Speakers at a conference yesterday said women’s participation in politics is hindered severely due to violence, which should be checked immediately to ensure women’s political empowerment. The women’s political empowerment is hindered due to state, social and community terrorism, demonstration of muscle power, religious propaganda against women’s leadership and patriarchal social structure, they added. They said this at the conference on “Media Campaign for Awareness on Women’s Political Participation and Violence” organised by South Asia Partnership (Sap) Bangladesh at the National Press Club in the city.Quoting a rapid appraisal following a number of workshops across the country, the speakers said political and religious extremism, ethnic conflict and obstructing women’s social mobility also lead to violence against women politically.

Community Development Library (CDL) made the rapid appraisal following a series of workshops in Dinajpur, Kushtia, Faridpur and Rangamati districts with 187 participants in 2006.

The report revealed that violence is one of the major factors that restrict women’s political participation as politics supports criminals.

Highlighting the manifestos of four major political parties of the country, the report also revealed that though the political parties talked about freedom and progress of women and underscored the need for taking effective steps to enhance quality of the women political activists, but no steps have been taken yet in this regard.

While presenting the study paper, CDL Chairperson Mohiuddin Ahmed also recommended to increase visibility of women and to build women’s agenda in public discourses.

Solidarity is a strong weapon to achieve freedom of women’s participation, he said.

Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association (BNWLA) President advocate Fawzia Karim Firoz said women rights activists also never asked the political parties why they did not take any steps yet to ensure freedom and participation of more women in politics.

“The women in local government are still lagging behind,” she said, adding that even whenever a government holds power, it prepares a law. As the caretaker government could not prepare a law, it has prepared a new policy but did not take any action to implement it, which would ultimately bring suffering to the women.

Odhikar Secretary Adilur Rahman Khan said steps should be taken to implement women’s human rights.

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