Gender Equity

Introduction: Equity means fairness of treatment. Gender denotes the male and the female. Gender equity, therefore, implies fairness of treatment between men and women. In other words, it signifies a condition in which both men and women are looked at with the same attitude and mind-set in all circumstances without showing any unfair dealing towards the female. It rules out any kind of discrimination between the male and the female in respect of rights, privileges and opportunities.

Gender inequity and women's movement: History shows that women have been treated very unfairly and even cruelly in many societies and countries. They have been deprived of many political, economic, social and even familial rights and privileges. Therefore, women raised their voice from time to time in different parts of the world to stop discrimination against them and to ensure gender equity. From time to time they organized themselves and launched movements for obtaining rights and privileges to be enjoyed equally with men. These movements acquired a great momentum and strong force during the early years of the last century across the world. One of such important movements was the agitation for achievement of universal suffrage for women. In fact the women have agitated and held rallies throughout the world since the early years of the 20th century to focus on discrimination against them and inequity regarding their rights, facilities and opportunities.

Gender inequity in Bangladesh : in Bangladesh gender inequity begins at birth. Most parents want to have children in order to help them with the domestic work, to supplement their family income and to take care of them when they grow old and invalid. In the prevalent socio-economic pattern, male children are best suited to this purpose. So girls are born to an unwelcome world and confined only to domestic chores. Some of them may be at school. But all their work— domestic or academic— stops as soon as they are married off. The prime concern of their parents is to marry them off and to get rid of them at the earliest opportunity. Many parents believe that their main responsibility is to prepare their daughter for marriage and not for her own individual life. But marriage often becomes an institution of inhuman tortures meted out to the helpless wife by the dominating husband for many of his demands, such as those for a male child, for dowry and so on. Besides, the girls are given to understand that they should set apart the best available food for the male members and eat less than others. They should not raise their voice when they speak, they should not go out without the permission of the male members and without being escorted by them. The husbands think that the wives are meant only for doing house-hold work within the confines of the house, for child bearing, child-rearing and for home-making. Early marriage and child-birth make women tied to home. In consequence, the women develop a sense of self-effacement, self-denial and inferiority that persists throughout their life.

Conclusion: At present things are changing very fast. Women across the world have organized themselves to vindicate their position in society and obliterate gender inequity. The International Women's Day bears testimony to it. In Bangladesh, also the scenario is putting on a different aspect. Many women are going for out-of-home work. They are working in mills and factories, in educational institutions, in government and non-government office, in various organizations, in banks and hospitals, in political and social spheres and so on and so forth. More and more female students are figuring up in schools, colleges and universities. To encourage female education the government has also taken some pragmatic measures, such as making female education free upto HSC level, giving stipends to girl students, recruiting more and more female teachers and so on. Various socio-cultural organizations are working earnestly to eradicate discrimination between male and female. It is expected that the days of gender equity in all spheres of life are not very far to come.