The Advantages of Micro-credit Lending Programs and the
Human Capabilities Approach for Women’s Poverty
Reduction and Increased Human Rights in Bangladesh- An
example of Contextual Feminism
Dr. Kazi Abdur Rouf
Social Economy Centre
University of Toronto
Paper presented
Interdisciplinary Graduate Symposium 2012
Global Education: Towards New Frontiers
Friday, May 4, 2012
Concordia University
Montreal, Canada.
Problems/Lack of Human Capability Services
• Human capability services: education, health and skills development
services are not generated
• Money lenders exploitations
• Lack of access to financial services especially access to credit
•
• No income generating programs for rural women
• Gender inequality: Inequality in family space and community space
•
Lack of equality in family/kinship resources
• Inequity in wages
Problems/Lack of Human Capability Services
• Forced marriage, dowry marriages and teen marriages
• Women trafficking
• Depend on male partners income
• Violence against women
• Affects the basic human rights of these women
Consequences
• Poor women suffer most in poverty , which s increasing
• Depend on others to survive
• Patriarchal domination through culture, norms, values, customs,
traditions and religion.
• Lack of physical, social security and diversity; no social safety net
• Lack of physical mobility, economic, cultural and social mobility
• Living in miserable and unhygienic conditions
• Suffering from injustice and exploitations
• Resulting inequality of women human rights
Factors effecting women human rights
External factors
•Post-colonization effect
•Globalization
•Free market economy
•Structural adjustment
•Legal laws and systems: court, police and other judicial agencies
•Religious fundamentalists customs
•Weak civil society
•Lack of good governance
•Patriarchy
Factors effecting women human rights
Internal factors
Gender inequality in family values
• No decision making power
• Subordination of male members of the family
• No self-actualization
•Islamic sharia law
•Religious family laws
•Customary heritage laws
• No land property rights
• Patrimonial customs
• Dowry
Factors effecting women human rights, continue-2
Internal factors
Purdah
• Discouraged them from working outside of the home
• Discourage their physical mobility outside of home, visit markets and
other public places
• Traditional family values
• Gender preferences
• Stereotyping mindset
• Isolated from community networking
Western Feminism
• Western women human rights are about women’s equality in their
family space and public space with males
• Inequity in wages
• Fight for against patriarchy for their equality rights for votes and for
equity in the workplace
• Consciousness raising Strategy
• Women sit together and discuss their daily life violence experiences
• Gender socially constructed
Western Feminism -2
• Gender discrimination
• Mainly focus on dismantling of patriarchy
• Share sufferings stories in groups regarding unequal status, voices and
choices in the society compare to males
• Share their sufferings from male torturing, battering, sexual abuse and
male subordination.
Bangladesh Feminism Perspective
• Bangladesh 75% rural women human rights sufferings are
about fulfilling their survival needs and dowry
• Fulfilling basic need services: food, shelter, clothing,
education, health and safety
• Focus on massive human rights adult extension education
• Poverty reduction
Example of Contextual Feminism in Bangladesh
• Collateral free group based micro credit scheme for disadvantaged women
• GB Sixteen Decisions: inclusion of socio-economic & environmental education
• Women form mini-cooperatives
• Creates opportunities for these women to earn themselves, educate themselves
and overcome poverty
• Makes a platform for these neighborhoods women
• Husband and wife, bothers/sisters, mother and father together involved in income
generating activities and solve the family problems
• Act for fulfilling their family members basic needs, and for their economic and
social liberation
• Become economic actors, community actors, social/civic actors in the family and
in the community
Comparison Western Feminism vs Contextual Feminism
• Consciousness raising strategy vs local dialogue process
• Story telling vs group-based mini-cooperative (a platform creation)
• White middle and upper class western women vs target
marginalized women
• Women individual development vs family focus development
• Dismantling patriarchy vs holistic development
Alternative approaches
• WIB approaches
• WAD approaches
• GAD approaches
• EAD approaches
• CAD approaches
Conclusion: Comparison of Western Feminism and
Contextual Feminism
• Women liberation strategies should not be uniform for all women
• Western feminism and Bangladesh women human rights
development strategies are different
• It needs to be contextual, place and time specific and
• Act on situation and community perspective
Suggestions
•Facilitate link between women micro borrowers with other community
development agencies/women advocacy programs in Bangladesh
•Form taskforce committee at the National, District and Sub-district
level
•Women socio-economic development program through
• Department of Women Affairs,
• Palli Karma Shahauk Foundation (PKSF)
• Credit Development Forum (CDF)
• Taskforce action programs through different organizations
•Direct legal actions violence against rural women in Bangladesh
•Law enforcement at the village level
•Post-follow up of the consequences of the legal actions
• Set up victims centers at the District and Up-zilla (sub-district) levels
Questions/Suggestions
Thank You