Demonstrations in July featured numerous female participants, yet one year later, women are conspicuously absent from the leadership positions: Orators underscored.
In the heart of Chattogram, the dialogue titled "Empowering Women and Youth in Politics" was held on July 26, 2022. The event, organised by the Centre for Governance Studies (CGS) at the Chattogram Theatre Institute, brought together political leaders, activists, and academics to discuss the state of women's political representation in Bangladesh, a year after the significant July protests.
One year on, women's representation in political leadership remains significantly limited. According to recent data, less than 10% of decision-making roles within major political parties are held by women, and only about 8% have won general parliamentary seats through direct elections. While 50 parliamentary seats are reserved for women, this mechanism has not translated into broad meaningful political power or leadership opportunities.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has recently proposed that political parties voluntarily nominate at least 5% women candidates in direct elections, aiming to raise total female parliamentary representation to 80 seats by combining direct elections with reserved seats. However, party leaders acknowledge this is a phased, gradual approach, and reaching 33% female representation within party structures or directly contesting 100 seats is not yet realistic given social and political constraints.
Structural reforms are being advocated by women's rights groups and political actors to move beyond reserved seats towards more direct electoral participation for women. The National Consensus Commission continues to deliberate on expanding women's reserved seats from 50 to potentially 100, or shifting towards direct elections, but no consensus has been reached. Political parties remain divided in their preferences for how to increase women's political participation and how to organise a possible upper house in a bicameral parliament, which could affect women’s representation.
At the grassroots level, female local government representatives still face challenges to their independent authority due to patriarchal control by male relatives or party operatives. This highlights a broader issue that symbolic leadership at the highest levels (such as female Prime Ministers historically) does not currently equate to broader, effective empowerment of women in political leadership across Bangladesh.
Moni Swapan Dewan, former state minister for the Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs, questioned the lack of change for women and youth after a year following the protests. He emphasised that state-led initiatives are essential to ensure effective youth and female engagement across the country. Hasan Maruf Rumi, Chattogram coordinator for the Ganosamhati Andolon, questioned why brave women who protected their brothers during the movement are now facing online harassment and why their voices are being silenced.
Zillur Rahman, CGS President, moderated the dialogue. The National Citizen Party (NCP) in Chattogram claims to be fundamentally based on the active involvement of women and youth. Zobairul Arif, coordinator of the NCP in Chattogram, proposed that 100 parliamentary seats be reserved for direct competition among women.
The dialogue also highlighted the active involvement of women in parties such as the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami. BNP's former president of Chattogram metropolitan unit, Shahadat Hossain, stated that women are a vital part of the political landscape. Jamaat-e-Islami's former ameer of Chattogram unit, Shahjahan Chowdhury, mentioned that women in their party are actively involved in politics, particularly in education, dawah, and social development.
Over the past 15 years, political activism has been extremely risky for women, and the situation has slightly improved post-movement, as per Hasan Maruf Rumi. Ashok Saha, a central committee member of the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), stated that the absence of women in leadership is a reflection of social and cultural backwardness.
In summary, while there is awareness and some ongoing initiatives to enhance women's political leadership in Bangladesh, one year after the July protests, women's representation remains low, and real empowerment faces substantial political and social barriers. The future prospects depend on structural reforms, party commitments to women’s candidacies, and sustained grassroots empowerment efforts.
- Amidst discussions on health-and-wellness, women's health, and social-media activism, the issue of women's political representation in Bangladesh has gained prominence, with experts highlighting the need for structural reforms and direct electoral participation.
- In the realm of entertainment, the dialogue titled "Empowering Women and Youth in Politics" was met with a call to action from various political parties, who have proposed measures to increase female parliamentary representation, such as voluntary woman candidate nominations and expansion of reserved seats.
- General-news outlets have reported on women's participation in politics, addressing challenges faced by female local government representatives, the importance of state-led initiatives for youth and female engagement, and the ongoing dialogue about increasing women's representation, thereby underscoring the complexities in the struggle for true political empowerment for women in Bangladesh.
