Despite significant progress in reducing gender gap in the country in last two decades, women still lag behind in areas like education, energy, transport and urban development, according to a study.
It found lack of security in the streets and public transports hindered women's mobility most, which as a consequence responsible for their lower participation in education and employment.
The study report titled 'Bangladesh Gender Equality Diagnostic of Selected Sectors' was revealed at a programme at a city hotel Tuesday, noting that there were many policies framed to reduce the gender gap, but the problem continued due to inadequacy in implementation.
BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD) under BRAC University carried out the study with the support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Ministry of Women and Children Affairs.
Women and Children Affairs secretary Nasima Begum attended the programme as chief guest while BIGD executive director Sultan Hafeez Rahman, ADB country director in Bangladesh Resident Mission Manmohan Parkash and BIGD visiting fellow and team leader of the study Maheen Sultan also spoke on the occasion.
The study was conducted to identify gender gaps and provide policy supports to stakeholders specifically in four sectors like education, transportation, energy and urban development.
According to the findings, women travel in unfriendly, hostile and unsafe environment as they face difficulty accessing public transports and even feel insecure walking in the overcrowded sidewalks.
Despite women's mobility increased over the years, the country's transportation sector hasn't been designed as friendly for women, children and elderly while women very often experience crime and violence on the time of commuting.
Researchers recommended incorporating voices of women in planning design and construction of transportation projects and programmes.
In terms of education, there are social and cultural stereotypes on suitable professions for boys, girls, women and men; as a result, women participation is significantly lower in scientific research, fields of engineering and technology.
Meanwhile, there are policies to train women for particular technical sectors, but in reality there is almost no place for women in male-dominated vocational education in the country.
In urban areas, working women suffer more because of their responsibilities of maintaining household, cooking and looking after children alongside job, as their male counterpart participate rarely in those domestic works.
Terming energy sector's male-dominated one, researchers said technical and engineering education and jobs are still considered unsuitable for women and this attitude needs to be changed to lessen gender gap in the area.
Talking to the FE, team leader Maheen Sultan said, "Women in the country don't feel safe and secure commuting in public transportations or walking in the streets full of people, which restricts her mobility for work and education."
She said there are many good policies in the country to address gender gaps, but the problem remains because of lower implementation rates of these policies.
The government should concentrate more on policy monitoring issues for better implementation of different projects, she added.
Speaking at the programme, Women and Children Affairs secretary Nasima Begum said National Women Development Policy 2011 aims to establish gender equality in all spheres of life and National Action Plan has been developed for its implementation.
She said the gender vision of the 7th Five Year Plan will ensure equal opportunities and rights for both women and men; and women will be recognised as equal contributors in economic, social and political developments.
ADB country director Mr Parkash said the study was conducted to guide the design of gender features of the ADB-supported projects in the sectors including skills, vocational and tertiary education, energy, transport and urban development.
He said the publication will also be a useful resource for ADB, its partner government agencies and other development partners to achieve the gender objectives and targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Mentioning that the ADB will continue to support the elimination of gender disparities in primary and secondary education in the country, he said the bank will facilitate women's entry into non-traditional academic fields and occupations focusing on technical and vocational education for job market.
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