Dhaka, Oct 18 (IANS) The raw deal the women get in society must be reversed, said a Bangladeshi daily, adding that “discrimination is a shame for a country where the prime minister and the opposition leader are women”.
An editorial in the Daily Star Wednesday said that it was regrettable to note that so far women farmers had not met at a national level.
Earlier this week, the first ever national female farmers’ conference was held marking the World Food Day. A consensus emerged from the conference demanding social and state recognition of women’s contribution in all stages of food cultivation.
“Such recognition will help protect their economic rights as well as upgrade their status in their families and society at large,” said the daily.
Citing statistics, the editorial said that rural women work 20 percent longer than men in farming, but they hardly exercise any right to decision-making in the households and at the community level.
“At workplaces they get less pay than their male counterparts, although they have a larger share in activities like farming and livestock rearing.
“Such discrimination is a shame for a country where the prime minister and the opposition leaders are women,” said the daily while referring to Sheikh Hasina who is the prime minister while opposition leader is Khaleda Zia.
The daily said that increase in literacy among women will help the process of their uplift in many ways. “Emphasis on schooling and various financial incentives to women over the years have been helpful in bringing women to the fore.”
It noted that women in rural areas and their children remain physically weak and malnourished.
“On the whole, the raw deal the women get in society must be reversed with a strategic plan of action formulated by the government in tandem with relevant women rights and advocacy groups,” it added.
