Dhaka, Jan 27 Expressing concern over violence and intimidation against women and minorities in Bangladesh, ahead of February 12 elections, women's rights activists on Tuesday reiterated their long-standing demand for meaningful parliamentary representation.
These demands included increasing the number of reserved seats for women, reforming the voting mechanism for those seats, and ensuring that political parties nominate more women candidates, local media reported.
Addressing a press conference organised by Samajik Protirodh Committee, a platform comprising 71 women's, human rights and development organisations, at the Jatiya Press Club in Dhaka, Fauzia Moslem, president of the Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, highlighted that progress in the areas of women's representation in the country has been disappointing.
Citing the nomination data, Fauzia said women make up merely 4.2 per cent of candidates in the upcoming election, calling the figures "unacceptable".
Meanwhile, women's rights activists called on the Bangladesh Election Commission (EC) to guarantee adequate security and a gender-sensitive environment ahead of the upcoming election.
They said such steps are necessary to ensure that all citizens, regardless of gender, religion, ethnicity or social status, can freely exercise their right to vote.
"As the election is now very close, we are placing our concerns and proposals before the Election Commission through the media," leading Bangladeshi newspaper, The Daily Star, quoted Fauzia as saying.
She stressed that the safety of women candidates, communalism and violence against women remain key concerns.
At the press briefing, Morium Nesa, manager of the Women's Rights and Gender Equity team at Action Aid Bangladesh, read out a memorandum addressed to Chief Election Commissioner.
In the memorandum, the committee described the parliamentary elections as a cornerstone of democracy and highlighted the historic role women have played in movements to secure democratic rights in Bangladesh.
Despite this, it said, women, religious minorities, indigenous peoples and the poor are frequently reduced to vote banks instead of being recognised as full citizens during both elections and governance.
The committee also raised alarm over the prevailing election atmosphere, citing reports of violence and intimidation targeting women, minorities and disadvantaged groups ahead of the polls.
As Bangladesh prepares for its 13th Parliamentary election and referendum on February 12, the EC data showed that only 81 of the 1,981 candidates contesting across the country's 300 parliamentary constituencies are women -- just 4.08 per cent of the total -- despite repeated political pledges to boost women's participation, local media reported.
The low figure has sparked widespread criticism from women's rights activists, especially following the commitments made under the July Charter, which incorporated recommendations of the Bangladesh National Consensus Commission.
Bangladesh has been gripped by escalating violence against women and children since the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government assumed power, and critics warn that excluding women from decision-making is a serious concern.
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