According to Political Parties of the World, the Awami League (AW) and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) both have women's organizations (1988, 37).

Although referring to the reservation for women of 30 seats of the national legislature as well as unspecified numbers of seats at the local and municipal levels in Bangladesh, Women in Bangladesh, which is available at Regional Documentation Centres, states that "women's participation in national and political movements in Bangladesh has been negligible" (DIRB, Dec. 1993, 3).

With respect to women's involvement in political activities in general, and their participation in activities such as demonstrations, the attached Guardian article quotes a Bangladeshi political activist in the U.K. who stated:

There's a prominent, massive women's movement in Bangladesh ... . The mobilisation of women in the Bangladeshi war is imprinted on my mind; I was only 10 and I was out on the street with my mother demonstrating. That movement hasn't stopped in Bangladesh and when I went back a few years ago, I attended a meeting of over 50,000 women (20 Oct. 1993).

The attached section of Bangladesh: A Country Study provides additional information on the involvement of Bangladeshi women in political activities.

Sources consulted by the DIRB do not provide information on whether women are involved in political activities in the same groups as men or in different groups (i.e., Jatio Jubo Shanghati, local party units), whether they participate in political activities such as hartals, and whether they can be in leadership positions over men.

This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this information request.

Documentation, Information and Research Branch (DIRB). Immigration and Refugee Board, Ottawa. December 1993. Women in Bangladesh.

The Guardian. 20 October 1993. From Veil and Sari to Combat Jacket; Second Generation Bangali Women in London East End Are Emerging as Powerful Advocates for their Community." (NEXIS)

Political Parties of the World. 1988. 3rd ed. Edited by Alan J. Day. Chicago: St. James Press.

Bangladesh: A Country Study. 1989. Edited by James Heitzman and Robert L. Worden. Washington, DC: Department of the Army, pp. 184-185.

The Guardian. 20 October 1993. From Veil and Sari to Combat Jacket; Second Generation Bangali Women in London East End Are Emerging as Powerful Advocates for their Community." (NEXIS)

Political Parties of the World. 1988. 3rd ed. Edited by Alan J. Day. Chicago: St. James Press, pp. 35-37.

Amnesty International Report 1994. 1994.

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1994. 1995.

DIRB country file (Bangladesh).

Encyclopedia of the Third World. 1992.

Women's Movements of the World. 1988.

World Encyclopedia of Political Systems & Parties. 1987.

On-line search of news articles.