The role of training in women’s empowerment and attitude change

Any training has its own role to play in individual limitations and thematic issues. Training gives people a new platform to move away from their personal position, where they can independently determine their own life philosophy and position. There is an opportunity to know and realize how backward she or the people of her community are. There are some things in training in particular that teach you to think anew, to inspire yourself to change.

Training helps everyone to change their own knowledge, skills, and attitude. But in the reality of our society, adolescent and young women are more backward. The reasons for their backwardness are deeply rooted in our society. Reflections of patriarchal mentality and attitude have existed in every spare. Beyond that, developing a latent potentiality for a woman is still a big challenge.

In terms of health issues, there are no significant differences between men and women except for some differences in reproductive organs in general. But the fact that a man and a woman in our society grow up with all these misconceptions and surrounding conditions overstate the differences in the existing health problems between men and women.

As a result, a man begins to think of himself as having a strong body because of his social outlook, while a woman begins to think of herself as possessing a weak body and a diseased body due to various physical infirmities. But this is not supposed to happen. If God did not discriminate in the case of birth, then why should women be the only suffer of this unfavorable condition because of human or social attitudes and culture? If we talk about women’s menstrual health in the beginning, it has been a long time since the people of this world got the light of civilization.

If you want the touch of modern science and information technology, you are regularly getting the latest information in the world. But existing social stigma and taboos on a natural and normal biological subject like menstruation will really hurt any conscientious person. Not only that, if a woman takes any positive initiative to change these myths and taboos about periods or menstruation, it is seen on social media that a class of people willingly want to humiliate her without her any fault, not only that, they suppress her by using obscene words and misinterpreting religious thought. Even wants to endanger her life.

In that case, if a woman has not well determined, it will be very difficult to keep her strong mentality to survive against this false propaganda and criticism on social media. But usually, as a human being in our society has one or more women member in the family, if there has is any problem in the reproductive or sexual health of that woman, then the male member has to tackle the situation, the male member has to face family difficulties and financial loss but still, the problem is women’s reproductive and sexual health issues people are more accustomed to seeing through their narrow mind and view of patriarchal culture. The society has not created a favorable environment for women to talk about their health problems like men. The silent words of the depths of a woman’s mind are hidden in her. The days pass with pain and suffering.

Sometimes this silence leads to an untimely death. But what scenario should be expected? But the answers to these questions we usually do not find or are unwilling to go against the flow of the current situation to change these questions. But we need to find the answers to all these questions. Because the cultures that have been around for a long time are the result of our patriarchal mentality, and we have to realize this fact, we have to realize more, these cultures create extreme obstacles in the way of women’s progress and interrupt their potentiality and talent. In this case, the adolescents and young women in the hilly areas of Bangladesh are more backward. This is because the remote areas of Bandarban, Rangamati, and Khagrachhari in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh modern facilities are still elusive. In many cases, it is difficult to call an ambulance on an emergency basis or buy a simple sanitary pad for use during menstruation. The livelihood of the people of these small ethnic groups especially adolescents girls and young women are leading their life in harmony with nature. Although they are governed by their own culture and beliefs from birth to death, there are still some cultures that deprivation or oppress women.

Actually is not visible by the bare eye. And all these attitudes, social norms, patriarchal mentality did not allow women to be improvised from their level. Due to this, violence, torture, oppression, and rape against women are going on. It is hoped that a project titled “Our Lives, Our Health, Our Futures (OLHF)” is being implemented in the CHT since 2019 with the financial support of the European Union (EU) in collaboration with Simavi Netherlands and Bangladesh Nari Progati Sangha (BNPS) through the 10 local non-governmental organizations. The project is working to create awareness and skills about reproductive and sexual health in the lives of 12,000 adolescent girls and young women in the project area, as well as to build an abuse and violence-free life. Above all, the project aims to bring about a sustainable positive change in the lives of adolescent girls and young women in the project area. Through this process, they will lead a dignified life also free from social prejudices and all kinds of negative influences in their lives.

This project is working through the Girls Club to increase the life skills of adolescent girls and young women in a pleasant and safe environment in all important and sensitive aspects of life and body. Efforts continue that, encourage them to know the rights of information about their body and to know their own body so that they can make the right decision according to their choice and go to the health center and claim to get the right treatment. At the same time, efforts are being made to create a supportive & enabling environment by involving all like-minded individuals or organizations involved in this process as well as in promoting to achieve the expected outcomes.

Above all, the project staff is being trained on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), Gender-Based Violence (GBV), Menstrual Health Management (MHM). Skills and attitudes are changing among them. But it takes a concerted effort to change this confined mentality or superstition. The overall development of this conventional situation may not be possible through a single project, so successful coordination of service exchange and cooperation between government and non-government organizations is needed to make this initiative a success. We believe that our future dream will be achieved with equal participation of men and women. And there is no alternative to government patronage and the active role of the media in coming forward.


Author: Sumit Banik
Public Health Activist and Trainer
E-mail: [email protected]

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