Safe accommodation for single working women needed

Hundreds of working women across the country are struggling to find a safe and secure shelter for them to continue working for the country, for their family and to contribute to society

The participation of women in outdoor jobs in the country is increasing in a faster pace than expected. But the safe and secure living places for such single women in the capital and other cities and towns still remain a distant dream. Private hostels for single working women in the city of Dhaka provide the "worst services" taking extremely high charges. But the number of government hostels is too inadequate to solve their problem. Talking to a good number of working women in the city found such a scenario.
The sufferers’ experiences are disappointing indeed. Rafia Khan Liza, a retail banking officer at a private bank who along with her sister has been living in a private hostel for 10 years, said that "The quality of food in our hostel is so bad that we need to buy one from outside or cook it for every meal". She said that some 95 percent girls of this hostel are bound to cook for themselves. Liza said venting her anger over the poor facilities they enjoy in the hostel, that "We don't even have safe drinking water in the hostel. We have to pay extra Tk 300 to the hostel staff for drinking water or buy mineral water". She said the living condition in the hostel is also very "unhealthy". But the hostel owner does not pay heed to their complaints.
Hundreds of working women like Liza in the city and across the country are struggling to find a safe and secure shelter for them to continue working for the country, for their family and to contribute to society. Nasrin Jahan, an employee at a national daily newspaper, now living with a family in a sublet arrangement, said that "Sometimes, things turn difficult when you're ready to pay money for either a shared-flat or you want to live alone but the landlord will not rent the house saying you're a girl". Nasrin said adding that getting sublet or a shared-flat is highly expensive. She continues, "This doesn't end here. If any guest comes to the family with whom I (Nasrin) used to share the house, within a moment I had to go elsewhere or any relatives' house. I was even not allowed to use the common space".

Lamiaz Islam, working at a private firm in Dhaka said that, "Among many odd issues, insecurity is the number one problem while living in a shared-flat as we don't know the people with whom we are living, even having no idea whether it is safe or not to live with unknown people”.
Lamiaz said that the situation turns worse for them during the coaching season, especially during the university admission time. Lamiaz alleged that the house owners like to take advantage of the occasion. They want to rent out their houses at a higher rate to the students coming for admission test from various districts of the country. The house owners are running business caring little about compassion and humanity and without paying any heed to rules and regulations for such hostels and the sublet system.

Farzana Rashid, a female employee having a long experience of living in a public hostel, said that, though facilities of the public hostels are relatively better, in terms of safety and expenses, there too are some hassles. She said that "Sometimes many students by showing fake job papers manage the seat in the hostel while actual working women do not get a place to live". She also added that the hostel authorities need to monitor things in a stricter way as there are lapses.

The Bangladesh Women Lawyers Association (BWLA) said that a safe and secure living place for working women throughout the country is a matter of concern. But both the government and non-government authorities are least bothered about it. The living place and condition of working women are “risky”. It said sometimes working women who come to the capital city from the grassroots level with relatively less education become the victim of "human trafficking". And sometimes they get trapped in the hands of pimps as they do not get safe place to live in. The BWLA said the government is encouraging women to get empowered. But from the government side necessary steps are yet to be taken for ensuring good services and safe environment for the working women.

Aborigine girls like Garo and other ones who come to Dhaka to work, face a lot of hurdles to find a safe place for their living. Concerned experts say that women from different parts of the country come to Dhaka and other cities and towns to work but lack of proper living place makes them upset. It is needed that the government implements a policy for private hostels to address this problem.

The State Minister for Women and Child Affairs said to the media that they will address the accommodation crisis for working women and will also address the safety issues. The State Minister said that they are very serious on the issue. If necessary, they will rent houses to address the issue. Necessary directives have already been given in this regard.
The State Minister said the government will take steps against those who are not following rules in running hostel business.
The State Minister also encouraged women to rent houses together in a small group to run hostels for working women following rules and regulations.  
The Department of Women Affairs (DWA) said they have taken necessary steps to control the fake students' admission. It said that there might be some cases of fake admission in the past. But now there is no chance for anybody to avail of fake admission path as it is verifying the border's job by visiting their workplaces.

The DWA said that there are altogether three government hostels for working women in Dhaka. These are at Nilkhet, Mirpur and Khilgaon, with only 893 seats.
It said that the construction works of vertical extension of two hostels in Mirpur and Khilgaon are underway. It also said that there is a plan to establish another 10-storey building on an empty space of Nilkhet Kormojibi Mohila Hostel.   
According to Bangladesh Quarterly Labour Force Survey 2015-2016 of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), some 4.43 million women are working in the country’s urban areas including the capital city of Dhaka.

However, a concerned government official claimed sharing the recent District Commissioners (DC) conferences' outcome that the government is planning to construct gradually one dormitory for working women in each district depending on the availability of khas land. The government is making increased focus on women’s empowerment and their economic emancipation so that they can contribute to the national economy in a greater way. As a result more and more women are joining outside jobs throughout the country these days.

The writer is a retired Professor of Economics, BCS General
Education Cadre 

Safe accommodation for single working women needed

Hundreds of working women across the country are struggling to find a safe and secure shelter for them to continue working for the country, for their family and to contribute to society

The participation of women in outdoor jobs in the country is increasing in a faster pace than expected. But the safe and secure living places for such single women in the capital and other cities and towns still remain a distant dream. Private hostels for single working women in the city of Dhaka provide the worst services taking extremely high charges. But the number of government hostels is too inadequate to solve their problem. Talking to a good number of working women in the city found such a scenario. The sufferers experiences are disappointing indeed. Rafia Khan Liza, a retail banking officer at a private bank who along with her sister has been living in a private hostel for 10 years, said that The quality of food in our hostel is so bad that we need to buy one from outside or cook it for every meal. She said that some 95 percent girls of this hostel are bound to cook for themselves. Liza said venting her anger over the poor facilities they enjoy in the hostel, that We dont even have safe drinking water in the hostel. We have to pay extra Tk 300 to the hostel staff for drinking water or buy mineral water. She said the living condition in the hostel is also very unhealthy. But the hostel owner does not pay heed to their complaints. Hundreds of working women like Liza in the city and across the country are struggling to find a safe and secure shelter for them to continue working for the country, for their family and to contribute to society. Nasrin Jahan, an employee at a national daily newspaper, now living with a family in a sublet arrangement, said that Sometimes, things turn difficult when youre ready to pay money for either a shared-flat or you want to live alone but the landlord will not rent the house saying youre a girl. Nasrin said adding that getting sublet or a shared-flat is highly expensive. She continues, This doesnt end here. If any guest comes to the family with whom I (Nasrin) used to share the house, within a moment I had to go elsewhere or any relatives house. I was even not allowed to use the common space. Lamiaz Islam, working at a private firm in Dhaka said that, Among many odd issues, insecurity is the number one problem while living in a shared-flat as we dont know the people with whom we are living, even having no idea whether it is safe or not to live with unknown people. Lamiaz said that the situation turns worse for them during the coaching season, especially during the university admission time. Lamiaz alleged that the house owners like to take advantage of the occasion. They want to rent out their houses at a higher rate to the students coming for admission test from various districts of the country. The house owners are running business caring little about compassion and humanity and without paying any heed to rules and regulations for such hostels and the sublet system. Farzana Rashid, a female employee having a long experience of living in a public hostel, said that, though facilities of the public hostels are relatively better, in terms of safety and expenses, there too are some hassles. She said that Sometimes many students by showing fake job papers manage the seat in the hostel while actual working women do not get a place to live. She also added that the hostel authorities need to monitor things in a stricter way as there are lapses. The Bangladesh Women Lawyers Association (BWLA) said that a safe and secure living place for working women throughout the country is a matter of concern. But both the government and non-government authorities are least bothered about it. The living place and condition of working women are risky. It said sometimes working women who come to the capital city from the grassroots level with relatively less education become the victim of human trafficking. And sometimes they get trapped in the hands of pimps as they do not get safe place to live in. The BWLA said the government is encouraging women to get empowered. But from the government side necessary steps are yet to be taken for ensuring good services and safe environment for the working women. Aborigine girls like Garo and other ones who come to Dhaka to work, face a lot of hurdles to find a safe place for their living. Concerned experts say that women from different parts of the country come to Dhaka and other cities and towns to work but lack of proper living place makes them upset. It is needed that the government implements a policy for private hostels to address this problem. The State Minister for Women and Child Affairs said to the media that they will address the accommodation crisis for working women and will also address the safety issues. The State Minister said that they are very serious on the issue. If necessary, they will rent houses to address the issue. Necessary directives have already been given in this regard. The State Minister said the government will take steps against those who are not following rules in running hostel business. The State Minister also encouraged women to rent houses together in a small group to run hostels for working women following rules and regulations. The Department of Women Affairs (DWA) said they have taken necessary steps to control the fake students admission. It said that there might be some cases of fake admission in the past. But now there is no chance for anybody to avail of fake admission path as it is verifying the borders job by visiting their workplaces. The DWA said that there are altogether three government hostels for working women in Dhaka. These are at Nilkhet, Mirpur and Khilgaon, with only 893 seats. It said that the construction works of vertical extension of two hostels in Mirpur and Khilgaon are underway. It also said that there is a plan to establish another 10-storey building on an empty space of Nilkhet Kormojibi Mohila Hostel. According to Bangladesh Quarterly Labour Force Survey 2015-2016 of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), some 4.43 million women are working in the countrys urban areas including the capital city of Dhaka. However, a concerned government official claimed sharing the recent District Commissioners (DC) conferences outcome that the government is planning to construct gradually one dormitory for working women in each district depending on the availability of khas land. The government is making increased focus on womens empowerment and their economic emancipation so that they can contribute to the national economy in a greater way. As a result more and more women are joining outside jobs throughout the country these days. The writer is a retired Professor of Economics, BCS General Education Cadre