Recognise adversities faced by tribal women

Women's movement should also include their indigenous counterparts for their socio-economic empowerment, said experts at a discussion held at IDB Bhaban in the capital yesterday.
Addressing a seminar titled, “Economic Empowerment of Tribal Women and Role of Mass Media”, jointly organised by Mass-line Media Centre and Caritas Bangladesh researchers, development workers and university teachers urged the authorities concerned to recognise the adversities faced by tribal women.
Women from indigenous communities do not get the required support from the male leaders of their tribes, as there is a strong tendency in almost every community to opress women said the participants.
Presenting the keynote paper, tribal leader Rakhi Mrong said currently there are around 30 lakh women in the 45 indigenous communities living in the hills and plains of Bangladesh.
She said indigenous women are lagging behind in education as their male-dominated communities do not encourage formal schooling for females.
Tribal women also fall victims to violence at work and often suffer from insecurity but they are fighting on courageously to move forward in the society, speakers added.
The speakers urged the mass media officials to employ indigenous women in the mainstream journalism, publish success stories of their ventures and provide a wider coverage of their programmes.
Mezbah Kamal, a teacher of Dhaka University said though their services have been indispensable in women's salons for years, none of them share the ownership or profits of the institutions.
President of Bangladesh Nari Sangbadik Kendra Nasimun Ara Haque Minu, Executive Director of Mass-line Media Centre Kamrul Hasan Manju, and Caritas Executive Director Benedict Alo D' Rozario also spoke on the occasion.