Women's Empowerment Revisited: From Individual to Collective Power among the Export Sector Workers of Bangladesh

Abstract

Acknowledgements and Disclaimer 1 Introduction: the state of women's empowerment in Bangladesh 1.1 The idea of success 1.2 Social indicators 1.3 Economic participation 1.4 Political participation and security 1.5 Changing society in the post-conflict era 1.6 Empowerment revisited 2 The RMG sector 2.1 The economic significance of the RMG sector 2.2 The political significance of the RMG sector 3 Women as RMG workers 3.1 Hard work 3.2 Workers' experiences of economic and social empowerment through garments work 3.3 Women's wages and male power 4 The wider effects of RMG employment 4.1 The impact on men's attitudes 4.2 RMG employment and the expansion of basic education for girls 4.3 Women's mobility and the feminisation of public space 4.4 Citizenship and political empowerment The author is grateful to Carolina Sanchez-Paramo and Sudhir Shetty of the World Development Report Team for comments on the first draft, Samer Al-Samarrai for insights into the issue of education and skills, and colleagues at BRAC Development Institute, in particular Ferdous Jahan, Sohela Nazneen and Mamunur Rashid for work done jointly on women's empowerment (Nazneen et al. 2010; 2011) and on the effects of the food, fuel and financial crisis (Hossain et al. 2009; Hossain et al. 2010). The work with BDI colleagues has generated many of the insights into the wider context of women's empowerment, and the recent global economic shocks experienced by garments workers discussed in this paper. Useful comments were also received from colleagues at the Dhaka World Bank office. The author is particularly grateful to Sohela Nazneen for her insights and knowledge of relevant recent literature and public perceptions of garments workers. Disclaimer While a version of this paper was originally prepared as a background paper for the World Development Report 2012 on Gender Equality and Development, it does not reflect the views of the World Bank. All errors and omissions are those of the author alone.

Bangladesh's ready-made garments sector rebound: Revisiting gendered labor precarity and dependency

“…This includes a greater workload as unpaid caregivers, intimate partner violence, unemployment, denial of reproductive healthcare, forced marriage, and restrictions on movement in public spaces. Theoretical discussions and empirical evidence convey that economic opportunities correlate with women's empowerment (Hossain, 2012; Hossain, 2018; Kabeer, 2002). Many workers claimed that, despite the constraints, employment in the sector prompted their financial independence and access to various resources and social services, which was otherwise not attainable for them.…”

“…Emerging research documents the manifold impacts of the pandemic on the lives and livelihoods of Bangladeshi women workers both at home and abroad (Ansar, 2022; Rashid et al, 2022). Even prior to the pandemic, scholars identified a range of issues highlighting women in the RMG sector, including the impact of globalization and Bangladesh's journey toward modernization (Wright, 2000); the decision-making dynamics of women within the household and larger society (Hossain, 2012; Hossain, 2018; Kibria, 1995); the influence on adolescence, women’s health, persistent gendered inequalities, and workplace sexual abuses (Amin et al, 1998); the nexus between paid employment and perceived empowerment (Al Mamun and Hoque, 2022); and the increased mobility and self-esteem of rural women (Mahmud et al, 2012). While the globalized supply chain's race to the bottom has provided some employment prospects for low-wage, low-skilled female workers from countries like Bangladesh, the central goal of such capitalist endeavors has remained the pursuit of maximum profits at the lowest possible cost (Kabeer, 2014).…”

Women Owned MSMEs in the Greater Male’ Region: An Exploratory Study on Their Level of Economic Empowerment

“…Most women have a small window of opportunity to make their own decisions, thereby affecting their level of mobility to participate in economic activities (Ojediran & Anderson, 2020). Women workers are constantly questioned for their morals, criticized for their choices to be independent, are ridiculed and suspected for their virtue as well as assumed to be of "loose morals" for choosing freedom, work and financial independence (Hossain, 2012).…”

The HERrespect intervention to address violence against female garment workers in Bangladesh: study protocol for a quasi-experimental trial

“…For some young women in Bangladesh, it has contributed to their empowerment and changed their lives. Due to access to garment sector jobs, some young women delay marriage and childbirth [ 14 ]. And with their own income they are more likely to make their own decisions on spending that takes account of their health, leading to improvements in their well-being and that of their family [ 15 ].…”

“…Overall, formal employment and bringing home earnings may raise female workers’ value within their own family and may improve their capacity to negotiate within their households. They may see improvements in their position in the household vis-à-vis other family members [ 12 , 14 – 16 ].…”