Political parties must take responsibility for women’s safety: Jaima Rahman

Barrister Jaima Rahman, daughter of BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman, has called on political parties to take responsibility for women's safety. She said that every political party should have a code of conduct to ensure the safety of women who are active in politics.

She made these comments at a roundtable discussion titled 'Women in the Struggle for Democracy: Contribution, Responsibility and Accountability' organized by Women in Democracy (WIND) at the BISS Conference Room in the capital on Sunday afternoon.

Calling for increasing women's participation in policy-making, Jaima said that a pipeline must be created from student leadership to local government. If this issue cannot be maintained, there will be no opportunities. As a result, we will not be able to provide opportunities to good leaders. Therefore, in addition to creating continuity, we must also maintain it. The promise of providing various financial and social benefits to women must also be implemented. Moreover, in terms of safety, if something happens to a woman leader or student leader, then the parties will protect the woman through the legal code of conduct. That is, if something happens to a woman, the party will take responsibility that we will protect her, we will stand by her.

Emphasizing on the safety of women, she said that every political party needs to have its own 'code of conduct' so that if female leaders or workers are subjected to any kind of harassment, the party takes responsibility and stands by them. Without involvement in politics and civic responsibilities, the ability to make the right decisions is not created. Without appropriate guardianship and support, new leadership cannot develop. Although there are various opportunities for men, women are still deprived of those opportunities. Therefore, effective connections and support must be ensured for women as well. Along with support, Jaima Rahman also commented that it is necessary to change the attitude of society towards women leaders.

Stating that the economic issue is a big challenge in politics, Jaima Rahman said that additional opportunities are needed for women leaders to eliminate economic inequality. This will greatly reduce the obstacles to women's political participation.

Stating that it is possible to build a just state through the joint efforts of society, teachers, students and freedom fighters, Barrister Jaima Rahman said, "We need to utilize the talents of the youth. Together, we want to build a different kind of country. We need to change our thinking. Political parties need to take responsibility for women's safety."

Barrister Jaima Rahman also said, "If no one has politics and civic responsibilities, how can they understand that they should go this way. If there is no one like the shade of a palm tree, how can the small tree grow again? We see that there are many opportunities for men, but women are not given the same. Not all boys will do it, women must also have connections. In other words, we want to see a new Bangladesh with everyone's participation."

Stating that women's participation in politics is very important, Jaima Rahman said, "If women are empowered, they play an important role in changing the future of the nation. Therefore, we need to focus on the pipeline to create female political workers." We need to provide mentorship and training to build women's leadership. We need to ensure funding for women.

Stating that it is important to develop child daycare centers properly, Jaima Rahman said, daycares should have all kinds of facilities. Children's health and treatment should be kept under special attention. Healthy children increase the efficiency of mothers. To keep children healthy, daycares should have adequate manpower and pediatricians and experts.

At a round table discussion moderated by Kazi Jessin, convener on behalf of WIND, ActionAid Bangladesh Country Director Farah Kabir said, women are not coming to politics as they are supposed to. Women are seen in meetings and processions under the banners of different parties. But they are taking the lead in women's empowerment. A political party is saying that women cannot become the prime minister, women cannot hold important positions in the party. Therefore, the people of the country will have to decide in the February 12 elections what kind of leadership they want.

Stating that women have never defaulted on loans, Farah Kabir said, women are not able to come to leadership positions politically. Women have been in leadership positions in various places for so long. But in the last 18 months, it has been felt anew, will all these women now go back? They are being pushed towards divide and rule in this way.

Emphasizing the change in the country's political culture, Farah Kabir further said, due to this 'dirty culture', women are told that they cannot lead here. Women must also come forward to end this culture. Women must participate in politics.

Farah Kabir also complained that in the past, the country's political parties have not played any role in bringing women forward in politics. Senior Advocate Barrister Sara Hossain said, the contribution of women in political struggle is immense. Therefore, the position of women in politics must be further strengthened.

She said, although there was a promise to eliminate discrimination in the July Charter and the referendum, it has not been made clear how this promise will be further strengthened. Recently, many women have stated that they want to be subordinate to men. They have accepted that men are their directors. Those women should reject this statement outright. Then these statements will no longer be discussed.

Sara Hossain, noting that there are many achievements in the existing laws of the country, urged people to be careful not to erase all the laws in the name of dictatorship.

Lawyer Sarwat Siraj Shukla at the roundtable