In search of better opportunities, women from Bangladesh have been migrating overseas for work, often driven by the lack of employment at home. Tragically, many of these women, predominantly from impoverished backgrounds, end up facing abusive treatment, harassment, and financial deprivation abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A recent report presented at the Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association’s consultancy meeting revealed that since 1991, approximately 1.17 million (11 lakh 70 thousand) Bangladeshi women have migrated for work. A staggering 73% of these women left due to a lack of livelihood opportunities in their homeland. These women are typically employed in roles such as domestic helpers, caregivers, nurses, garment workers, and cleaners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The report highlighted a concerning trend: 17.1% of women in domestic roles flee their jobs due to sexual abuse. Furthermore, over 37% of returning female workers are unable to recover their rightful wages. Alarmingly, 47% of these women return without any future prospects. The highest levels of physical and sexual abuse are reported in Saudi Arabia, where 44% of these female migrant workers are employed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Out of 1,687 complaints filed by expatriate workers under the Strengthened and Informative Migration Systems Project, 90 were lodged by women, with 12 pertaining to physical and sexual abuse. Another study investigating the causes of death among 691 female workers who returned between 2017 and October 2021 found that 69% died from natural causes, including illnesses, while 31% died from unnatural causes, such as accidents or suicide. However, the reluctance of families to pursue autopsies, often due to social stigma, coupled with the lack of proactive engagement from embassies and the expatriate welfare ministry, means many of these deaths remain shrouded in mystery, potentially masking foul play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bilateral agreements under which these women work overseas should, in theory, protect them from such abuses. However, accountability and enforcement in the host countries are lacking. Each incident of oppression against female workers abroad necessitates a thorough and credible investigation, which is currently not the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s particularly concerning that the Overseas Employment and Migrants Act-2013 (Amended 2023) fails to address the sexual abuse of female workers specifically. This oversight raises questions about the awareness and sensitivity of lawmakers towards the risks these women face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The responsibility of ensuring the safety and welfare of these expatriate workers lies with the embassies, which have been criticized for their inadequate response and even for harassing the workers themselves. The case of a former official at the Bangladesh embassy in Riyadh, who was dismissed following proven allegations of sexual abuse, underscores the severity of this issue. His victims, sheltered in a safe home, received no legal justice, highlighting a grim reality for those seeking redress in such situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The article calls for the foreign ministry and the ministry for expatriate welfare to adopt more proactive and coordinated measures to ensure the safety and dignity of these female migrant workers. The imperative is clear: these women should not be sent into insecure environments overseas. There must be assurances of their safety and a commitment to protect them from abuse in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In search of better opportunities, women from Bangladesh have been migrating overseas for work, often driven by the lack of employment at home. Tragically, many of these women, predominantly from impoverished backgrounds, end up facing abusive treatment, harassment, and financial deprivation abroad. A recent report presented at the Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association’s consultancy meeting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3040,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-5"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3039"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3039\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3041,"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3039\/revisions\/3041"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}