Awakening to a new possibility

The subjugation of women is deeply ingrained in Bangladeshi society. It is so much a part of ordinary reality that it is largely unseen, unexamined, and unquestioned. Yet today, after thousands of years of suppression, the women of Bangladesh are awakening to a new possibility - a future based on selfhood, equality, and full participation. This awakening is part of a dramatic worldwide shift in consciousness about women and their role in society.

A global struggle and a global stand. The 20th Century saw the roots of women's emancipation take hold in many parts of the world. One hundred years ago, in 1900, women had the right to vote in only one country – New Zealand. By the 1920s women had won the vote in Great Britain, most of Europe, and the United States. In 1948, the United Nations adopted The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, proclaiming for the first time in history the "equal rights of men and women."

In the years that followed, the struggle continued and took on momentum. In 1972, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed that 1975 would be International Women's Year, launching a historic series of international conferences dedicated to the proposition that the world community will no longer tolerate the subjugation, marginalisation, and disempowerment of one-half of humanity. Global women's conferences were held in Copenhagen in 1980, in Nairobi in 1985, in Beijing in 1995, and in New York in 2000. Women's issues moved to the forefront of the international agenda in global conferences on food, environment, population and human rights.

The shift in Bangladesh. Bangladesh has a history of women's activism. It has only been in the last ten years, however, that this shift in thinking has begun to be felt throughout Bangladeshi society. There were some important precursors. Thanks to years of activism, Bangladesh made dowry illegal in 1980. In a 1978-80 two-year plan - women for the first time were referred to not as objects of welfare, but as actors in their own development. In the coming years, government plans called for women's full integration in economic development, and as change agents in the development process.

In March 1997, the Prime Minister declared a Policy on Women's Advancement that provides a comprehensive framework for women's development in Bangladesh. With the reservation of 30 per cent of seats for women in local government councils, Bangladesh's women - for the first time - have an opportunity to have a voice in local decision making.

"…The peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women…., -Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948

"…Discrimination against women violates the principles of equality of rights and respect for human dignity, is an obstacle to the participation of women, on equal terms with men, in the political, social, economic and cultural life of their countries, hampers the growth of the prosperity of society and the family and makes more difficult the full development of the potentialities of women in the service of their countries and of humanity."
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, 1979

Women's rights are human rights and human rights are women's rights
-Rallying call for women's groups at 1993 World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna

The Shift in World Consciousness

1948: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims "the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family."

1975: The First United Nations Women's Conference in Mexico City establishes the women's movement as a global phenomenon, and launches the UN Decade for Women.

1979: The Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) calls on nations "to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women…which are based on the idea of inferiority or superiority of the sexes."

1980: The Second United Nations Women's Conference in Copenhagen first addresses the issue of women and development.

1985: The Third United Nations Women's Conference in Nairobi helps to catalyse the emergence of women's NGOs worldwide.

1993: Women's groups at the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna declare that women's rights are human rights, and human rights are women's rights.

1993: The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women proclaims that "violence against women constitutes a violation of the rights and fundamental freedoms of women."

1995: The Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, calls for gender issues to be fully mainstreamed into government policies and actions - making women full and equal partners in society - and creating a strong platform for action and advocacy for women.

2000: Women mobilise in New York for Women 2000: Beijing +5, to hold governments accountable for the commitments they made at Beijing, and to address new issues of domestic violence, trafficking, HIV/AIDS and globalisation.