Islam and women in the constitution of Bangladesh: the impact on family laws for Muslim women

Abstract

This brief focuses on the legal aspect of gender in Bangladesh, examining specifically Muslim women and the impact that the shifting emphasis of secularism and Islam in the country’s Constitution may have had in terms of their status in family laws. Created in 1972, the Constitution has been amended fifteen times. It is considered the ‘supreme law of the republic’, as an ‘expression of the people’s will’, and all other laws must be consistent with its terms. This brief assesses its relevance in determining personal or family laws for Muslims by analysing its emphasis on secularism and the aspirations towards women’s equality to which it refers.Policy brief. © The Foundation for Law, Justice and Society 2013