Leering at women is too much self-destruction for us!

The word ‘world’ is a common name for us who are holding our peace in different critical situations. Sometimes our integrity and diversity of knowledge come to an edge and whisper to our ears that we are superior to any other living beings. However, is this uncommon (but common) discourse creating our term ‘man’ into two supreme sides in which women are partly separated? Our male-dominated society has had a strong peevish thought for a long period that women are strongly acted as a subject by the male. In the Metamodern era, we are bound to protect or make some space for women but not for females to use any compassion which leads them to self-confliction about their identity. In the history of the world, it is undoubtedly considered that without going in the same queue we cannot face the fury of disasters. In our country, this practice has been progressive for many years. However, our male-dominated society always keeps women away from the appropriate praise let alone the demands. When I was conducting my fieldwork to complete my research paper about climate policy and despising local knowledge, I found the actual vulnerable situation of women in the given fields and if it’s related to all situations of our country, we might interlink the whole scenario.

In Bangladesh, the people of the southern coastal parts are the worst victim of natural disasters; their lives may never taste the freedom, and aspiration of full-hearted times. In this article, I mainly try to focus on the actual conditions of women during the disaster periods. When we discuss the problems of coastal areas, we focus more on the development of the inhabitants and their protection of the areas and the socio-economic structures. However, are these taken initiatives really taking a long time to progress for the people of coastal areas? If the initiatives work properly then what are the exact measures for the women truly? As we know in the time of different disasters, women and children are the worst sufferers, and for a long time while the policymakers remain indifferent to them. As a result, we see the morbidity rate of female and children are still at a high graphic rate in disaster times or the periods of mitigation. In 2018, in the Kurigram district, an intellectually disabled girl took shelter with her grandmother in the disaster shelters but her fate did not leave then and she was massively been raped by some humanoid beasts because of so-called insecurity. After this heinous incident, the rapists would receive their due punishment according to our law and enforcement but the victim had to withdraw her allegation for her life-threatening. These inhumane deeds may not be found in any civilized society except in a country like ours. In the different periods, women are the worst sufferers of sexual and mental harassment in deplorable conditions too. According to a Program Specialist of UNFPA, a teenage girl said she was always afraid to stay at the cyclone or flood shelters. Because here at night men and women had to sleep together. Have any of our so-called enforcement officers thought about how terrible this is? It’s urgent to make separate rooms and safety nets for the women in disaster periods; how this simple issue had blanked out from their thick heads is still unintelligible!

It was midnight and going out from home just for a while was so much perilous for anyone. The velocity of the Ampan storm was so high that the byre for the cattle suddenly shattered intensely. Outside the velocity of the wind was 160 to 180 per kilometer and Majida Begum (surname) forced her daughter-in-law to see the actual situation that happened just a moment ago. One can define this incident by many factors and aspects but this is to clarify that being a woman Majida Begum tended to her daughter-in-law in danger knowing the original situation then. This is the exact compendium that she could lose her daughter-in-law but about her son is impossible to think. If this kind of cheapest thinking exists in a woman’s mind for another woman then what are the common risk points for the other people in our society? According to the Plan International research, this phenomenon is very common in all vulnerable areas. Unlike Majida Khatun almost all the families in coastal areas take their lame decision to stop their daughters’ education and sometimes it’s very common that marry them off at very early ages. When we talk to the guardians about these, they frankly reply to us that as their parents they cannot draw their all expenses and between them, they choose their sons as their shields of the future old inactive days. So here we can figure out that socio-economic insolvency forces them to take this kind of decision.

We all know the divine roles of women in different situations in different times of need. In a crucial time as a son when we need money, we never ask from our father generally; we seek shelter under our mother’s care. Women in our societies are above all kinds of prices like ‘Kohinoor’ that can be achieved but not for buying or selling. I have seen some common hectic incidents in my research fields but these are happening almost all over the country. We can’t deny but admire that we are falling back day by day because of the negative attitude towards women. Women in our society ensure their every single delegated responsibility very carefully and promisingly. Before cyclones, floods, and any other natural disasters women play their roles such as making their houses more resilient to disasters with locally available resources likely strong poles, and straw increasing the height of the foundation of the households and the level of cow sheds. Their indigenous techniques are often used to protect cattle and poultry from flood water. Women look after children, elderly and disabled family members during disaster times. In flood-affected areas, women prepare elevated platforms for family members with disabilities, using the chowki (traditional bed) with bamboo and wood. In different times our leading poets, writers, and social reformers have given their own writings, ideas, and different plans to ignite women with their own iconic phosphorous. So, if we think that our government and their supporting agencies may take all the initiatives for developing women’s present conditions only then we may live in a fool’s paradise. We all stairs of people should have to come forward to ensure the proper right of women in all sectors of socio-economic realities.