Children have Human Rights too

" My very earliest memories are of feeling terrified...

As the years crawled by, the beatings escalated."

Victim of child abuse

Women & Girls in Bangladesh

The Unrecognised Potential of Women & Girls
by Mahsin
"Every human being has capacity"

"In our society, girls are brought up to believe that their knowledge and intelligence is worth less when compared with their male counterparts"

Every human being has capacity. Each person possesses certain beliefs, and sense of morality.

Different states, societies and family groups do not always allow space to raise and discuss issues in relation to women and girls. In our society, girls are born and brought up to believe that their knowledge and intelligence is worth less when compared with their male counterparts. The female’s potential is not recognised from the very beginning. From the start, young girls are brought up and guided in a very different way within every sphere of their lives, compared with the boys.

Bangladesh is a densely populated country in South Asia. The educational background of the country is characterized as high enrollment and low school attainment amongst girls. Low literacy levels amongst girls inhibit their prospects for acquiring broad general knowledge. Social development is impaired along with health, nutrition and fertility. This also limits their chances of participating in productive activities.

In a culture where daughters are considered as liabilities and whose primary roles are marriage and reproduction, such investment is perceived as futile.

When families are faced with difficult and trying circumstances, it is then that girls and women show how they can use their utmost potential to overcome these trials. If women had equal opportunity from every aspect, and equal rights e.g. access to information and control over assets, freedom of movement etc. then they would have been able to adopt significant roles within society and fulfill their potential. This would then enable women to have a say in preventing suffering and help create a more stable society, both within the family group and on a wider social basis.

Below is a genuine story highlighting the above points:

Jasmine's Story

A struggling life of an adolescent girl (Jasmeen)- The Pen is swapped for the Plough in an effort for survival.

Jasmin, a 13 year old adolescent farmer from Horinmari Nayapara village of Baliadangi, Bangladesh, provides a heart touching story of struggle and survival for the betterment of her family.

Three years ago, Jasmeen lost her father. She is the eldest child of four siblings. Her mother takes responsibility to work and provide for the family. She does this by working as maidservant to different households within the community. Unfortunately, the money she earns isn’t sufficient to meet the demands of raising and feeding the family. So to help feed her family, Jasmeen has to work as a maidservant to a rural household, by keeping off her education. Maidservant work is the lowest paid in the rural community. Because of this Jasmeen and her mother couldn’t ensure adequate meals for their family.

While Jasmine should be passing her days in education, playing and gossiping with her friends she is instead struggling for survival.

Her father did not own a single piece of land, so she is forced to use a plough to dig land by foot to earn wages as a day labourer.

Now Jasmeen is working alongside a male labourer and she has learned well how to plough land, when to harvest, plant and when to collect seed. Every agricultural technique is known to her. She didn’t learn this from her father and she never thought she would have to endure this kind of life.

The male dominated family and male dominated society doesn’t allow girls and women to differ from their traditional roles. What is sad about this is that their potential isn’t being allowed to flourish. But despite this, women of all ages always manage to shine and show their intelligence and resourcefulness in the face of adversity.

It’s a shame that all these skills, qualities and intelligence that women possess, are not being given the chance to be fully utilized within society.

Mahsin.