Bio:
PhD Candidate, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University
Title of paper:
'Implementing CEDAW in a Muslim jajority Country: The Case of Bangladesh'
Abstract:
In Bangladesh, 89.6% of the population are Muslims, and Islam plays a very important role in society and politics. The people of Bangladesh have strong attachments to Islam, and the ideology of Islam determines the relations between men and women in Bangladesh. There are difficulties with the implementation of secular human rights standards in Muslim majority countries where most people believe that international human rights instruments reflect 'Western' values and norms, so they consider these as both 'culturally and religiously alien.' Azizah argues that a secular approach will not work for the advancement of Muslim women: ‘The majority of Muslim women who are attached to their religion will not be liberated through the use of a secular approach imposed from the outside by international bodies or from above by undemocratic governments.’ At present, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is perceived as the 'magic remedy' for women's liberation by the women's organizations in Bangladesh. Bangladesh ratified CEDAW with reservations to Articles 2, 13(a), 16.1(c) and (f) as they conflict with ‘Sharia law based on the Holy Quran and Sunna.’ Later Bangladesh withdrew its reservation from article 13(a) and 16.1(f), and still has reservations on articles 2 and 16.1(c). Women's organizations in Bangladesh are demanding complete ratification of CEDAW. Now the questions are: Is CEDAW really effective in the family relations for the advancement of women in Bangladesh? How does CEDAW conflict with Islamic law? Does Islamic law contradict Article 16 (c) and article (d) of CEDAW that impose an obligation to ensure equal responsibility between men and women during marriage and its dissolution and equal responsibilities as parents? How do these affect Muslim women's lives if equal responsibility during marriage and its dissolution and equal responsibility as parents are ensured? I address these questions in my paper, arguing that in Bangladesh, Islam is so powerful that a secular approach like CEDAW cannot be effective for women's liberation. The effectiveness of the family law reform in Bangladesh depends on its acceptance by the people of Bangladesh, not the least because some provisions of CEDAW are clearly inconsistent with Islamic law. I also argue that in the name of equal responsibility working women are taking more than equal responsibility. The provisions of the CEDAW assume that paid work is the key to women's liberation, but paid work cannot ensure equality between a husband and a wife at home. The treaty also ignores the presence of conflicting human rights principles, such as equality between men and women on the one hand and right to freedom of religion, culture, custom on the other hand. I conclude that if all the provisions of CEDAW were to be implemented, then it will deprive Muslim women of their maintenance and dower rights and maintenance of their children by their fathers. (See Shaheen Sardar Ali, Gender and Human Rights in Islam and International Law Equal Before Allah, Unequal Before Man? London: Kluwer Law International, 2000, p. 246, and Azizah al-Hibri, ‘Islam, Law and Custom: Redefining Muslim Women's Rights,’ Am.U.J. Int'l L. &. Pol'y , 1, 1997.)