WORKER rights in Bangladesh continue to remain unprotected as reported in the most recent Global Rights Index of the International Trade Union Confederation. This is disconcerting. In the index made public on June 2, Bangladesh is ranked among the 10 worst countries with a score of 5, suggesting that the country has no guarantee for worker rights. For nine consecutive...
GOVERNMENTS are spending more on social safety nets than ever before, and yet, the struggle against urban poverty feels like it is stuck in the mud. The paradox is hard to ignore: funding goes up, but the poorest people in our cities keep falling through the cracks. The reason? The very laws meant to support them weren鈥檛 built for the urban world they live in now...
THE recent event in Narayanganj, in which a 20-year-old man was allegedly raped and a sodomy charge was filed instead, demonstrates a fundamental weakness in Bangladesh鈥檚 legal structure. The country鈥檚 rape laws, as specified in Section 375 of the Penal Code of 1860, only recognise rape as an act committed by a man against a woman, effectively removing male...