The Women's Affairs Reform Commission () was established by the interim government in November 2024 to prepare a report on women's equal rights, restoring their dignity, respect in society, and reducing the discrimination.
Members Name Position BackgroundShirin Parvin HaqueHead of CommissionFounding Member, NaripokkhoMaheen SultanMemberSenior Fellow, BRAC Institute of Governance and DevelopmentSara HossainMemberHonorary Executive Director, Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services TrustFawzia Karim FirozeMemberSenior Advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh and President, Foundation for Law & DevelopmentKalpona AkterMemberPresident, Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers FederationHalida Hanum AkhterMemberWomen Health ExpertSumaiya IslamMemberExecutive Director, Bangladesh Nari Sramik KendraNirupa DewanMemberFormer Member, National Human Rights CommissionFerdousi SultanaMemberFormer Senior Social Development Adviser, Asian Development BankNishita Jaman NihaMemberStudent Representative
Report and proposals On 19 April 2025, following the commission's reform report being made public, it was criticized by the public. The report contained 443 proposals on 15 different subjects, including marriage for women of all religions through uniform family law, recognition of sex workers as workers, removal of Muslim inheritance law, expanding the number of parliamentary seats to 600, and reserving 300 of those for women.
Criticism
Many organizations opposed the proposals, calling them anti-religious, immoral, unconstitutional, and undemocratic. Several Islamist parties have demanded the abolision and reform of the commission.
The National Citizen Party (NCP) expressed its dismay at some recommendations of the report of the Women's Affairs Reform Commission, calling them "dialectal" to the social and religious values of Bangladesh, and urged constructive dialogue with representative stakeholders in this regard. Nevertheless, some of its leaders were seen criticising Hefazat-e-Islam, accusing it of violent rhetoric and hate speech against women in their rally over the report of the commission while other leaders actively participated in Hefazat organized events.
On 16 May, counter protests were led by various leftist and feminist organisations.
See also Constitutional Reform Commission Reform Commissions of Bangladesh
References