Cox’s Bazar – Morium Khatun recalls the past when fear kept her friends silent about sensitive issues like childbirth, security and health – even when the challenges were life threatening.

“Women didn’t feel comfortable going to a male committee or local leader, and when they did – their concerns were often ignored,” she said. The lack of representation left illnesses untreated, violence unreported and confined many women to their homes.

So, when Khatun heard about an IOM-backed initiative to form women’s committees in her community, one of thousands in the teeming Rohingya refugee camps of south-eastern Bangladesh, she decided to take matters into her own hands by stepping up as a possible leader.

“I have always been active in trying to help friends and neighbours. But this was new. It gave us a formal group to meet and attract members,” she said.

The women’s committees were launched as a pilot project supported by IOM in September 2018 to provide a forum for Rohingya refugee women to voice their concerns, access information and obtain referrals for services.

The response from women was immediate and positive as community members came forward with a mixture of comments and complaints ranging from local issues of sanitation and lighting to cases of kidnapping and domestic abuse.

A total of 110 women are now active in the committees, including 10 with disabilities.

According to Megan Denise Smith, who leads IOM’s Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Unit in Cox’s Bazar, women pointed to four key barriers preventing them from being represented in community decision-making: access to information, participation in camp activities, safety and membership of institutions. 

“Many of the public spaces where decisions were being made – such as mosques – were closed to women,” she said.  Rather than attempting to gain entry into exclusively male-dominated structures, the women’s committees were formed from scratch as something new.

Designed to include women in local decision-making, each committee also designated focal points who became ‘specialists’ in a given area, such as health, GBV, water, sanitation or combatting human trafficking.

Specialists were trained in their given areas and liaised with humanitarian organizations. Slowly, word got out about the group and more women came forward as volunteers. 

Despite their growing traction with women, the reaction to the committees from men was mixed at first. According to Khatun, some male leaders and husbands were mistrustful or openly hostile to the groups. As the community benefits became clearer, men took to the idea and many now support the committees.

Rumpa Dey, an IOM GBV coordinator, pointed to a recent example as evidence. “A woman was recently having trouble in a conflict involving her husband and another male member of the community. She came to the women’s committee and asked them to intervene. That demonstrates a degree of acceptance that would have been unheard of a few months ago,” she noted.

In a conservative culture where women are expected to remain home, the women’s committees also offer a rare opportunity to leave the house. “Many Rohingya families are very traditional and some women basically never leave home. The women’s committees gave them a reason to become active in their community and become involved in issues other than those directly related to their household and family,” Dey added.

According to Khatun, security is also becoming an increasingly pressing issue for Rohingya women in a community wracked by unemployment. A local syndicate recently attempted to kidnap her son. The women’s committee is helping to institute patrols to improve security and prevent crime, she said. 

For more information please contact George McLeod at IOM Cox’s Bazar, Tel: +880 18 7071 8078, Email: gmcleod@iom.int