Their lives riddled with challenges: speakers

Women of coastal and flood-prone areas are already marginalised and now there is added challenge of Amphan, early marriage, the added burden of unpaid care work, destroyed livelihood, and gender-based violence, said speakers at an online roundtable yesterday.

The event, titled "Pandemic and Disaster: Life of Climate-Vulnerable Women and Girls", was jointly organised by Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF) and The Daily Star.

"We have to think about the future steps of the government and the non-government organisations to overcome the negative impact of the pandemic and disasters," said MJF Executive Director Shaheen Anam. 

"Early marriage has a long impact on the health of the girls, which will increase the number of unwanted pregnancies, and we have to think about them. Besides, there must be proper measures taken for those girls who are staying at home, exposed to the vulnerabilities, and they must be brought to schools again," she added.

Dr Fazle Rabbi Sadeque Ahmed, director (Environment and Climate Change) of Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation highlighted that along with the government, the private sector should also come forward for the betterment of women and girls of informal sectors and marginalised areas.

"We have to identify grassroots women and girls who have been badly impacted by the pandemic and disaster, and they must be given proper support. If they can be empowered economically, they will be able to take a decision, he said.

A recent study jointly conducted by MJF and Inspira Advisory and Consulting in September also found that cyclone shelters of six upazilas of four coastal districts -- Barguna, Satkhira, Gaibandha and Rangamati -- were not women-friendly at all.

According to Muntasir Tahmed Chowdhury of Inspira, who shared the survey findings at the roundtable, the shelters were reported "too congested" by the respondents, NGOs, women affairs officers, teachers, health officers and local chairman, and lacked standard features for adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating mothers and women in general.

The study also found 85 percent of women and girls from low-income groups of coastal areas faced intimate partner violence during the lockdown and about 90 percent of the time, their husband was the key perpetrator, but very few reported the incident.

Dr Sharmind Neelormi, professor of economics at Jahangirnagar University, focused on changing the mindset of people and the society and it will not change in a single effort.

Dr A Atiq Rahman, executive director of BCAS; Prof Dr Niaz Ahmed Khan from the Department of Development Studies at Dhaka University; Kaiser Rizve, director (Humanitarian and Resilience) at CARE Bangladesh; Prof Mizan R Khan, deputy director of International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD); and Dr Abul Hossain, project director of Multi-Sectoral Services for Violence Against Women under Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, also spoke at the event.