The
name of this article I read was called “Bangladesh:
'discriminatory family laws fuel female poverty'.” This
article talked about the discriminatory laws that are in place when
it come to marriages, divorce and separations. Women that live in
Bangladesh are more at risk for experiencing abusive marriages, and
when the marriages subside, they are more prone to experience
poverty. They said that plenty of women that are divorced or
separated then take on the role “head of their household.” These
women and their children are experiencing food insecurity and
poverty. A woman's rights leader said that discriminatory laws need
to be change. They need to fix family courts, and have state
assistance for poor women. One law that hurts women going through a
divorces is that she does not have equal rights to marital property.
They also said that 55% of women are married by the age of 10 years
old.
The
main reason for women that are the head of their house are in poverty
is because of marital instability. Another thing is their religion.
Gender inequality is embedded in religious beliefs. Their personal
law has not been reformed because of this reason. It is now known
that Bangladesh is in violation of human rights laws. The United
Nations is stepping in and saying that they have to change their
discriminatory
divorce laws, and have to give women equal rights to marital
property.
I
think that this article is very sad. I say that it is sad because of
what these women have to go through. They have to stay in abusive
marriages. If they do get a divorce, they are looked down on. The
women then have to provide for themselves and their children. These
women are in poverty and have no way of getting assistance because of
the discriminatory laws. One thing that I think is very good is the
UN experts stepping in to say that this is a violation of human
rights. Maybe now, some laws will be changed to help these families
get out of this problem.
Danielle Holmes
9-21-12
4:40pm
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