SEXUAL ABUSE AND EXPLOITATION OF BOYS IN SOUTH ASIA A ...

4.0 COUNTRY PROFILE: BANGLADESH
4.1 Research Findings
4.1.1 Country background
The geographical features of Bangladesh and its civil and governmental challenges have had a
strong impact on the well-being of children. Its 142 million 134 people live in low-lying areas
adjoining the Bay of Bengal, an area prone to frequent cyclones and floods, which displace
thousands of people every year. In 2004, it was estimated that about 42 per cent of the
population comprised persons under the age of 18. 135 Government challenges include
inefficient State-owned enterprises, inadequate power supplies, high levels of corruption and
slow implementation of economic reforms. 136 According to some calculations, 36 per cent of
the population live below the poverty line. 137
Families struggle to meet basic needs has hampered the protection of children. The
agriculture sector cannot absorb the rapidly growing labour force, and both parents/primary
caregivers and children seek work in the cities. Although still predominantly rural, the
country has the highest urban growth rate in South Asia (5.6 per cent). The urban population
nearly doubled between 1980 and 1995, from 11 per cent to 18 per cent. 138 The country
depends heavily on remittances from migrant workers. As in Nepal and Sri Lanka, children’s
protective safety nets are affected by the absence of one or more caregivers who are working
abroad, particularly in India, Malaysia and the Gulf states. 139
Rural-to-urban migration is a key response to poverty, and this directly impacts children,
particularly boys, who are more likely to migrate for labour without the accompaniment of
family or friends. More than one-third of boys aged 11 to 16 are not in school 140 , and 38 per
cent of them are in the labour force, primarily in the informal sector. As of 2001, half of the
boys and girls working in urban areas were rural migrants. 141 The vulnerability of children
separated from their families is worsened by their lack of legal identity, for less than 10 per
cent of Bangladeshi children are registered at birth. 142
134
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, ‘Statistical Pocket Book 2008’, January 2009, available at:
, accessed on 17 March 2010.
135
UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia, 2006, ‘South Asia booklet on child-relevant socioeconomic
indicators’, available at: < www.reliefweb.int/rw/lib.nsf/db900sid/HMYT-6Q3HYE/$file/unicef-southasia-
17may.pdf?openelement>, accessed on 17 March 2010.
136
U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, 2004, ‘The world factbook: Bangladesh 2004’.
137
UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia, 2006, ‘South Asia booklet on child-relevant socioeconomic
indicators’, available at: http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/lib.nsf/db900sid/HMYT-6Q3HYE/$file/unicef-southasia-
17may.pdf?openelement, accessed on 17 March 2010.
138
Asfar, R., 2000, ‘Rural-urban migration in Bangladesh: Causes, consequences and challenges’.
139
Heissler, K., 2001, ‘Background paper on good practices and priorities to combat sexual abuse and
exploitation of children in Bangladesh’.
140
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, 1997, ‘Summary report of the household expenditure survey 1995-96’.
141
ICCDRB and Centre for Health and Population Research, 2001, ‘Health and demographic surveillance
system’, in Matlab: Registration of health and demographic events 1999, vol. 32.
142
Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association, 2001, ‘Bulletin on birth registration’.
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