A STUDY OF WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN BANGLADESH: SPECIAL REFERENCE TO IMPACT OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS CONVENTION ON GENDER EQUALITY

Abstract

The issue of “women’s rights and gender equality” is a global concern till today. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR),1948 and many other international human rights instruments have been adopted to ensure justice and equality for all. But gender disparity remained one of the dominant global problems till the mid of 20th century. Women were the most deprived group of the society for their submissive legal status. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) was adopted by the United Nations(UN) in 1979 as an international human rights treaty to elevate the legal status of women and protect their rights from all sorts of discrimination. To date, with few exceptions all the UN member states have ratified this treaty to build a world with gender equality.  

Ratifying this treaty in 1984 Bangladesh has introduced diverse legal and policy initiatives for better protection of women rights through last three decades. The present status of women’s rights and gender equality in Bangladesh has elevated up to a level of appreciation which clearly proved the positive impact of CEDAW. But a long way remains to traverse the target point. This study aims to analysis the impact of CEDAW Convention on women’s rights and gender equality within their elevated legal status in Bangladesh. In so doing the domestic and international legal framework for women’s rights and initiatives taken by the successive governments have significantly scrutinized to identify the problems and prospects of expected gender equality rooted into CEDAW. Finally based upon study result, some suggestions will be introduced for consideration by the law and policy makers of Bangladesh.