The history of this day begins on March 8, 1908. The day when women workers in New York City started a movement for their rights and advancement.
This movement was to demand workers’ rights, including ending the exploitation and oppression of women workers, demanding equal wages and voting rights, as well as other social rights.
According to Clara Zetkin’s proposal at the Second International Socialist Women’s Conference in Copenhagen in 1910, March 8 was declared International Women’s Day.
Then in 1975, the United Nations officially started celebrating March 8 as International Women’s Day.
It is celebrated as a day of struggle for women’s social, political, and economic rights and equal opportunities worldwide.
This year, International Women’s Day is being celebrated globally with the theme “For ALL women and girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment” in Bangladesh and “Accelerate Action” to emphasize the urgent need to advance gender equality globally.
Even after almost 117 years of progress in women’s rights, women have not been fully empowered religiously, socially, culturally, politically, and economically.
Even the challenges of properly utilizing the female workforce globally continue to hinder this empowerment. According to recent estimates, about 47% of the world’s women are part of the workforce, compared to about 72% of men.
This gap varies widely in the Asia and Pacific region. In countries like China, the female workforce is 60 percent, while in India, it is only 25 percent.
However, the 2022 BBS survey revealed that the female labor force participation rate in Bangladesh is 42.68%.
Of this, 50.89% in rural areas and 22.59% in urban areas of the female workforce. This statistic is somewhat promising in the global context.
But violence against women, wage and income inequality, legal discrimination, and human rights violations are also frequent. Which is creating a major obstacle to overall economic progress.
Financial inclusion is especially important for women’s empowerment, as it is not only beneficial for women’s financial independence and prosperity but also for the entire society. It also helps improve women’s quality of life and provides them with opportunities to achieve economic independence.
However, according to one statistic, 74% of men worldwide have bank accounts, while only 68% of women do—indicating a 6% gender gap.
This gap is 9% in the economies of developing countries, where 74% of men and only 65% of women have bank accounts. Gender gaps are as high as 18% in South Asia, 13% in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and 12% in Sub-Saharan Africa.
This disparity is no less in the case of Bangladesh.
In December 2023, a study by the Asian Development Bank found that 65% of women in Bangladesh are outside the banking system, highlighting significant gender disparities in financial inclusion.
In addition, most of the 30 million people in Bangladesh who are outside the banking system live in villages. About 68% of the total population living in these rural areas are women, who are still deprived of many opportunities.
However, if women are given opportunities, they can also be another driving force of the economy. Bangladesh Bank’s agent banking statistics for April-June 2024 highlight the important role of women in financial inclusion.
It shows that currently 49.67% of the total deposits through agent banking outlets are women, 48.78% are men, and the remaining 1.55% come from the ‘other’ sector.
Another factor that has come to the fore about women being outside the banking system worldwide is that women are victims of patriarchal thinking in many cases. Old ideas about their position and role in society are still prevalent.
Women’s decision-making rights are ignored in many social and family areas. In some cultures, women are still seen as second-class citizens, which marginalizes women’s rights. This is also a major obstacle to their participation in financial activities.
In addition, in some countries, women need male permission to open accounts. This rule was also in force in Saudi Arabia, which was lifted in 2019. Even in the United States, before 1974, women needed a male countersignature to open accounts.
Many women lack awareness about banking products and services. In terms of global financial literacy, 35% of men are financially literate, while 30% of women are, indicating a 5% difference between men and women.
In Bangladesh, 43.46% of adult women are using formal financial services, while 62.86% of men are getting access to formal financial services.
Although banking facilities are of immense importance in women’s empowerment and socio-economic development. In that case, the modern banking system is helping women entrepreneurs, employees, and housewives achieve financial independence.
However, in about 18 countries around the world, men’s permission is still required for women to work, which is to some extent an obstacle to women getting equal opportunities according to their qualifications.
Accordingly, women’s participation in the workplace in Bangladesh has increased significantly in the last few decades.
In 1974, women’s participation in the workplace was only 4%.
According to the latest data, the rate of women’s participation in the workplace in Bangladesh is 36.3%, which is about one-third of the total labor force. On the other hand, the rate of men’s participation is 81.9%.
In the ready-made garment sector, women’s participation has increased significantly. Currently, 59.12 percent of the nearly 4 million workers in this sector are women, which is a unique example of our women’s progress.
Considering the overall situation, there may still be many reasons why women are lagging behind in financial inclusion in Bangladesh.
But there is still ample opportunity for women to move forward in the workplace in various sectors. If this opportunity is properly utilized, women in Bangladesh can become more economically empowered.
For example, according to the Gender Equality Report of 61 banks in January-June 2024, out of the 207,966 workforces in the banking sector, only 34,368, or 16.53 percent, are women.
It goes without saying that when women become financially independent, it not only contributes to personal development but also to the progress of the entire society.
Accessibility of banking facilities for all can play a helpful role in creating female entrepreneurship, increasing savings, investment opportunities, and building self-reliance. There is no doubt that if women can make decisions about their own finances, then women’s empowerment will also become inevitable.
