Bangladeshi women are pushing government to implement the recently approved National Women Development Policy (NWDP) 2011, which has met with strong resistance from Islamic clergy. Leaders and activists of the Jatiya Mahila Sangstha (National Women’s Organisation) recently held rallies and formed human chains across major cities demanding the policy’s immediate enforcement. The women’s action came weeks after Islamic religious leaders enforced a day-long countrywide strike against the policy, which they said contained clauses that offended Islamic sentiments, and came into conflict with the Holy Quran and Hadith.

 

Part of an ongoing series about women and the challenges they face across the world. South Asian women lag behind men in literacy, workforce participation, reproductive rights and most other areas. Yet the region’s array of female leaders put the rest of the world to shame. With the exception of Nepal, Bhutan and Iran, Cornell University's Kathryn March, Feminist and Professor of Anthropology, Gender, Sexuality Studies and Public Affairs says, "Every single country there has had its highest political position occupied by a woman, at least once.”March suggests the success of women leaders in India, Pakistan and other South Asian countries may be related to their family lineage.

Constitution amendment body faces difficulties in introducing direct election system. The parliamentary special committee on constitutional amendments agreed in principle to propose increasing reserved seats for women in the House but it is facing difficulties to introduce direct election to the seats preserved. Members of the committee yesterday in a meeting at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban discussed two propositions for increasing the number of reserved seats for women. Some of the members said the reserved seats could be increased to 60 from 45 for the next 15 years with the existing indirect election system in place. The second proposition is for increasing the reserved seats to 100 with direct election to those seats, allowing voters to elect them, several members of the committee told The Daily Star after the meeting.