THE Chittagong based non-governmental organisation PHREB (Promoting Human Rights and Education in Bangladesh) has been running long-term school-based awareness campaigns since their establishment in 2004. The purpose of these campaigns is to educate young people on human rights issues and encourage them to speak out and defend their own human rights. These young people will [...]

I am Noorjehan Murshid and I come from Murshidabad. I was educated at the Victoria Institution in Calcutta and the Universities of Calcutta and Boston. My first job after my graduation from Calcutta was that of Headmistress of a Girls’ High School in Barisal. Before my M.A. results came out, I was appointed Superintendent of [...]

Folate — also called folic acid also known as vitamin B9 is extremely important and has a profound effect on health and well being. It is needed for cell replication and growth. Folic acid helps form building blocks of DNA, the body’s genetic information, and building blocks of RNA, needed for protein synthesis in all [...]

Women of Action is an initiative of the charity Food for the Hungry which is linking women in the UK with oppressed women in Bangladesh. Through running local learning and savings groups they are providing a safe and supportive environment for overlooked and often abused Bangladeshi women to realise their potential and value. At weekly [...]

The draft National Education Policy 2009 underscored the importance of female education as it adopted several strategies to ensure women empowerment as well as their overall development. The policy recommended brining out women from the cocoon of household chores, including family welfare, child rearing and housekeeping and ensuring their active participation in poverty alleviation and [...]

PROPOSED changes to the constitution of the Dominican Republic could lead to a ban on abortions, putting the lives of women and girls at risk and potentially increasing maternal deaths in the country, Amnesty International has warned. Article 30 of the constitution would introduce the inviolability of life from “conception to death” under the proposal. [...]

Gabapentin, a drug used to treat seizures, improves the quality of sleep in menopausal women bothered by hot flashes, University of Rochester Medical Center researchers report in the Journal of Women’s Health. Approximately 40 percent of menopausal women have trouble sleeping. They often have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep throughout the night.

INTERNATIONAL CEDAW Day was observed on September 3. The Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is the most important international instrument for protecting women’s human rights, and more than 185 countries of the world are signatories. Bangladesh signed this convention on November 6, 1984. But there are two articles [...]

The government will revive the National Women Development Policy 1997, which was formulated by the previous Awami League government, State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury told the House today. While replying to a query of AL lawmaker Junaid Ahmed Palak, she said the previous government of Sheikh Hasina formulated the national [...]

IS the global media completely oblivious to the gendered semantics of the recent Bangladeshi political events? News article after news article, from one country’s press to the other, is repeating titles such as “battling begums,” “feuding begums,” and “battered begums.” For brevity, I will keep this list short. But start with the Economist articles such [...]

AGAINST the backdrop of increasing incidents of extra-judicial punishments inflicted on underprivileged women in the rural regions, leading to whipping and caning in the name of fatwa, the High Court (HC) has ordered the law enforcers and local government bodies to take immediate measures against such penalties. The HC’s order came after hearing a public [...]

Failing to endure torture by her employer, 12-year-old Hashi fled the house where she worked as a domestic help but lost her way while trying to return to his village home at Sirajganj from the capital on September 19. Scared, she asked people how to reach Sirajganj. Finally, she landed in the Victim Support Centre [...]

Boring? Predictable? Women’s tennis has been written off as a spectacle in recent times, but the US Open has proved otherwise. While the men’s tournament stuck mainly to the script, the women’s singles was a roller-coaster of upsets, incidents and talking points. Kim Clijsters topped the bill winning her second title at Flushing Meadows, just [...]

The Alliance for Women Workers Rights (AWWR), a new organization to promote equal rights of women, was launched through a function Sunday held at the National Press Club. The state minister for Labour and Employment Begum Munnujan Sufian formally launched the Alliance as chief guest. She said “we have to work together to establish 50 [...]

Borsha* did not know she had no right to fall in love. In fact, she did not even know, she had no right to be. She was one of the many floating prostitutes of a mazaar area, who existed, but not really. She was a fool who made the mistake of falling in love, an [...]