Bangladesh Mahila Parishad - Norad

26BMP’s work with the media is not merely a way of making the work of BMP knownto the public at large, but it also places gender on the public agenda and increasesawareness. The work of BMP and other civil society organizations contributes tochanging the discourse on gender in Bangladesh and to challenge the dominantideology of patriarchy. Towards this objective, progress has been made in howwomen are portrayed in media.As for improvements in this area, it was suggested by members of the sub-committeethat BMP could benefit from utilizing volunteers better for specific tasks, such ashelping with films, TV spots, and small studies or surveys.3.5 Outcomes SunamganjViolations of women’s rights in the area are the payment of dowry, early marriage,abandonment of first wives, and VAW, including sexual harassment. Constraints onBMP’s work are due to the remoteness of many areas and difficulties of access due topoor communication. Gender imbalances in education are also seen to be the resultor remoteness and poor transport facilities that restrict the mobility of women.Despite these difficulties, volunteers strive to reach the remotest areas of the district.They refer to the lack of resources for travel as a constraint. Women organizers feltthey were given respect by other members, for example they had become known bytheir own names rather than by those of their male family members.The local branch ran primary committees, arranged mediation in family matters, andorganized spontaneous protests (human chains) against violations of women’s rights.Due to the increase in the transport allowance, they were better positioned torespond quickly to incidences throughout the district. The local branch collaboratedwith the local authorities, and mobilized them to support their work to combatVAW, and other family related problems. BMP had been particularly active inrelation to local law enforcement agencies and had applied pressure on them to acton instances of VAW.Moreover, they collaborated with UP members. Most UP members had littleeducation so BMP had discussions with them to strengthen awareness on their role(government manuals were outdated). Before the elections in 2009, BMP hadsupported and campaigned for women candidates, including providing them withfinancial support. The UP had a standing committee on women and children andcases on VAW were referred to the BMP. Most of the cases referred were related todowry, although reported cases had come down. Women members of the UP werealso discovering their power and their ability to strategize and to achieve objectivesthrough mobilization of their communities, and for example they referred to theirsuccess in having a road constructed to link a village to the main road.Several of the stakeholder groups agreed that changes had taken place in thecommunities as a result of BMP’s work. Individual awareness had increased,although illiteracy was widespread making awareness-raising very challenging.