Gender Equality in Bangladesh

Well being indicators

Map

The major wellbeing indicators for women's equality in Bangladesh include:

- The ratio of men to women in primary and secondary education

- Whether women have the right to vote

- Violence against women

- Discrimination

- The ratio of illiterate girls to boys

- Difference between male and female wages

The Fight Against Inequality

Oxfam's aim is to change the attitude of the communities of Bangladesh, to treat women as equals. This will give women power and freedom over their own lives.

Bangladesh

Bangladesh is one of the world's most densely populated countries, with 160 million people living in only 130,168 square kilometers. That's almost seven times Australia's population in one fifty-ninth of the space. because of this there is a lot of poverty and inequality that Oxfam is trying to fight.

Oxfam

This graph shows the improvement of women literacy rates from 1980 -2009. This shows the affect Oxfam has had on the women community in Bangladesh. There are now more literate women than men in Bangladesh.

The We Can End Violence against Women Campaign was initiated by Oxfam in 2004 to advance the cause and is proving to be successful. In 2006, 60 per cent of Bangladeshi women experienced physical violence from their marital partner, and that has dropped to 47 per cent of women facing domestic violence today.

Even though there is still a lot of improvement to be made, the Bangladeshi government is progressing in ending gender injustice. Its policy is to respect, protect and fulfil the rights women have; and to work towards the elimination of violence against women through international conventions and more importantly, aid organisations.

Oxfam is an international aid organisation that specialises in helping people who live in third world countries fight against poverty. Their programs help people in more than 90 countries claim their basic human rights.

One of their main goals are to protect civilians after natural disasters and during international conflict by providing clean water, food and sanitation.

Oxfam is passionate about conquering world hunger and does this by securing reliable food supplies to make sure people have enough to eat.

One goal that is very important is women's equality, and that is what our assignment is focusing on.

Summary

Gender Equality

“The right to gender justice underpins all of our work.”

Oxfam’s aim is to provide women with equality in society, power in their decisions and freedom of speech.

The women of Bangladesh face the challenges of inequality every day, and there is still a lot of work to be done. But over the years Oxfam have worked hard to improve this and the results are showing in a drastic increase in the quality of life for these women.

Gender Equality in Bangladesh

By Mitchell &Brielle

References

Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. 2012. BANGLADESH 2012 HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/204607.pdf. [Accessed 24 November 14].

March, M., 2005. Facts About Countries - Bangladesh. 2nd ed. Sydney, Australia: Franklin Watts Australia.

Oxfam. 2010. Ending Violence against Women. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.oxfam.org/sites/www.oxfam.org/files/ending-violence-against-women-oxfam-guide-nov2012.pdf. [Accessed 17 November 14].

Unicef. 2009. Women and girls in Bangladesh. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.unicef.org/bangladesh/Women_and_girls_in_Bangladesh.pdf. [Accessed 23 November 14].

Unicef. 2014. South Asia Regional Study. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.unicef.org/education/files/OOSCI_SouthAsia_14Feb_14_FINAL.pdf.. [Accessed 11 November 14].

We Can. 2012. End Violence Against Women. [ONLINE] Available at: http://policy-practice.oxfam.org.uk/~/media/Files/policy_and_practice/gender_justice/we_can/we_can_campaign_brochure.ashx. [Accessed 24 November 14].