for the advancement of any backward section of citizens (GOB, 1993:9,13, 19).
By incorporating the above articles, the constitution gives special attention to women in democracy and local government. The nation puts no legislative barrier in the way of promoting gender equity in the sphere of social, political, and economic activities. The constitution gives guarantee of equal rights to women and also makes special provision for providing all necessary protections to backward sections of the society.
Institutional Arrangement for Women’s Participation:
During the British regime, local government in the union remained an almost exclusive domain of males. Only male could vote in election for rural local bodies till 1956 when for the first time election was held on the basis of universal adult franchise (Alam, 1995:40). Voting power of women was established lawfully. Women never thought of participating in this system. In 1976, the government promulgated the Local Government Ordinance for a three-tier local government system. It was the ever first ordinance regarding the local government system in the history of independent Bangladesh. In this ordinance the structure of the local government system underwent changes and the provision was made to select two women members in the Union Parishad. For the first time women were considered to be included in the local govt. In 1983, the changes were brought in structure and composition of Union Parishad by promulgating the Local Government (Union Parishad) Ordinance. This ordinance increased the number of nominated women members to three and each of them represented one ward. In 1993, Local Government (Union Parishad) (Amendment) Act was passed in the Parliament to secure the minimum representation of women in local government. The new order omitted the system of nomination and provision for indirect election was created by the Parishad. But the number of the women member was fixed three as was earlier (Ahmed et al., 2003: 18). The Local Government (Union Parishad) Second Amendment Act, 1997 is a milestone in the history of political empowerment of women in Bangladesh. The government of Bangladesh enacted this law for direct elections to reserve seats for women in local level elections. In this act the government reserved three seats for women in the Union Parishad where women members were directly elected from each of the three wards. Apart from the reserved seats women can also contest for any of the general seats (ADB, 2001:15).
The number of women in elective positions of chairperson and members in the Union Parishad was abysmally low and practically infinitesimal. Women’s representation in all the elections held before and after 1997 may be observed in the following table.
Table-1
Women’s Participation in Union Parishad Elections (1973-2003)
Elections Year Women Candidates Elected Chairmen and Members
| | | Chairman | Member | Chairman | Member |
| | 1st 1973 | 1 | - | - | - |
| | 2nd 1977 | 19 | 19 | 4 | 7 |
| | 3rd 1984 | - | - | 6 | - |
| | 4th 1988 | 79 | 863 | 1 | - |
| | 5th 1992 | 115 | 1135 | 8 | 20 |
| | 6th 1997 | 102 | 43969/456* | 20+3 | 12882/110* |
| | 7th 2003 | 232 | 43764/617* | 22 | 12684/79* |
| | | | | | |
To ensure a meaningful participation of the elected women members as an essential step to empower them, the following policy prescriptions may be taken into consideration:
1. Roles and responsibilities of the women members should be clearly defined in the manuals and orders of local government. Work should be fairly distributed among the male and female members in such a way so that women member can meaningfully participate in all type of functions.
2. To create greater awareness among women about their low status in society and the need to improve it, motivational programs along with programs for expanding opportunities for education, health care and employment should be launched.
3. Specific programs should be undertaken by the government and non-government organizations in order Women’s equal participation in political life plays a pivotal role in the general process of the advancement of women. It is not only a demand for simple justice or democracy but can also be seen as a necessary condition for women’s interests to be taken into account. Without the active participation of women and the incorporation of women’s perspective at all levels of decision-making, the goals of equality, development and peace cannot be achieved. (FWCW, 1995:1) Systematic integration of women augments the democratic basis, the efficiency and the quality of the activities of local government. If local government is to meet the needs of both women and men, it must build on the experiences of both women and men, through an equal representation at all levels and in all fields of decision-making, covering the wide range of responsibilities of local governments. Women’s role in decision-making is one of the most important questions for consideration in the movement for their empowerment. Keeping in mind, the importance of women’s participation in decision-making, like the other government in the world, the government of Bangladesh has initiated efforts to widen the scope of women for participation in the development process. The Local Government (Union Parishad) Second Amendment Act 1997 of Bangladesh is a mile stone towards ensuring women’s equal access and increased participation in political power structures. This amendment provided for direct elections to reserved seats for women in local level elections. As a strategy of affirmative action for providing the structural framework for women’s participation in political decision-making and provided an opportunity to bring women to the center of local development and develop new grass-roots level leadership. This paper is an attempt to explore the status of women’s participation and how their participation in local government lead to create an awareness among the women in the grass roots levels that political participation would give them an access to the political decision making process relating to the allocation of resources.
4. Mass media should be used to educate and mobilize public opinion in such a way that the realization about the benefits of women’s full participation in the national development efforts is created among people. 5. Priority must be given to monitoring the status, conditions and rights of women. There must be a sustained campaign for women mobilization, regular reporting of monitoring, public information and advocacy in this realm.
6. Women should be given various opportunities for leadership training, training regarding the activities of Union Parishad and education in order to encourage them to take up political and leadership position. Supportive services should be provided to allow women participate in these training courses.
7. There is urgent need to undertake research on women’s participation in politics, their voting behavior, consciousness and participation in the political parties.
8. Finally, in increasing the number of women in decision making positions does not in itself translate in to greater empowerment for women. Measures to increase the quantity of women representatives need to be accompanied by measures to improve the quality of participation.
Conclusion
Women have acquired a legitimate space in rural political institutions that can raise their marginalized position, though they are still a minority. Merely having women on councils does not automatically mean that the interests of women in the community are represented. Without women’s needs and interests being taken into account, without opportunity for them to participate in and influence decision-making, development interventions and planning sustainable results will not come. Yet, having women in these leadership positions is an important step in changing the male-dominated political agenda. At least they have the opportunity to attend the meetings, interact with officials and take part in important discussions. It also ensures their mobility across the social hierarchy. The 33% quota for women is indeed an important impetus to women’s empowerment in rural Bangladesh. It becomes obvious that the process will take a long time and goal of women’s empowerment will not be secured by the quota alone. In order to support and accelerate the process one has to employ additional strategies, which promote the self-reliance of women (economically as well as socially), build women’s capacities and remove structural obstacles. Empowerment is a useful concept because it emphasizes the idea of women as active agents in, rather than passively recipients of development strategies. Therefore, participation is considered as an essentially first step in order to empower women. Finally it can be said that provision of inclusion of directly elected women members have created a new avenue to participate in the decision-making process in the only democratic institution at the grass-roots level.
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Table 2: Elected Women’s Members to the Bangladesh Parliament (1973-2001)
| Year of election | % of Women candidates | Won in Direct seats and by- elections | Total elected women | Reserved Seats | % of women in the parliament |
| 1973 | 0.3 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 4.8 (out of 315 seats) |
| 1979 | 0.9 | 0+2 | 2 | 30 | 9.69 (out of 330 seats) |
| 1986 | 1.3 | 5+2 | 7 | 30 | 11.21 (out of 330 seats) |
| 1988 | 0.7 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1.33 (out of 300 seats) |
| 1991 | 1.5 | 8 +1 | 9 | 30 | 11.81 (out of 330 seats) |
| 1996 | 1.36 | 13+2 | 15 | 30 | 13.03 (out of 330 seats) |
| 2001 | 1.79 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 2.00 |
Source: Election Commission of Bangladesh.
Women’s Participation in Local Level Politics
Article 9 of the Bangladesh constitution proclaims that, ‘The state shall encourage local government institutions composed of representatives of the areas concerned and in such institutions special representation shall be given, as far as possible, to peasants, workers, and women.[1] [26] The lowest level of local government in Bangladesh is known as the Union Parishad. At the local level, women’s representation is still insignificant, but is gradually growing. In the 1973 local government elections, for the first time, only one woman was elected as chairperson. In the 1977 and 1984 local government elections, four women won as chairpersons respectively. In the 2001 Union Parishad (UP) elections, as many as 102 women candidates contested for 4,443 UP chairmanship positions countrywide where only 20 women were elected. However, in the 2003 Union Parishad elections, the number of women candidates who contested for the position of UP chairmanships increased to 232 from 102 in 1997. But this does not mean that the major parties and the media are encouraging women leaders who enter into politics at the local level. At present, there is not a single woman city mayor in Bangladesh. No women received a nomination from the major parties to contest for the mayoral position to the six-city corporation’s elections. For the first time in 1994, as many as 19 women ward commissioners were elected to the reserved seats of the Dhaka City Corporations. Table-3 provides the data of the elected female chairpersons to the Union Parishad of Bangladesh during 1973- 2003.
Table 3: Elected Women Chairpersons to the Union Parishad of Bangladesh (1973-2003)
| Year | Total Union Parishad | Female Candidates | Elected Female Candidates |
| 1973 | 4,352 | Not available | 1 |
| 1977 | 4,352 | Not available | 4 |
| 1984 | 4,440 | Not available | 4 |
| 1988 | 4,440 | 79 | 1 |
| 1992 | 4,443 | 115 | 15 |
| 2001 | 4, 443 | 102 | 20 |
| 2003 | 4,443 | 232 | 22 |
Source: Election Commission of Bangladesh, Women in Bangladesh, Bangladesh National Report, 1995.p. 9
In 1997, the Bangladesh government took a positive step to ensure women’s participation in elected bodies at the local level. The government enacted a law introducing of a direct election of women for three reserved ward member seats to each Union Parishad – the lower rural administrative tier of the local government.[2] [27] This step was taken in conformity with Article nine of the Bangladesh constitution. Apart from the exclusive reserved seats, women can also contest for any of the general seats. Welcomed by concerned women’s organizations and groups, the quota system provided women the effective right to be elected in local level politics. For example, 43,969 female candidates contested in the 1997 Union Parishad direct elections for 12,723 ward member seats reserved for females. Women members consider their participation in local level politics as less disruptive to family life. They are found to be regularly attending the meetings of the Union Parisad. In an overwhelmingly male dominated political environment, the quota system has enhanced the opportunity for women’s participation in politics at the local level. Hossain, head of the Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC), found that reserved seats for women have boosted women’s confidence in their capability. But he points out that lack of opportunity to play an effective role from those seats has infused them with frustration.[3] [28]
Although women members attend the Union Parishad meetings regularly, very few can influence the discussions and ultimate resolutions. In the male dominated Union Parishad, female ward members hold subordinate position and cannot express their views as forcefully as their male counterpart. The male colleagues have a propensity to ignore their development proposals on diverse socio-economic issues. In addition, Salma Ali alleges that many women elected through quotas were subjected to sexual harassment by their male counterparts and were looked down upon as ‘second category’ members.[4] [29] It is noteworthy however, that the percentage of women willing to contest at the local level has been increasing in recent years, which indicates that women are eager to participate in both national and local level politics.
Role of Parties and Women’s Advancement in Politics
Political parties everywhere control and choose who will represent the party in elections. Thus, they play an important role in shaping women’s representation in politics. Strong party affiliation is one of the basic requirements to become selected as a candidate and eventually a position in national or local level politics. Before a woman could be assured of party support, she must be an active member and foster a relatively long relationship with a particular party. Studies on women and politics have often suggested that female quotas and affirmative action are instruments of women’s successful entry into public office. Traditionally, the major political parties in Bangladesh have not encouraged or supported prospective women candidates who wish to enter into public office. However, major political parties such as the BNP and the AL have always been very keen on mobilizing women workers and supporters to launch political campaigns, anti-government protests, and rallies in the streets to ultimately seize political power.
Despite the creation of women’s branches or committees by the parties in recent years, women still primarily hold weak and non-influential decision-making positions in the central executive committee of the different political parties in Bangladesh. A lot of prejudice though unconscious, still exists among male leaders of most political parties against women candidates in Bangladesh, as is the case in other Asian countries. The critical barriers against women’s successful entry into politics are: (a) huge campaign costs, (b) Not receiving nomination in expected winnable seats to the parliament, (c) lack of strong party backing and financial assistance, and (d) lack of powerful support base in the constituency she wanted to represent. Male politicians always occupy the top positions of the party. Table 4 below provides women’s position in the structures of major political parties of Bangladesh in 2002.
Table 4: Female Members in the Party Hierarchy of Major Parties in Bangladesh.
| Party | Structures of party | Total No. of Members | Female Members |
| Bangladesh Nationalist Party | National Standing Committee | 15 | 1 |
| National Executive Committee | 164 | 11 | |
| Awami League | Presidium and Secretariat | 36 | 5 |
| Working Committee | 65 | 6 | |
| Jatiyo Party | National Standing Committee | 31 | 2 |
| National Executive Committee | 201 | 6 | |
| Jamat-e-Islam | Majlis-e-Shura | 141 | 0 |
| Majlish-e-Amela | 24 | 0 |
Source: Data obtained from the offices of the respective political parties of Bangladesh.
Table 4 clearly shows a very negligible participation of women politicians in the party hierarchy. The major parties have not really been enthusiastic about increasing women’s representation in the party leadership. For example, among the eleven members of the Parliamentary Board of the Bangladesh AL, there are only two women members in the Board including the party chief Sheikh Hasina. Similarly, out of 15 members of the BNP National Standing Committee (NSC), there is currently only one female member, the party chief Khaleda Zia. Acknowledging the issue of women’s low participation in politics, the AL in its 2001 election manifesto declared that the number of reserved seats for women in parliament would be increased to 60 and that direct elections for reserved seats for women would be introduced. On the other hand, the election manifesto of the BNP also promised to increase the number of reserved seats for women and provide direct elections. As of now, the pledges of the major parties still remain unfulfilled resulting in less representation of women in the national parliament.
Of importance is how the Bangladesh Constitution initially guaranteed at one time 15 reserved seats for women in the national parliament for a period of ten years, which expired in 1987. In order to redress the overall development of women’s status, the reserved seats for women in parliament were increased to 30 by a 5th amendment to the constitution that was introduced in June 1990 and extended a period of ten years. The Parliament has not yet reached an agreement whether these reserve seats should expire in 1999. The reasons could be attributed to a lack of consensus, conflict, and imbroglio between the major political parties – the BNP and the AL. Hence, the major political parties are still reluctant to advance the cause of gender equality and women’s participation in politics.
Overcoming Obstacles against Women’s Advancement into Politics
Everywhere men are more visible in politics than women. A leading political scientist and former chairperson of the Women Studies Department at the University of Dhaka observed that politics in Bangladesh remains male-dominated with respect to number, position in the party hierarchy, presence, and effectiveness in national parliament.[5] [30] A number of obstacles have kept the representation of women in government and politics low. In fact, the time restraints associated with women’s traditional roles as wife and mother as well as the frequent lack of family support for women seeking elected office still remains as one of the primary reasons for women’s inability to make any advancement into politics.[6] [31] The reasons and obstacles why few Bangladeshi women are in politics even today can be attributed to religious and economic factors, social biases, obstacles, and negative attitudes based on gender roles and stereotypes that continue to persist. The patriarchal culture that has dominated Bangladesh society with its social attitude and role expectation has placed women within the realm of domestic life or in narrowly defined work roles. In addition, most of the religious-based parties in Bangladesh, including the Jamat-e-Islami, all the time wanted to restrict women’s rights and equality and intentionally deny women’s political participation. Salma notes that in most of the Muslim societies, the fundamentalists urge the full submission of women to their husbands and expect them to always be obedient in the name of social order and religious doctrines.[7] [32]
In fact, there are multiple explanations for the low numbers of women in public office in Bangladesh. Besides situational barriers, economic problems and dependency, political and social violence, and lack of education and political knowledge, one major explanation is that Bangladeshi women have been conditioned not to take much interest in government and politics. They are also rarely pre-selected by the major political parties for possible winning seats. Another reason for their under-representation is that women have been reluctant to run for parliament due to domestic responsibilities. A former member of the parliament from the AL, Sajeda Chowdhury, observed that, ‘Women must be encouraged to be more independent and self-reliant and that social norms and cultural values to be re-oriented’.[8] [33] Moreover, the problem of reconciling family life and public life has been a serious disincentive to Bangladeshi women contemplating over whether to participate in the political process. In fact, for many Bangladeshi women a political career is seen as a non-traditional choice. A 1992 UN study observes that, ‘Women’s political participation will be enhanced if social and economic support structures exist, legal discrimination is eliminated and negative stereotypes are vanished from education and media’.[9] [34] Clearly, these measures are lacking or insufficient in Bangladesh. The difficulty of running for office in the rough and tumble of Bangladeshi politic in addition to the continuing economic inequality, limit women’s opportunities in achieving political office. Legal discrimination may have been largely eliminated, but negative stereotypes and entrenched attitudes regarding proper gender roles mean that legal equality has not translated into any real political equality. This in turn means that women’s issues are inadequately addressed in public policy.
However, two important changes in policy have been initiated the major parties (the BNP and AL) that may ensure a continued increase in women’s participation in politics. They are: first, an increase in the number of women in the party structures and an increase in the number of women running for election, and second, a strong commitment by the parties in extending women the same access and support as men to winnable seats. Therefore, the responsibility to improve the parliamentary representation of women mainly rests with the major parties. Unfortunately, the parties have shown little inclination to fulfill these changes.
Conclusions
Despite the fact that women’s development has been accorded priority by different governments in the consecutive Five-Year Plans of Bangladesh, women continue to be disadvantaged, deprived, neglected, and face discrimination even after thirty years of independence. The society is male-dominated while women are poverty-stricken and continue to be victims of domestic violence and abandonment. In spite of constitutional guarantees, women have not enjoyed the same equal rights as men as accorded to them. Women still remain considerably under-represented at both the local and national level of politics. There is now a general consensus among women’s organizations and groups and those concerned over the need to increase the number of seats reserved for women as well as to hold direct elections for those seats. The major parties such as the BNP and the AL made this promise in their election manifesto. Despite the fact that top leaders of the two major political parties (BNP and AL) are women leaders, politics in Bangladesh continue to remain a male monopoly. At the onset of the new millennium, the percentage of female representation at both the local and national level has remained low compared to global standards.
Although women have made some advancement in many fields that were previously dominated by men, a career in politics is not one of them. The reasons and obstacles why few Bangladeshi women are involved in politics can be attributed to the social biases, enormous campaign costs, financial dependency, social and political violence, religious problems, lack of education and political knowledge, and situational barriers and attitudes based on gender roles and stereotypes that persist even now. The recruitment and nomination process of parties in the national elections also explains women’s continued under-representation in the Bangladesh Parliament. These various explanations for the most part substantiate Freeman’s statement that “... empowerment requires group solidarity and resources. Both of these routes were fraught with problems for women and neither was readily available.”[10] [35]
In sum, this study suggests that in order to give Bangladeshi women a place in the decision-making process, there is a need to increase the number of women holding political office at both the local and national level. However, any substantial increase in women’s representation in public life depends on the mainstream changes within the major political parties; the strong support and campaigning by women’s groups, NGOs, and the media; the removal of structural impediments, traditional mindsets, biases and attitudes based on gender roles, and access to financial resources. The religion-based parties are opposed to women in public office. It is likely that in the national parliament of Bangladesh as well as in the local level politics, women’s representation will remain insignificant in the near future despite their enthusiasm to provide political leadership.
Annex:
Table: Women Candidates for the Post of Chair in Union Parishad Election in Bangladesh from 1973-2003
| Years of election | No. of Union Parishad | Total no. of candidates contesting for the post of chair | Total no. of women candidates contesting for the post of chair | % of women candidates contesting for the post of chair | Elected women chairs | % of elected women chairs |
| 1973 | 4352 | - | - | - | 1 | - |
| 1977 | 4352 | - | - | - | 4 | - |
| 1984 | 4400 | - | - | - | 6 | - |
| 1988 | 4401 | 18566 | 79 | .43 | 1 | 1.26 |
| 1992-93 | 4451 | 17444 | 115 | .66 | 24 | 20.87 |
| 1997 | 4479 | - | 102 | - | 23 | 22.54 |
| 2003 | 4223 | 21376 | 232 | 1.09 | 22 | 9.8 |
[1][26] See, The Constitution of the Peoples’ Republic of Bangladesh, op. cit.
[2][27] See GOBD, Memorandum for Bangladesh Development Forum 1999-2000, April 19-20, 1999, p. 49.
[3][28] The Daily Star (Dhaka), May 8, 2003.
[4][29] Ibid.
[5][30] See Najma Chowdhury, “Women in Politics in Bangladesh” in Ahmed Q.K. et. al (eds.) Situation of Women in Bangladesh, Ministry of Social Welfare & Women Affairs, Government of Bangladesh, Dhaka, 1985, p. 268.
[6][31] Even in advanced democratic countries such as United States, Australia, and United Kingdom women have always been considerably underrepresented in political life. Currently, the USA has a figure of 14.0 per cent, the United Kingdom 17.9 per cent, Australia 15 percent. In contrast, the number of women presents in government and politics has been relatively better in some countries such as Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark where women’s representation in the parliament is over 35 percent.
[7][32] See Salma Sohhan in Valentine M. Moghadam (ed.), Gender and National Identity: Women and Politics in Muslim Societies, (London and New Jersey, 1994), p. 75
[8][33] See Commonwealth Secretariat Publication, Voices from the Commonwealth Women in Politics, 1999.
[9][34] See Women in Politics and Decision-making in the Late Twentieth Century: A United Nation’s Study, op. cit. p. xi.
[10][35] J. Freeman, A Room at a Time: How Women Entered Party Politics, Lanham, MD: Rowan and Littlefield, 2000, p. 231.
