Monday, 17 September 2012
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Bangladesh: Discriminatory Family Laws Fuel Female Poverty
(New York, September 17, 2012) – Bangladesh’s discriminatory personal laws on marriage, separation, and divorce trap many women and girls in abusive marriages or drive them into poverty when marriages fall apart. In many cases these laws contribute to homelessness, hunger, and ill-health for divorced or separated women and their children. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the World Food Programme (WFP) have recorded significantly higher levels of food insecurity and poverty among female-headed Bangladeshi households.
Bangladesh’s government should urgently reform the country’s personal laws, making economic rights for women a key focus. The Law Commission of Bangladesh has recently taken important steps to review personal laws on marriage, separation, and divorce, and recommended changes in 2012. Women’s rights advocates and academics contributed to this review process, and have long pressed for such reforms. The Bangladesh government should take this process forward and end legal discrimination against women within marriage, ensure women’s equal right to marital property, streamline family court procedures, and improve access to social assistance programs.
Bangladesh’s government should urgently reform the country’s personal laws, making economic rights for women a key focus. The Law Commission of Bangladesh has recently taken important steps to review personal laws on marriage, separation, and divorce, and recommended changes in 2012. Women’s rights advocates and academics contributed to this review process, and have long pressed for such reforms. The Bangladesh government should take this process forward and end legal discrimination against women within marriage, ensure women’s equal right to marital property, streamline family court procedures, and improve access to social assistance programs.
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