Responses to Information Requests

Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

1. Legal and Socio-Economic Situation of Women
1.1 Constitution

According to sources, Bangladesh's constitution recognizes equal rights between women and men, including in the public sphere (UN n.d.a; US 2022-04-12, 48). Articles 27 and 28 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh provide for the following:

Equality before law

27. All citizens are equal before law and are entitled to equal protection of law.

Discrimination on grounds of religion, etc.

28. (1) The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.

(2) Women shall have equal rights with men in all spheres of the State and of public life.

(3) No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth be subjected to any disability, liability, restriction or condition with regard to access to any place of public entertainment or resort, or admission to any educational institution.

(4) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making special provision in favour of women or children or for the advancement of any backward section of citizens. (Bangladesh 1972)

The constitution also includes the following provisions regarding the rights of Bangladeshis to access their basic needs:

Provision of basic necessities

15. It shall be a fundamental responsibility of the State to attain, through planned economic growth, a constant increase of productive forces and a steady improvement in the material and cultural standard of living of the people, with a view to securing to its citizens –

1. the provision of the basic necessities of life, including food, clothing, shelter, education and medical care;
2. the right to work, that is the right to guaranteed employment at a reasonable wage having regard to the quantity and quality of work;
3. the right to reasonable rest, recreation and leisure; and
4. the right to social security, that is to say, to public assistance in cases of undeserved want arising from unemployment, illness or disablement, or suffered by widows or orphans or in old age, or in other such cases. (Bangladesh 1972)

1.2 Political Participation and Representation

Sources report that 50 seats in the national legislature are reserved for women (Freedom House 2022-02-24, Sec. A2, B4; US 2022-04-12, 39) and that women are chosen for these seats by the 300 members of parliament who were "directly elected" (US 2022-04-12, 39). Freedom House notes that women are at the head of the two "main" political parties (2022-02-24, Sec. B4). A 2022 report on the gender gap by the World Economic Forum (WEF) states that Bangladesh is ranked 92nd globally in the measure for "Women in Parliament," and 127th for "Women in ministerial positions" (2022-07-13, 92). Freedom House notes that "in practice," women face "societal discrimination" that "limi[t] their participation in politics" (2022-02-24, Sec. B4).

1.3 Labour Participation and Representation

According to a 2019 figure provided by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the unemployment rate among women in Bangladesh is 6.6 percent, compared to 3.2 percent for men (2021-04, 3). A modelled estimate and projection by the International Labour Organization (ILO) [1] published in November 2022 provides the following unemployment rate by sex for Bangladesh:

(UN 2022-11)

The ADB indicates that 6.2 percent of women employed in 2019 were paid a wage equivalent in their local currency to a purchasing power "below [US]$1.90" per day, compared to 5.3 percent of men (2021-04, 2).

The US Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2021 indicates that labour law in Bangladesh prohibits wage discrimination on the basis of "sex or disability," but does not prohibit other types of discrimination (US 2022-04-12, 69). The same source notes that the "law does not describe a penalty for discrimination" and that its enforcement has not been "effectiv[e]" (US 2022-04-12, 69). Citing the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) labour force survey for 2015-2016, the UN Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women (UN Women) indicates that 95.4 percent of women are part of the "informal" employment sector, as either wage earners, self-employed persons, unpaid family labourers, or other hired labourers (UN n.d.a). According to a study by Sharmind Neelormi, associate professor of economics at Jahangirnagar University in Dhaka (The Daily Star 2021-04-25), which was conducted from November to December 2020 with interviewees from nine urban and rural districts, 87 percent of whom were women, and 47 percent of whom were homemakers, 96.7 percent of employed women are "engaged in" the informal sector (Neelormi [2021-04], 17). US Country Reports 2021 notes that the informal sector is not covered by the country's labour laws (US 2022-04-12, 74). Referring to the BBS labour force survey results for 2016-2017, the same source adds that women and youths residing in both urban and rural areas "were more likely to be in informal employment" and that "nearly" half of informally employed persons had no schooling (US 2022-04-12, 74).

Despite this, according to the World Bank's Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan, Bangladesh ranks above the average for South Asia regarding "Female Labor Force Participation," which is estimated at 36 percent in Bangladesh, compared to 23.6 percent in South Asia (Tembon 2022-03-08). On a global ranking, the WEF ranks Bangladesh 134th for the measure of "Labour-force participation rate" [2] and 109th for "Wage equality for similar work" (2022-07-13, 92).

Sources note that 80 percent (Tembon 2022-03-08) or "more than 50 percent" (US 2022-04-12, 69) of the ready-made garment industry in Bangladesh is made up of women employees (Tembon 2022-03-08; US 2022-04-12, 69). However, the same sources report that women remain "generally underrepresented in supervisory and management positions" (US 2022-04-12, 69) or that "many are still working on the floors" rather than supervisory or management roles (Tembon 2022-03-08).

According to the Daily Star, an English-language newspaper in Bangladesh, a 2009 High Court ruling gave directives to "form sexual harassment complaint committees in the workplace and educational institutions"; however, "little to no" progress has been made (2022-11-25). The same source notes that in the "majority" of workplaces in the government and private sectors, "sexual harassment continues to be an everyday affair for a large number of working women" (The Daily Star 2022-11-25). US Country Reports 2021 states that "abuse" and "sexual harassment" against women occur in garment factories, and that according to reporting from the Solidarity Center [3], "there were no antiharassment committees in garment factories" (US 2022-04-12, 69). Online and in-person interviews conducted by the Daily Star from 26 October to 14 November 2022 with 40 women employees "from different government organisations, NGOs, banks and financial institutions, media houses and corporations" found that 28 women had either experienced, or knew of a woman colleague who experienced, "physical, verbal, mental or cyber abuse" in their current or previous workplace, at the hands of "their bosses, supervisors, or colleagues" (The Daily Star 2022-11-25).

1.4 Civil Status and Matrimonial Rights

Sources indicate that women in Bangladesh do not have the same legal rights as men under personal status laws, including with respect to family [or marriage and divorce (Freedom House 2022-02-24, Sec. G3; UN n.d.a)] and inheritance (Freedom House 2022-02-24, Sec. G3; UN n.d.a; US 2022-04-12, 48). US Country Reports 2021 notes that "daughters inherit half of what sons" are entitled to under Islamic inheritance law, and that Hindu inheritance law dictates that a "widow's rights to her deceased husband's property are limited to her lifetime and revert to the male heirs upon her death" (US 2022-04-12, 48). Citing an unnamed "August 2020 study," the same source adds that Indigenous women faced an "increas[e]" in "land confiscations, livelihood risks, and violence" during the COVID-19 pandemic (US 2022-04-12, 50).

Sources report that by law, the minimum age for marriage is 18 for women and 21 for men (AA 2021-03-22; US 2022-04-12, 53); however, there is a "provision for marriages of women and men at younger ages, granted under 'special circumstances'" (US 2022-04-12, 53). According to a 2020 UNICEF profile of the situation of child marriages in Bangladesh, the country is ranked among the top 10 globally for the "highest levels" of child marriages, with 51 percent of Bangladeshi women aged 20 to 24 years having been married before reaching the age of 18, or a total of 38 million women and girls who married in their childhood, and 13 million of whom were married before the age of 15 (UN 2020-10, 5). The WEF states that the rate of early marriages in Bangladesh is 45.2 percent (2022-07-13, 93). UNICEF further indicates that "nearly" half of child marriages result in pregnancy before the age of 18 (UN 2020-10, 3). The WEF reports that 53.7 percent of births in Bangladesh are attended by "skilled personnel," and that 12 percent of women between the ages of 15 and 49 have their family planning needs "[u]nmet" (2022-07-13, 93). According to Anadolu Agency (AA), Türkiye's state-run news agency (AP 2019-03-28), during the COVID-19 pandemic, child marriages saw a "sharp and steady rise" in Bangladesh, due to "growing" pandemic "concerns regarding joblessness, poverty, food scarcity and fear and insecurity among parents" (AA 2021-03-22).

Despite the prohibition by law of dowry-related demands [stipulating that "an individual demanding or giving a dowry may be imprisoned for up to five years, fined, or both" (US 2022-04-12, 45)], sources indicate that requests related to dowries still occur (Freedom House 2022-02-24, Sec. G3; US 2022-04-12, 45).

1.5 Sexual and Gender-Based Crimes

US Country Reports 2021 indicates that Bangladeshi law bans "only" the "rape of girls and women by men and physical spousal abuse," while excluding "marital rape if the girl or woman is older than 13" (US 2022-04-12, 43–44). Freedom House indicates that the law also requires survivors of rape to "file police reports and obtain medical certificates within 24 hours of the crime in order to press charges," thus blocking "most cases" from "reaching the courts" (2022-02-24, Sec. G3). According to the WEF, the "[p]revalence of gender violence in [the] lifetime" of women is estimated at 53.3 percent (2022-07-13, 93).

1.6 Household Headship

According to Neelormi, "mos[t]" of the 77.78 percent of women-headed households that faced economic hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic were headed by women employed in the informal sector, and their hardship was due to loss of jobs, increased household responsibilities, and "[i]nterrupted support services at workplace for child care" ([2021-04], 16). According to the Ministry of Social Welfare's website for the Allowances for the Widow, Deserted and Destitute Women social protection program, the government provides a cash transfer of 300 Bangladesh Taka (BDT) [C$3.95] per month, paid quarterly, to 1.15 [million] Bangladeshi women beneficiaries (according to 2016–2017 figures) who are either widowed, divorced, whose husbands have "deserted" them, or who are "wealthless/homeless/landless" (Bangladesh n.d.a). Data compiled from a 2018 World Bank survey for Dhaka [4] and a 2019 World Bank survey for Chittagong [5], indicates that 1.4 percent of households in Dhaka received "money from social safety-net" programs, and 1.5 percent did so in Chittagong (World Bank 2021-09-15).

2. Treatment of Women, Including Single Women and Women That Head Households

Information on the treatment of single women and women who head households was scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

UN Women reports that the rates of violence faced by women in Bangladesh "remain high" (UN n.d.a). In its 2021 annual report on human rights, Human Rights Watch (HRW) indicates that "women and girls faced pervasive sexual violence" in 2021 (2022-01-13). Freedom House notes that "[r]ape, acid throwing, and other forms of gender-based violence occur regularly" (2022-02-24, Sec. G3).

2.1 By Authorities

In correspondence with the Research Directorate, an associate professor at North South University in Dhaka, whose research focuses on development economics and its effects on women's education, marital status, and family planning on the labour market in Bangladesh, noted that "very few" women file complaints of mistreatment by authorities "because of fear of losing [their] family life or facing social consequences" such as the "shaming of the victim" (Associate Professor 2022-12-07). A joint report published by the World Organization Against Torture (Organisation mondiale contre la torture, OMCT), a 200-member association active in 90 countries that works to "end torture and ill-treatment, assist victims, and protect human rights defenders at risk" (OMCT n.d.), and the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA), a "non-profit alliance" of "more than a hundred" organizations that are "committed to the promotion, protection and realization of human rights in the Philippines" (PAHRA n.d.), specifies that other barriers women face include "a lack of relevant criminal laws, lack of investigations and prosecution, threats by perpetrators, and revictimization during investigation and in court" (OMCT & PAHRA 2022, 106). HRW also indicates that the justice system "fails women" through "barriers in filing police complaints, disinterest or abusive behavior from prosecutors, delayed and lengthy trials, and a lack of victim and witness protection" (2020-10, 37).

In a case reported by sources, a popular Bangladeshi actress filed a complaint with the police against a "businessman" [in real estate, who is also the entertainment and cultural affairs secretary of the Dhaka Boat Club (PTI 2021-06-14)], for attempting to rape and murder her at the Dhaka Boat Club on 14 June 2021; the actress also filed a complaint against several others in relation to the incident (PTI 2021-06-14; US 2022-04-12, 44). US Country Reports 2021 adds that on 4 August 2021, officers of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), a counterterrorism unit of the Bangladesh security forces, raided the actress' home and removed her from it, after "allegedly" finding "illegal substances including alcohol and narcotics"; "activists" indicated that the raid was a "response to her filing a rape case against a powerful businessman" (US 2022-04-12, 1, 44).

According to an article published in the Dhaka Tribune, an English-language national newspaper based in Dhaka, four police officers at the Ukhiya police station face charges of "tortur[e]" against a woman in Chittagong, after "confin[ing]" and "brutally tortur[ing]" her when she arrived at the station to lodge a complaint against another police officer who had raped her on 7 July 2020 in the Khuniapalong Checkpost (2020-08-25). The same article notes that the officer-in-charge at the time of the torture incident denied all allegations and stated that "'the woman was constantly trying to force the constable to marry her at the station'" (Dhaka Tribune 2020-08-25). Further information on the case against the Ukhiya police officers, including its outcome, could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

In another case reported by Bangladesh media sources, a woman who was disembarking a train in Khulna on 2 August 2019, was detained by railway police, held at the Khulna Railway Station, and raped by five officers before being charged with possession of bottles of "phensidyles" [Phensedyl] [6] and sent to prison the following day (banglanews24.com 2019-08-10; The Daily Star 2019-08-06). After the woman filed a complaint against the officers, the same sources indicate that investigations into the woman's allegations were launched by authorities (banglanews24.com 2019-08-10; The Daily Star 2019-08-06), under the Torture and Custodial Death (Prohibition) Act, 2013 (banglanews24.com 2019-08-10). The OMCT and PAHRA joint report notes that in the eight years since the 2013 law was enacted, "there has only been one conviction for custodial death as a result of torture" and that in the three years since the 2019 Khulna Railway Station rape case, "no further action appears to have been taken" (2022, 107, 111).

2.2 By Society

According to the joint report by the OMCT and PAHRA, women in Bangladesh face an "environment where they are constantly at risk of rape and other forms of SGBV [sexual and gender-based violence]," as Bangladeshi social culture "normalizes misogyny, stalking, and rape" of women (2022, 113, 120). BRAC, a Bangladesh-based NGO that operates in multiple countries and works on a variety of development projects, including in education, microfinance, and migration (BRAC n.d.), reports that survivors of SGBV "do not usually wish to file cases [against perpetrators] due to the misplaced social stigma" (2022-05, 5). According to an HRW report, another factor contributing to the underreporting of cases is that "violence against women and girls is so socially normalized that survivors often don't feel" that what they have experienced amounts to "something that would be taken seriously or is worth reporting" (2020-10, 2). The OMCT and PAHRA joint report further indicates that social culture "dictates" that women and girls' "'virtue'" is tied to their father's reputation among the local community, resulting in the underreporting of incidents of violence against women, "due to fear of the repercussions that may fall upon their families" (2022, 112).

In the context of the workplace, according to the Daily Star article based on interviews with 40 women employees, women "often" do not lodge complaints against their managers or colleagues for incidents such as "[requests for] sexual favours, forcible kissing, hugging, ogling, sending inappropriate web links, making objectionable comments on attire, sending indecent text messages, and perverse forms of flattery," "due to the associated social stigma, a lack of action and feared negative repercussions on their careers" (2022-11-25).

Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), a legal aid and human rights organization in Bangladesh, documents the number of rapes that take place every year, based on their review of print and online media sources, and reports that from January to October 2022, 830 women or girls were raped (290 of whom were under the age of 18), 141 experienced an attempted rape, 39 were killed after being raped (19 of whom were under the age of 18), and 7 committed suicide after being raped (2022-11-08a). According to a report on incidents of violence against women and girls in 2021, based on an analysis of articles published in 13 national dailies, conducted by the Bangladesh Mahila Parishad (BMP), a non-government women's organization that advocates for women's rights, empowerment, and gender equality (BMP n.d.), and cited in an article by New Age, a Dhaka-based English language daily newspaper (New Age n.d.), "[a]t least" 3,703 women and girls experienced a violent incident and 1,235 of those were rapes in 2021, an "increas[e]" from the 2020 figure for violent incidents of 3,440 (New Age 2022-01-04). The same article provides the following other findings from the 2021 BMP report:

At least 444 females, including 114 minor girls, were murdered and 121 females, including 43 girls, reportedly committed suicides in 2021.

At least 138 housewives were tortured for dowry and 45 of them died from the dowry-related torture.

At least 22 minor girls and nine women were killed after rape and four others died from acid attack.

At least 1,235 females, including 629 girls, were raped and 179 of them were gang-raped.

At least 155 females, including 93 girls, also faced rape attempt, [and] 87 females faced murder attempt.

At least 42 females were victims of trafficking, 45 others [were] victims of stalking, 43 others [were] victims of attempted child marriage and 18 others [were] victims of acid attacks. (New Age 2022-01-04)

New Age also compares the following figures from the 2021 BMP report to those of 2020:

The incidents of early marriage, physical torture for dowry and other reasons, abduction, sexual harassment and cybercrime also increased in 2021.

The minor girl victims of early marriages increased from 84 in 2020 to 284 in 2021.

At least 208 females suffered physical torture in 2021 compared to 159 in 2020.

The abduction victims rose from 125 in 2020 to 180 in 2021.

At least 95 females were subjected to sexual harassment [compared to] 74 in 2020[.]

The victims of dowry-related torture rose from 52 in 2020 to 93 in 2021.

And the cybercrime victims increased from 43 in 2020 to 63 in 2021.

In 2021, 33 females also were victims of assault, 11 others [were] victims of attempted abduction, two others [were] victims of fatwa, 18 others [were] victims of other violent incidents and two others were sold in brothels. (New Age 2022-01-04)

Regarding domestic violence, UN Women reports that 72.6 percent of "ever-married" women in Bangladesh "have experienced some form of partner violence in their lifetime" (UN n.d.a). According to BRAC, "seven out of ten women in Bangladesh face some sort of intimate partner violence" (2022-04-04). ASK notes that from January to October 2022, 175 women were murdered by their husband, 40 women were murdered by a member of their husband's family, while 38 were murdered by a member of their own family; of the 411 total incidents, 192 led to cases filed with the authorities (2022-11-08b). In two cases reported by HRW,

• a man "hacked his wife to death" with a machete in April 2020 while livestreaming it on Facebook;
• a man "struck his wife over the head," causing her death, in May 2020, "because she didn't get cold water from the refrigerator during iftar" (2020-10, 4).

ASK also documents the number of dowry-related incidents of violence against women, and reports that from January to October 2022, 68 women were physically tortured, and 72 women were killed after being physically tortured; 116 cases were filed with the authorities (2022-11-08c). US Country Reports 2021 describes two cases of dowry-related violence that occurred in 2021:

• A woman was "beaten to death" by her husband and his family in Sirajganj on 17 February "for not giving them gold";
• on 1 March, a woman was "beaten to death" by her husband after continuous demands for dowry and was later arrested by police (US 2022-04-12, 45–46).

HRW reports that acid attacks on women occur "within a pattern of ongoing domestic violence, in response to rejection of sexual advances or a marriage proposal, as a punishment for seeking education or work, or as a form of retribution in land or dowry disputes" (2020-10, 6-7). Citing the Acid Survivors Foundation (ASF), a Bangladesh-based organization working to prevent acid violence and to empower survivors (ASF n.d.), the same source notes that the "vast majority" of acid attacks in Bangladesh are "perpetrated by men targeting women or girls who they know" and that from 2000 to 2020, there were "over 3,800 reported cases of acid violence" (HRW 2020-10, 6). According to HRW, despite the introduction of legislation in 2002 and the "decreas[e]" in cases, conviction rates for acid attacks have also dropped (2020-10, 6). Corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

3. Ability to Relocate and Live Alone in Metropolitan Areas, Including Dhaka and Chittagong

For information on the socio-economic situation in Dhaka and Chittagong, including rates of criminal violence, access to housing and the tenant registration system, employment, education, and health care services, see Response to Information of Request BGD200854 of January 2022. Information on women's ability to relocate and live alone in Chittagong, as well as access services for employment, housing, education, health care, and support services, was scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

According to the US CIA World Factbook, Dhaka's population in 2022 is 22.487 million (US 2022-11-29). The Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) World Liveability Index for 2022, an index that scores 172 cities based on measures for "culture, health care, education, infrastructure, and entertainment," indicates that Dhaka is among the world's 10 worst cities to live (CNBC 2022-08-25). According to a report on district level data from a 2019 survey on the situation of women and children based on a representative sample of 64,400 households, conducted by the BBS in collaboration with UNICEF, 77.2 percent of women in Dhaka aged 15 to 49 "feel safe walking alone in their neighbourhood after dark," compared to the national average of 74.8 percent (Bangladesh & UN 2021-05, 15, 53). Data compiled from the 2018 World Bank survey indicates that 87.1 percent of Dhaka households are headed by men (World Bank 2021-09-15).

According to the World Factbook, 5.253 million people live in Chittagong (US 2022-11-29). The BBS and UNICEF 2019 survey found that 80.5 percent of women in Chittagong aged 15 to 49 "feel safe walking alone in their neighbourhood after dark" (Bangladesh & UN 2021-05, 53). Data compiled from the 2019 World Bank survey indicates that 84.2 percent of Chittagong households are headed by men (World Bank 2021-09-15).

3.1 Access to Housing

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group and the "largest global development institution focused on the private sector in developing countries" (World Bank n.d.a), reports that housing in Bangladesh's cities "is in short supply" as the urban population increased from 31 million in 2000 to 65 million in 2020 (World Bank 2022-07). An article published in News Hour, an English-language Bangladeshi news website (News Hour n.d.), by Ashekur Rahman, [then-]head of the UNDP's urban development and poverty portfolio in Bangladesh, specifies that one out of three individuals living in Dhaka, the world's most densely populated city, live in informal settlements (Rahman 2019-04-07).

The IFC notes that for low or middle-income earners, affordable housing loans are "very hard to access" (World Bank 2022-07). Rahman similarly reports that access to financing for housing is "limited" and accessible "only" to affluent groups (Rahman 2019-04-07). The same source writes that the lack of affordable housing is due to "skyrocketing property prices, a dysfunctional rental market, and limited public housing," leading many to "pay exorbitant rents to live in slums with poor services and no tenure security" (Rahman 2019-04-07). Additionally, the source notes that the government supplies "only 7 percent of the annual housing demand" and the private sector is left to "fill in the giant gap" (Rahman 2019-04-07).

According to the [latest] National Housing Policy 2016 published by the National Housing Authority of Bangladesh, due to a "lack of financial support," as well as "institutional weakness of the national and local agencies" that supply and manage housing, and an inadequate focus on the "need of housing for the poor," individuals living in urban areas "are crammed in small dwelling units and overcrowded slums and settlements," notably in Bangladesh's metropolitan areas and big cities (Bangladesh 2017-07-26, para. 2.4). The same report notes that "at present, a significant share of residents of Dhaka" reside "in slums and overcrowded settlements" (Bangladesh 2017-07-26, para. 2.5). Among the initiatives proposed in the National Housing Policy 2016, the "Social Housing: Housing for Distressed Woman Headed Family, Elderly and Poor" program is designated to be undertaken on a "priority basis," and include provisions for the "joint or individual ownership of land and house, allocation of loan, home based employment, children and maternity welfare center, [and] residential accommodation for working women" (Bangladesh 2017-07-26, para. 4.10). Information on the program's implementation and effectiveness could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

The UNDP in Bangladesh notes that although there has been progress on the housing policy front with the National Housing Policy, in practice, "the housing delivery system remains highly uncoordinated" between the private and public sectors (UN 2019-04-10). An article in Global Dialogue, a magazine of the International Sociological Association, authored by Lutfun Nahar Lata, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Queensland in Australia (University of Queensland n.d.), indicates that according to "[e]xisting research," "most government planning and development strategies" in the city of Dhaka have centred on the needs of formal economies and "elite" housing, and "less on addressing the housing and employment needs of the urban poor" (Nahar Lata 2020-06-26).

An article by Inaya Zaman, published on the blog of the James P. Grant School of Public Health (JPGSPH) at BRAC University [a university in Dhaka "with very close links" to the BRAC NGO (BRAC University n.d.)], reports that the "growing" prevalence of single working women in Bangladesh has resulted in "a heavy increase in internal migration by young women to Dhaka city" (Zaman 2020-02-04).

Zaman writes that landlords and other tenants "usually" refuse to rent dwellings to single women, instead "requiring them to be married," or otherwise only have access to dwellings with the "poorest facilities at incredibly high prices" (2020-02-04). A short documentary on single working women in Dhaka, produced and based on research by BRAC JPGSPH, interviews a women who, with a female friend, entered into a joint rental lease for an apartment when the landlord stopped responding to their calls in the five days before the start of the lease; the woman reported that the landlord later explained that the residents of the building did not agreed to let them rent the apartment because they were unmarried (BRAC University 2019-03-31, 3:15-3:25). Similarly, the Associate Professor indicated that single women have "difficult[y]" accessing housing in Dhaka and Chittagong "if they are not married or do not have a family" (2022-12-07).

3.2 Access to Income

Nahar Lata reports that the informal economy supplies "60 to 80% of urban jobs and up to 90% of new jobs in many cities" of Bangladesh, including in Dhaka (2020-06-26). The same source notes that barring the garment sector and "other low-paid jobs," the "majority" of individuals living in slum settlements in Dhaka do not have access to formal employment opportunities and must "often" contend with an "ambiguous legal status," due to their informal sector earnings (Nahar Lata 2020-06-26).

According to Freedom House, women "face discrimination in social services and employment" in Bangladesh (2022-02-24, Sec. G3). Nahar Lata writes that urban and poor women's ability to access public space to earn an income, such as for "selling products," is "constrained" in cities, due to "social norms, values, religious practices, and socially as well as culturally determined gendered vocations," and due to "dominant gender ideologies" that "still see women's place as being at home" (2020-06-26).

3.3 Access to Education

According to a World Factbook 2022 estimate, Bangladesh ranks 186th among countries globally in education expenditures, which represent 1.3 percent of the country's 2019 gross domestic product (US 2022-11-29). The same source notes that according to 2020 figures, 72 percent of women above the age of 15 are literate, compared to 77.8 percent of men (US 2022-11-29).

The Associate Professor indicated that among the reasons for women's education being "behind" that of men in Bangladesh, are that women "get married early" and their "parents do not invest much for their education"; instead, parents "focus more" on their sons, who are perceived to hold "better human capital" to benefit parents as they reach old age (2022-12-07). The same source noted that education rates for women in large cities like Dhaka and Chittagong are "better" than in rural areas (Associate Professor 2022-12-07).

3.4 Access to Healthcare

According to a 2020 figure by the World Factbook 2022, there are 0.67 physicians to every 1,000 residents of Bangladesh (US 2022-11-29). The Associate Professor indicated that women face "more challenges" when trying to access healthcare services "especially during childbirth" (2022-12-07). US Country Reports 2021 states that lesbian and bisexual women "lacked access to basic sexual and reproductive health care" in Bangladesh (US 2022-04-12, 47).

District data compiled from the 2019 BBS and UNICEF survey found that the family planning needs of 76.3 percent of women in Dhaka were satisfied by "modern contraception," compared to the national average of 77.4 percent (Bangladesh & UN 2021-05, 23). The same survey found that 83.2 percent of pregnant women in Dhaka had been seen "at least once by skilled health personnel" for antenatal care, 66.2 percent had a "[s]killed attendant at delivery," and 70.5 percent received postnatal "health checks for mothers" (Bangladesh & UN 2021-05, 23).

According to the same 2019 district survey's data for Chittagong, 69.8 percent of women had their family planning needs satisfied through "modern contraception" (Bangladesh & UN 2021-05, 23). The BBS and UNICEF found that 76.3 percent of pregnant women in Chittagong had been seen "at least once by skilled health personnel" for antenatal care, 57.9 percent had a "[s]killed attendant at delivery," and 61 percent received postnatal "health checks for mothers" (Bangladesh & UN 2021-05, 23).

According to a situational assessment of mental health services in Bangladesh by the WHO with the University of Washington [7], Bangladesh has 260 psychiatrists, "or approximately 0.16 per 100,000 population," 700 nurses "who provide mental health specialty care (0.4 per 100,000) and 565 psychologists (0.34 per 100,000)" (UN & University of Washington 2021-03-19, 6). The same report notes that "[a]lmost all" mental health professional are found in major urban areas, while "[g]eneral nurses trained in mental health" are only accessible through "the country's two mental [health] hospitals" (UN & University of Washington 2021-03-19, 6).

The National Mental Health Survey 2019 [8] conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in Dhaka, in collaboration with the WHO and the BBS, found that the "prevalence of mental disorders" among women was 21.5 percent compared to 15.7 percent for men, and that the "treatment gap" for these conditions among women was 90.4 percent (Bangladesh & UN 2021, 3, 4).

3.5 Access to Support Services

The information in the following paragraph was provided by BRAC's May 2022 report on sexual and gender-based violence and the public prosecution system in Bangladesh:

Under its Multi-Sectoral Programme on Violence Against Women (MSPVAW) [9], the government has established 12 "One Stop Crisis Centres" (OCC) across all eight administrative divisions in the country since 2000, which aim to provide survivors of sexual and gender-based violence with "all necessary services under one roof, including medical treatment, counseling and all the support needed in taking legal action, such as assistance from the police." However, the MSPVAW is "largely foreign funded" and currently in its "last phase, which makes the future of even the OCCs uncertain." In 2017, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare established a "protocol" for the "'Health Sector Response to Gender Based Violence: Protocol for Health Care Providers,'" which gives survivors access to "three forms of service from a medical service provider- medical care, medico-legal care, and psychosocial service." Despite this, due to a lack of awareness of the protocol by "many" medical service providers and the reticence to participate in examining survivors due to the associated responsibilities of having to "produce reports, and, if required, speak to the police and appear in front of the court as a witness," the protocol is not "abide[d] by" in practice (BRAC 2022-05, 2, 5, 12).

According to the MSPVAW government website, which tallies data on the usage of the OCCs until October 2022, out of the 55,154 survivors of physical assault, sexual assault, or burn assault who have accessed their services, 16,752 filed cases with the authorities, 1,881 judgments of cases were announced, and in 218 cases a penalty was imposed (Bangladesh 2022-10). HRW reports that shelter services in Bangladesh "are so limited," and that "most survivors" had "nowhere to go to escape abuse" (HRW 2020-10, 2). The same source notes that in total, the government runs 21 shelters for survivors of gender-based violence, while NGOs operate 15; according to the source, given that there are "over 80 million women and over 64 million children," and that "most women" experience "some form of violence in their lives," access to protection and support services through these shelters is "deeply inadequate" (HRW 2020-10, 9).

4. State Protection

Sources report that survivors of sexual violence face "barriers" to accessing justice (HRW 2020-10, 2; OMCT & PAHRA 2022, 106), and government efforts to address them "remai[n] deeply inadequate" (HRW 2020-10, 2). The OMCT and PAHRA joint report indicates that together with "misogynistic" societal attitudes, "corrupt and dysfunctional legislative and judicial institutions" in Bangladesh provide "little" protection for women who experience violence, and instead, "act as a deterrent" for those seeking redress (2022, 120). HRW writes that the introduction of a new law on sexual harassment, along with promised amendments to the "discriminatory rape law," have "stalled" in 2021 (HRW 2022-01-13). Amnesty International reports that article 155(4) of the Evidence Act of 1872, "allows defence counsels to raise questions regarding the character of a woman who files a complaint of sexual violence" (2022-03-29, 88). Article 155(4) of Bangladesh's Evidence Act, 1872 provides the following:

Impeaching credit of witness

155. The credit of a witness may be impeached in the following ways by the adverse party, or, with the consent of the Court, by the party who calls him:-

…

(4) when a man is prosecuted for rape or an attempt to ravish, it may be shown that the prosecutrix was of generally immoral character.

Explanation.–A witness declaring another witness to be unworthy of credit may not, upon his examination-in-chief, give reasons for his belief, but he may be asked his reasons in cross-examination, and the answers which he gives cannot be contradicted, though, if they are false, he may afterwards be charged with giving false evidence.

Illustrations

1. A sues B for the price of goods sold and delivered to B. C says that A delivered the goods to B.
   
   Evidence is offered to show that, on a previous occasion, he said that he had not delivered the goods to B.
   
   The evidence is admissible.
   
   
2. A is indicted for the murder of B.
   
   C says that B, when dying, declared that A had given B the wound of which he died.
   
   Evidence is offered to show that, on a previous occasion, C said that the wound was not given by A or in his presence. The evidence is admissible. (Bangladesh 1872)

The information in the following paragraph was provided by BRAC's May 2022 roundtable report on sexual and gender-based violence and the public prosecution system in Bangladesh:

The "vast majority" of survivors of SGBV are "precluded from seeking justice," due in part to "the institution protection gaps within the public prosecution system"; survivors who file a case face "delayed" investigations and "prolonged" trials, resulting in "very few convictions." The Supreme Court has mandated the establishment of an online complaint mechanism in 2016; thus far, the National Emergency Helpline (999) has been "the closest service" established and available, though it "usually still requires the survivor to physically lodge a complaint in the nearest police station" (BRAC 2022-05, 2–3, 5).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Notes

[1] According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), the models they use to produce estimates of labour market indicators are based on historical data (UN n.d.b). The "unprecedented" market condition created by the COVID-19 pandemic makes assessing against historical data "difficult" and requires the ILO to update their methodology for modelling; therefore "estimates from 2020 onwards are subject to a substantial amount of uncertainty" (UN n.d.b).

[2] According to the World Bank's Metadata Glossary, the labour force participation rate is defined as "the proportion of the population ages 15 and older that is economically active: all people who supply labor for the production of goods and services during a specified period" (World Bank n.d.b).

[3] The Solidarity Center is the "largest U.S.-based international worker rights organization" and conducts activities in over 60 countries (Solidarity Center n.d.).

4] According to the World Bank, the 2018 Dhaka Low Income Area Gender, Inclusion, and Poverty (DIGNITY) survey "was designed to shed light on poverty, economic empowerment, and livelihood in urban areas of Bangladesh" (2020-03-09, 2). The same source notes that the DIGNITY survey collected information from "1,300 urban households living in poor areas of Dhaka" (World Bank 2020-03-09, 2).

[5] According to the World Bank, the objective of the 2019 Chattogram for Low Income Area Gender, Inclusion, and Poverty (CITY) study was to "collect primary data from male and female residents in slum and non-slum poor neighborhoods in Chattogram, the second largest city of Bangladesh, and build the evidence base about their constraints to access more and better jobs" (2020-05-21, 2). The same source notes that the CITY survey collected data from 805 households, 1,289 individuals, 580 of which reside in "slum" settlements (World Bank 2020-05-21, 5).

[6] The World Organization Against Torture (Organisation mondiale contre la torture, OMCT) and the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA) indicate that Phensedyl is a "cough syrup containing codeine, which is banned in Bangladesh due to its use as an alternative alcohol" (OMCT & PAHRA 2022, 107).

[7] The WHO and University of Washington indicate that the "majority of data on socioeconomic status," "the mental-health related readiness of health and other sectors," and other topics, was drawn from secondary sources including the World Bank, health surveys, peer-reviewed literature, "grey" literature, government documents, and the National Health Management Information System (UN & University of Washington 2021-03-19, 2). The same source reports that they also drew on key informant interviews and health facility visits that they conducted for their situation analysis (UN & University of Washington 2021-03-19, 2).

[8] The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and WHO survey approached 8,928 households across 64 districts in Bangladesh, and completed interviews of 7,270 adults, 3,521 of whom reside in urban areas, and 3,805 of whom were women between the ages of 18 and 99 (Bangladesh & UN 2021, 3).

[9] The Multi-Sectoral Programme on Violence Against Women was developed in partnership between the Danish and Bangladeshi government in 2000 and is "implemented jointly" by both governments, through Bangladesh's Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs, in collaboration with other ministries. (Bangladesh n.d.b).

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Additional Sources Consulted

Oral sources: Assistant professor at an American university whose research focuses on Asian studies, including gender and institutions and political participation in Bangladesh; associate professor at a university in Bangladesh whose research focuses on the economics of education, marriage and the labour market in Bangladesh; Bangladesh National Women Lawyers' Association; Centre for Policy Dialogue; Centre for Urban Studies, Dhaka; fellow at a research institute in Spain whose research focuses on gender, violence, and politics, including in Bangladesh; JAGO NARI; Manusher Jonno Foundation; Naripokkho; Oxfam – Oxfam in Asia; professor at a university in Australia whose research focuses on gender, migration, human rights, and justice, notably in Bangladesh; professor at a university in Bangladesh whose research focuses on cultural studies, feminist theories and social inequalities in Bangladesh; professor at a university in Bangladesh whose research focuses on sexual violence and women's development in Bangladesh; professor at a university in Bangladesh whose research focuses on women and gender studies in Bangladesh; Solidarity Center; women's rights activist and scholar whose work focuses on combatting violence and discrimination against women in Bangladesh.

Internet sites, including: The Advocates for Human Rights; Al Jazeera; Asian Legal Resource Centre; Bangladesh – Chattogram Metropolitan Police, Dhaka Metropolitan Police, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, National Housing Authority; Bangladesh e-Journal of Sociology; The Business Post; The Business Standard; Centre for Policy Dialogue; Danish Refugee Council; Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry; European Journal of Business and Management Research; Factiva; Fédération internationale pour les droits humains; The Financial Express; Habitat for Humanity Bangladesh; Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition; Manusher Jonno Foundation; Odhikar; Oxfam; Prothom Alo; Real Estate & Housing Association of Bangladesh; South Asian Network on Economic Modeling; Transparency International Bangladesh; UK – Home Office; UN – Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Refworld, UN Population Fund; University of Toronto – Centre for Urban and Community Studies; US – US Agency for International Development; World Vision.