WUNRN
BANGLADESH - CALL TO END
DISCRIMINATORY LAWS ON MARRIAGE, SEPARATION, DIVORCE
Gender discriminatory personal laws persis in
Women in
(WOMENSENEWS)--Sitara
S. (she and the other women requested anonymity) is a Muslim woman living in
Now Sitara struggles to pay rent and feed her children.
"I work in homes and beg them to give me something to eat and bring back
leftovers for my children," she said.
Namrata N., a Hindu woman, gave her life savings to her
husband to start a business. He misused the money and turned violent when she
demanded that it be returned. He later tricked her into drinking acid.
Today, Namrata cannot eat or drink. She is fed through a
feeding tube inserted into her intestine. Namrata is strong and wants to
divorce her husband, but Hindu family laws in
Over the past year I interviewed 120 women through
nongovernmental organizations in Bangladesh, women
experiencing some kind of difficulty in their marriages, about the country's
discriminatory "personal laws" governing marriage, separation and
divorce.
These laws-- some dating to the 19th century-- set out
separate rules for Muslims, Hindus and Christians. They grant men far greater
powers in marriage and accessing divorce.
The few economic entitlements for women recognized by
these laws, namely maintenance and mahr (contractual amounts under Muslim
marriage contracts), are often meager and difficult to secure. The
discriminatory and inadequate nature of these laws violate the legal
obligations
Driven Into Poverty
For all the global acclaim Bangladesh has received for
programs intended to alleviate poverty for women, successive governments have
allowed personal laws that drive women into poverty to linger on the books.
None of
Sitara,
Namrata and all the other women I interviewed performed unpaid housework. Some
handed over savings to buy property in their husband's name. Some worked for
their husbands' businesses. Some cultivated family fields. All cared for
children and elderly in-laws. But when their marriages ended, they were left
with virtually nothing.
"The suffering that women go through only Allah
knows," one woman, who struggled to afford housing and food after her
husband left her, told me. "I wish Allah could make us men not
women."
The little economic protection women might get through "maintenance" or "alimony" is difficult to enforce through family courts. These courts are slow and have dysfunctional enforcement procedures. Social-assistance schemes are supposed to help the poorest, but the government should do a lot more. Women should be better informed about these programs and the government should oversee how women are selected, to protect them from demands for bribes from officials.
Concrete Steps for
Reform
In 2010,
More recently in 2012, the Ministry of Law, Justice and
Parliamentary Affairs supported the Bangladesh Law Commission research to
recommend personal law reforms.
The
In October, the
But a lot more needs to be done. It is time for the
government to take measures to end legal discrimination, ensure women's equal
rights to marital property, streamline family court procedures and improve
access to social assistance programs.
As Namrata, whose husband fed her acid, told me, she
wants not only justice, but also a divorce. "I want to see him in
jail," she said. "And when I get out of here [hospital] I will give
him talaq [divorce]. If I can marry him, I can divorce him."
Aruna Kashyap is a researcher with the Women's Rights Division at Human Rights Watch. She is the author of the report, "Will I Get My Dues…Before I Die?" Harm to Women from Bangladesh's Discriminatory Laws on Marriage, Separation, and Divorce and helped produce a video on the topic. Follow her on twitter: @aruna_kashyap.
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To: WUNRN ListServe
Sent: Thursday, October 04, 2012 9:06 PM
Subject: Bangladesh - Discriminatory Laws on Marriage, Separation,
Divorce
WUNRN
BANGLADESH - DISCRIMINATORY LAWS ON
MARRIAGE, SEPARATION, DIVORCE
Human Rights Watch
“Will I Get My Dues … Before I Die?”
- Harm to Women from
Direct Link to Full 117-Page Report: http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/bangladesh0912ForUpload.pdf
September 17, 2012 - This 109-page report documents how Bangladesh's discriminatory and archaic personal laws impoverish many women at separation or divorce, and trap some women in violent marriages because they fear destitution. Current laws deprive women of an equal right to marital property. The limited entitlements these laws offer women are poorly enforced by family courts and local government arbitration councils.
Female-headed households and women facing domestic violence struggle to access critical state support and social assistance.
Together, these problems mean there is scant economic protection or security for women when marriages break down.
Report in Bengali:
http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/bangladesh0912baForUpload.pdf
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