Gender equality remains elusive

For a second consecutive year, Bangladesh has ranked ahead of all other South Asian countries in gender equality. While that might be something to celebrate, what is concerning is that it has also slipped by eight notches down to 72nd from 64th among 144 countries. But that should not be too big a surprise, as despite the ranking, the regular stories we hear of violence against women, and the daily experiences of us all should have already made it clear that while we constantly speak of equality, female security, which is integral to gender equality, is still gravely missing in our country.

Given also that the other South Asian countries are not doing well themselves, there is no point in comparing our performance with others as that would fail to paint the real picture of women's status and their condition in our country. The only purpose that it could serve is to show that all the countries of this region have performed poorly when it comes to gender equality and have much more to do in that regard.

In the case of Bangladesh although there are strict laws in place to punish the perpetrators of such grievous crimes, justice still remains elusive in the majority of cases of violence against women, especially when the crime is committed by those affiliated with influential quarters.

If we truly want to give women an equal footing, allowing the culprits of such crimes to escape justice must be brought to an end. The patriarchal mindset that exists in society must also be changed if we are to achieve true gender equality.