Evolución de la Educación sexual en el marco de la legislación

In rural Bangladeshi society, women usually do not visit certain spaces, which include places like the local marketplace, social gatherings for public activities, and places that are dominated men. Women usually remain at home doing household activities, while men engage in activities beyond the precinct of home. Men go to market and buy things from local vendors when doing the shopping. The majority of the work is done by men, and does not fall within the spectrum of women’s duties as designated by the society and its traditions. It is observed that when visiting relatives in distant places, women only go there with their husband, son or other male members of the family. They rarely visit such places alone. It is even found that women who need to borrow loans from NGOs do not go to the NGO area office alone.

My respondents told me that they have no choice but to go to the NGO office to take a loan because it is part of the program requirements to be followed by clients. In this situation not a single woman has said that they could visit the NGO office alone to settle official formalities. They go to the NGO offices with husbands, other family members, or with other members of their neighborhood who also want to borrow credit. In many cases, the perception of women has not changed following their involvement in microcredit programs. Women simply visit the local loan center located within a stone’s throw of their neighborhood. Even in this context they most often do not go to the center for paying installment alone. Given the average age of

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the clients, young women most often do not visit any places without any person accompanying them. If the client is aged, the society considers her less able to move around alone freely, while on the other hand, young clients also cannot visit the local center alone. I asked my respondents again why they do not visit any place alone, and how they feel about this. I also asked them whether they have encountered any problems in society after their involvement in microcredit programs. All of them have said that the situation has bound them to be in public places. They did not frequently go out prior to borrowing NGO microcredit. One of my respondents named Dilara (age 45) of Grameen Bank shared her opinion about going out in public places:

“The elders of our neighborhood do not perceive our visits to the NGO office and public places positively. In spite of this, we still go out. They will not feed us. We have to go to the NGO office in front of other men because we need credit. We did not go before. Women have no need to go out aside from an emergency. We have to go out for this credit [kisti]. This is not good for women. It has tarnished our image. Some people do not see it positively either.”

I asked Dilara why she feels that going out in public has tarnished her image in the community, since other women like her are involved in the microcredit programs as well. She commented that not all women in the neighborhood have taken loans from NGOs. Those women who are members of microcredit programs also do not like going to the NGO offices, nor do they enjoy presenting themselves in front of the NGO workers, but the social reality dictates that this is one of the only means for their continued survival. I was talking to a young lady named Masuda Akhter (aged about 24) who was a client of Grameen Bank. She spoke about the mobility of women in public places in the following way:

“Women should not go to public places alone, but I cannot avoid going to the NGO office due to my loan obligations. I go to the NGO office and local center with other women. If I go to the meetings of men, people will disrespect me. It will disparage the prestige and honor of my father and brother. My husband performs all outdoor tasks. I need not go out.”

It is true that microcredit has brought women out of the domain of the family for a particular reason, but it has not brought about a substantial change in the outlook towards the life of these women. Women’s visiting of the local center is a calculated strategy of microcredit programs of NGOs in order that women comply with organizational regulations, and does not create any awareness about the benefits of mobility in public places for the poor women. Hashemi et al. (1996) found in their study that women’s involvement in microcredit programs has increased

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their mobility in public domain, which has been identified as one indicator of empowerment. However, I argue that women’s mobility in a particular social space on a scheduled date does not necessarily ensure their automatic empowerment. If women can visit market places or engage in actual economic transactions, the meaning of mobility would be more fruitful in the real sense. Referring to Adam Smith, Amartya Sen (1999) in his seminal book Development as Freedom argues that appearing in public without shame is important factor for development. In the context of my study area, the situation of poor women does not fit into the proposition of Adam Smith.

My study has revealed the opposite aspect of the phenomena, indicating that while women’s participation has in certain instances increased their mobility in society, women encounter social barriers and have to comply with the traditional norms and values of society, which prevents them from challenging the patriarchal social system. The problem does not end here. Elders in the neighborhood also raise many questions when women begin participating in microcredit programs. Shimul of Grameen Bank in Chatal village shared what local elders said: “You have many income-earning people. Why do you and your wife take loans? Drawing loans through your wife will result in socially bad things.” Whereas the husband of that respondent

told me that, “I myself do not call my wife as sweetly as the NGO officials do. NGO-bosses call my wife so enticingly. My wife goes in front of many people that I dislike.”

I have an interesting case to present here. One of my respondents named Tania of Grameen Bank was an undergraduate student at a private University. According to the rules of microcredit programs, unmarried women cannot be offered loans. Tania, however, was deemed an exceptional case given the economic status63 of her family. Grameen’s loan center is situated near a local market place where there are a cluster of shops along with a CNG auto rickshaw stand, and women from the other side of the village have to go to the local center when passing by that local market place. As a university student, Tania had a good social status compared to other women in her community. She went to university everyday by auto rickshaw and mixed with other people too in the university campus. However, whenever she is in her neighborhood her attitude is different because she has to conform to the traditional norms and values of the

63 _{Tania borrowed a loan in her name to help her brother go abroad. Her family income is stable and her brother} sends money regularly to maintain the family. Therefore, unlike other middle- or lower-income households, her family therefore does not suffer financial problems.

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rural social structure, and acts accordingly. I asked her how she manages to go the local center to repay her loan, as she has to cross a market before being able to reach it. She said:

“I go to the NGO center through the houses beside the market by putting a veil on my face. I do not go through the market or other public places, because people consider it bad. I am a girl of this village. We women do not go to “male places”. If local people see me crossing the market place, the image of my family will be tarnished. As a girl of this neighborhood, I have to consider the honor of my family.”

I found this to be the typical opinion of poor rural women. Women’s mobility in public place is an essential component that influences the possibility for changing their social and economic status, but the way it has been taking place does not necessarily engender the empowerment of women by taking them away from the precinct of home. Microcredit is simply a strategy for NGOs to incorporate women into development activities, but the program structure and system of delivery does not encourage a change in mindset amongst the female clients. When women are able to make economic transactions in the marketplace like their male counterparts, their mobility in the economic and productive sense could lead to the fuller utilization of their potentials. As is mentioned above, female borrowers of microcredit programs usually do not go to the NGO offices or local loan centers alone. However, microcredit programs have created a new social reality that the poor women have to adjust to in order to continue participation in the program. In the rural social context of Bangladesh – and particularly in my study areas – it is found that women have gone to visit their relatives with their husbands or with their family members but after joining the microcredit programs they now go to the NGO offices and loan collection center with other women. They still cannot go anywhere unaccompanied because women strictly observe local cultural values. One of my respondents named Nazma (age 45) has said, “Women have no freedom like men. We have to ask permission from our husbands if we want to visit our parents’ home.” Another woman also said, “A woman who fears God cannot move about without the consent of her husband. To disrespect your husband’s wishes is tantamount to being the anti-god.” This is the social and cultural context of rural society in which women live their lives. While having informal talks with NGO workers, I learnt that they do not offer any programs that may trigger confusion amongst the local people, forcing the programs at controversies and risk that ultimately may create challenges for the programs to survive. If microcredit programs could engender ideational changes amongst poor clients, the empowerment of the women would be more meaningful in an authentic and transformative sense.

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