Working Woman's Blues

Safe accommodation for single working women still a far cry.

- Afroza Akter Dipa

Women’s participation in outdoor jobs in the country is increasing at a faster pace than expected but safe and secure living places for single women in the capital still remains a distant dream.

Private hostels for single working women in the city provide the “worst services” charging extremely high rates while the number of government hostels is inadequate to solve their problems, it’s been learnt.

Talking to a number of working women in the city, your correspondent found such a scenario. They confirmed that these days more and more women are joining outdoor jobs (simply, one where you don’t add value sitting at a desk) with the government’s increased focus on their empowerment and economic emancipation so that they can contribute to the national economy in a greater way.

And so when it comes to the vital issue of accommodating them, the government is planning initially to construct one dormitory for working women in each district, a government official told UNB sharing the recent DC conferences’ outcome. The statement was slightly dampened by the caveat that it would depend on the availability of khas land According to Bangladesh Quarterly Labour Force Survey 2015-16 of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, some 4.43 million women are working in the country’s urban centres, including the capital, against their 12.1 million male counterparts - women now contribute more than a quarter of the workforce in these areas.

But whereas the concept of the ‘mess’ for working males away from their families (most often in Dhaka), is quite developed and reliable enough for them to take a punt and leave their homes in the hinterland to try their luck in the capital, women dreadfully under served in this vital area.

Not only are they few and far between, the ones that are there even leave much to be desired.