Boburka 1

Sara Boburka

Mr. Phillips

AP English Language and Composition

13 December 2019

The Fight for Rights in South Asia

On April 6, 2019, a young Bangladeshi girl named Nusrat Jahan Rafi was brought to the

rooftop of her school by a classmate, where she was then tied up with scarves, doused with

kerosene, and then lit on fire. She lived only five more days before passing in the hospital from

her wounds. A deeper dive into the case revealed a plan to silence Rafi after she reported her

headmaster, Siraj ud-Daula, to the police for sexual harassment. The sixteen administrators and

students involved in her murder were sentenced with the death penalty, yet afterward, police

were deployed around Rafi’s home to protect her family from retaliation (Beaumont). What

would cause people to attack the family of a victim?

In South Asia, women still suffer from inequality due to religious and cultural beliefs that

women are lesser than men. Religious groups and cultural conservatives believe strongly in the

submission of females, and the government and laws reflect this heavily. However,

improvements are being made. The justice given for Nusrat Jahan Rafi mirrors a positive cultural

change in the treatment of women in South Asia, even though social and economic rights and

protections need to be put in place to ensure gender equality.

Under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh has made great strides towards

empowering women, which puts them above other countries in South Asia in terms of women’s

rights and equality. ​The Mena Report​ has found that during her tenure, Bangladesh has begun
 Boburka 2

closing the wage gap between men and women while also increasing female employment rates:

the percentage of women in the workforce in 2016 was up to 36%, which is a 10% increase from

2003 (“Pakistan: We Are Committed To Women Empowerment”). Deputy Minister of Education

Mohibul Hassan Chowdhoury reported in March 2019 that 35% of women now own a bank

account in Bangladesh. Even the fact that Hasina herself is a woman shows the progression that

Bangladesh has made towards gender equality. With more women in the labor force, the

economy is allowed to prosper from increased consumer demand and more money moving

through the system; also, allowing women to work jobs they want rather than forcing them into

housewifery boosts their general quality of life.

Not only does legislation improve the quality of life for women, but government-backed

support groups also bring up morale and help push for equality and protection legislation.

Utthan, an anti-trafficking group in India, has brought many victims of abuse to seek education

and has improved the value of women in their community. The group is composed of survivors

of exploitation themselves, who offer resources to victims to help bring them to an equitable

standard of living, and they are aided by child development minister Maneka Gandhi. In addition

to spreading awareness of trafficking, they offer resources to victims and their families, such as

links to government programs and incentives to keep girls unmarried and in school (Santoshi).

Bringing women to an equal platform to men allows them to have the same opportunities in jobs,

such as engineering or becoming a doctor.

Global awareness has created a push for women’s rights reform, and Asia is as affected

by it as developed regions. A surge in the “#MeToo” movement has brought Pakistan into the

global demand for equal rights. Pakistani actress Sheema Kermani, speaking about the effect of
 Boburka 3

“#MeToo” in the movie industry in an interview done with actor Farhan Akhtar, says that even

when girls face backlash for speaking out, the girls who do help fuel the movement and speak up

for those who do not have a voice. Barrister Doctor Muhammad Farogh Naseem, the Federal

Minister for Law and Justice, has made a statement ensuring economic and human rights will be

protected by laws in the Pakistani government ("Pakistan: We Are Committed To Women

Empowerment"). With the explosion of women’s movements in global awareness, governments

are beginning to make statements regarding issues around equality, and these statements lead to

the introduction of laws and protections for women.

Alongside all progress comes setbacks, resistance, and failure. In Bangladesh, for

instance, although the amount of women in the labor force is increasing, many women still do

not have financial control, asset control, and protection against discrimination: a woman can lose

all of the money she earned from work to her husband if he wishes to take it from her. Other

disparities in education, legal rights, and cultural factors cause many women to never reach

employable potential, in addition to discrimination against women; 60% of girls under 18

dropping out of school for marriage makes it harder for women to gain and keep high-skill jobs,

which tend to be highly ranked and high paying ("Bangladesh, United States: Bangladesh Can

Prosper With More and Better Jobs for Women"). Keeping workplace diversity low damages

companies because allowing women in the workplace allows for more innovation, as they bring

new proposals that complement and challenge those of male workers.

Not only do women struggle to profit in the system, but the system is rigged against them

from the start. Results from a study done in Nepal by researchers from Nagasaki University

showed that rural women with an education equal or greater to urban men and women still
 Boburka 4

receive lower pay and fewer regular work opportunities. Because of the difficulty in finding and

maintaining a regular job, there are few incentives to educate rural girls in Nepal (“Study Results

from Nagasaki University Update Understanding of Asian Economics”). Rural girls have little to

no chance to be equal to their urban counterparts in the workplace, which hinders Nepal’s ability

to become truly equal to both men and women.

Economic inequality not only leaves many women to work unpaid household jobs, but

damages the economy. South Asia suffers a 30% loss in GDP annually from female

disempowerment in the workplace, while countries without a wage gap add 35% to GDP. Job

instability may also leave numerous women in the future unemployed, as 26 million women’s

jobs have a chance over 70% to be replaced by computers or other technologies in the next 20

years (Dabla-Norris). With the replacement of these jobs, female unemployment will skyrocket

once again, leaving many women out of the workforce.

Injustice in the system keeps women trapped and prevents them from seeking equity,

causing incredible emotional trauma. A bookkeeper in Indonesia by the name of Baiq Nuril

Maknun was sentenced to six months in prison with a $35,000 fine after she reported her boss to

authorities for sexually assaulting her ("Muslim Mom Jailed For Recording Boss' Sexual

Harassment."). Nuril’s harasser faced no repercussions after her appeal, and he instead received a

promotion in the city government. When interviewed about the situation, Nuril recounts, “I

thought about suicide when I was riding my motorbike. What if it hit that bridge and [crashed]

into the water? All of my problems would be gone.” However, hope remains for positive change,

as President Joko Widodo sent a letter to Indonesia’s House of Representatives, requesting

amnesty for her (Coren). Even with this pardon, Nuril will likely be traumatized for life by the
 Boburka 5

experience and may not speak up again if she is assaulted in the future because of this

experience; when she did, she was put in jail and fined.

Most resistance to gender equality rulings and legislation in Asia is backed by deeply

rooted cultural beliefs that men are superior to women. Although anti-sexual violence bills have

been proposed into Indonesia’s parliament, such as the Draft Law on the Elimination of Sexual

Violence, conservative and religious groups are actively petitioning against them, claiming they

go against Muslim beliefs (Coren). Patriarchal views blocking protection regulations are not

limited to the southeast part of Asia, as Gauri Lankesh, a leftist journalist, was murdered for her

publications which defended women and minorities by right-wing extremists in India. The Prime

Minister of India, Narendra Modi, who mourned deaths in foreign airplane crashes on Twitter,

ignored her murder, even after her death sparked several rallies and demonstrations ("The good

fight against India's right-wing nationalism"). Suddenly forcing legislation that most of the

country does not agree with is not a feasible course of action, as a good portion of the population

still believes in female oppression, including lawmakers. Moreover, the idea of patriarchy is still

culturally acceptable, and introducing strong protection legislation may cause large counter

protests.

Even with all the setbacks, change is happening, and change is inevitable. Countries that

stand for women’s equality have presently overcome the patriarchy and inequity; furthermore,

South Asia is a modern reflection of the change these countries have gone through. In America,

the land where “all men are created equal,” women were not allowed to vote until around 100

years ago, which is fairly recent in terms of history, yet now women are virtually equal to men.

Locals becoming educated on why long-held patriarchal beliefs do more harm than good may
 Boburka 6

allow for the passing of pro-equality legislation, and with international connections via the

internet, women’s rights activists are being heard louder than ever before. As activists become

more prominent and vocal and requests for equal rights become demands instead of preferences,

equality for women globally will soon become guaranteed.

 Boburka 7

Works Cited

Adam Withnall Asia Editor @adamwithnall. “Bangladeshi Women No Longer Required to Say

Whether They Are Virgins on Marriage Certificate.” ​The Independent, Independent

Digital News and Media, 27 Aug. 2019.​ Web. Accessed 13 January 2020.

"Bangladesh highlights women empowerment." ​United News of Bangladesh,​ 13 Mar. 2019. ​Gale

In Context: Global Issues.​ Web. Accessed 25 Nov. 2019.

"Bangladesh, United States: Bangladesh Can Prosper With More and Better Jobs for Women,

Report Says." ​Mena Report,​ 30 Apr. 2019. ​Gale In Context: Global Issues.​ Web.

Accessed 25 Nov. 2019.

Beaumont, Peter. “Nusrat Jahan Rafi: 16 Sentenced to Death over Bangladesh Murder.” ​The

Guardian,​ ​Guardian News and Media​, 24 Oct. 2019. Web. Accessed 2 Dec. 2019.

Coren, Anna. "Jailed for Recording Her Boss's Alleged Sexual Harassment, this.." ​CNN Wire

Service​, 17 Jul 2019. ​sirsissuesresearcher.​ Web Accessed 25 Nov. 2019.

Dabla-Norris, Era, and Kalpana Kochhar. “Closing the Gender Gap: The Economic Benefits of

Bringing..”, 2019. ​sirsissuesresearcher.​ Web. Accessed 2 Dec. 2019.

"Farhan Akhtar: 'I'll Absolutely Stand By' Women Who Speak Out on Sexual Assault." ​AP Video

News,​ 17 July 2019. ​Gale In Context: Global Issues.​ Web. Accessed 25 Nov. 2019.

"Muslim Mom Jailed For Recording Boss' Sexual Harassment." ​International Business Times

[U.S. ed.], 23 July 2019. ​Gale In Context: Global Issues​. Web. Accessed 25 Nov. 2019.

"Pakistan: We Are Committed To Women Empowerment: Federal Minister For Law And Justice

Tells State Department Officials." ​Mena Report,​ 26 June 2019. ​Gale In Context: Global

Issues.​ Web. Accessed 25 Nov. 2019.

 Boburka 8

Santoshini, Sarita. "To Fight Trafficking, Indian Groups Turn to the Experts: Survivors."

Christian Science Monitor​, 31 Jan 2019. ​sirsissuesresearcher​. Web. Accessed 25 Nov.

2019.

"Study Results from Nagasaki University Update Understanding of Asian Economics

(Gender-based Differences In Employment Opportunities and Wage Distribution In

Nepal)." ​Economics Week​, 25 Oct. 2019, p. 406. ​Gale In Context: Global Issues​. Web.

Accessed 25 Nov. 2019.

"The good fight against India's right-wing nationalism." ​breakingNEWS.ie​ [All Ireland], 4 May

2019. ​Gale In Context: Global Issues​. Web. Accessed 25 Nov. 2019.