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Impact of education on sex workers and their children: case studies from Bangladesh

  • January 2012
  • In book: Sex Workers and Their Children in Bangladesh: Addressing Risks and Vulnerabilities (pp.154-180)
  • Edition: 1st
  • Chapter: 8
  • Publisher: Center for Sustainable Development, University of Liberal Arts, Bangladesh
  • Editors: Sabet, Daniel M.; Rahman, Tawhidur and Ahmad, Sate
Authors:
M Mahruf C Shohel at University of Roehampton
M Mahruf C Shohel
Md. Ashraf Uzzaman at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Digital University, Bangladesh
Md. Ashraf Uzzaman
  • Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Digital University, Bangladesh
Sheikh Nishat Nazmi at Plan International Bangladesh
Sheikh Nishat Nazmi
  • Plan International Bangladesh
Arup Ratan Das
Arup Ratan Das
Arup Ratan Das
  • This person is not on ResearchGate, or hasn't claimed this research yet.
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Abstract

In Bangladesh, sex workers and their children are in a situation of exclusion where they are denied of even the most basic human rights. This article is based on a recent research carried out to explore the impact of education on sex workers and their children’s lives by gathering evidence on social exclusion and child abuse or protection in the context of their lives. The study focused on how education could be a vehicle for them to break the vicious cycle of exploitation. This was a mixed method interpretative study which employed qualitative and quantitative approaches. Quantitative data was generated through a questionnaire and qualitative data was generated through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Data was collected from different research participants such as sex workers, sex workers' children, teachers of sex workers’ children and NGO workers working in the research site. Thematic and descriptive statistics were used for data analysis to understand the challenges and barriers faced by sex workers and their children in their educational aspirations. The life of sex workers and their children is marginalised by the mainstream society. Though it is very difficult to break the vicious cycle of exploitation, education may be a stepping stone for them to create a better future. However, sex workers and their children need income generating vocational and technical education to earn and support their family. In the implication section of the article, policy recommendations have been made in order to achieve Education For All (EFA) targets and Millennium Development Goals (MDG), and to provide a second chance for these vulnerable people to have a better life.
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Impact of education on sex workers and their children:
case studies from Bangladesh
Book Chapter
How to cite:
Shohel, M. Mahruf C.; Ashrafuzzaman, Md.; Nazmi, Sheikh Nishat; Das, Arup Ratan; Babu, Rasel;
Mubarak, Muhammad Foysal and Al-Mamun, Md. Abdullah (2012). Impact of education on sex workers and
their children: case studies from Bangladesh. In: Sabet, Daniel M.; Rahman, Tawhidur and Ahmad, Sate eds.
Sex Workers and Their Children in Bangladesh: Addressing Risks and Vulnerabilities. Dhaka, Bangladesh:
Center for Sustainable Development, University of Liberal Arts, Bangladesh, pp. 154–180.
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2012 University of Liberal Arts, Bangladesh and ActionAid Bangladesh
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... The children of sex workers are still deprived of their right to education, and few of them are enrolled in government schools. Most of them dream of rescuing their mothers from prostitution (Shohel et al., 2012). However, in reality the children are often cruelly ragged about their mother's profession (Adhikari, 2012). ...
... However, in reality the children are often cruelly ragged about their mother's profession (Adhikari, 2012). Their identity makes it stressful for them to continue going to school (Shohel et al., 2012; Jena, 2010). This empirical study focuses on access to education for the children of sex workers in Bangladesh. ...
... It was difficult for teachers and children to accept them as equals to their classmates. Children from mainstream society were not willing to sit next to the children of sex workers and as a result the children eventually dropped out (Shohel et al., 2012). In 1995 a private school was established by the KKS with the help of Save the Children (formerly Save the Children Australia) to provide education for the children of sex workers and the children from mainstream society under one roof. ...
Access to Education for the Children of Sex Workers in Bangladesh: Opportunities and Challenges
Article
Full-text available
  • Feb 2013
The children of sex workers in Bangladesh are denied even the most basic human rights. This article is based on recent research focused on the children of sex workers in the context of their everyday lives. The study focused on access to education and how education could be a vehicle for them to break the vicious cycle of exploitation. This was a mixed method interpretative study which employed qualitative and quantitative approaches, but in this paper only qualitative data which was generated through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions is used. Data was collected from sex workers, their children, teachers and NGO workers who participated in the study. Information has been collected for analysing the expectation of the children of sex workers and hope for the future, and the opportunities available to them during their schooling. Thematic analysis technique was used to understand the challenges and barriers faced by the children of sex workers in fulfilling their educational aspirations. The lives of the children of sex workers are marginalised by the mainstream society. Though it is very difficult to break the vicious cycle of exploitation, this research finds that education may be a stepping stone for them to create a better future. However, it is argued that the children of sex workers need income generating vocational and technical education to enable them to earn and support their family. Policy recommendations have been made in order to achieve Education For All (EFA) targets and Millennium Development Goals (MDG), and to provide a second chance for these vulnerable young people to have a better life.
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... Further, due to the stigma associated with the mother's profession, the adolescents often have difficulty getting admission in schools, as they do not know their father's name or do not possess the required documents for admission. [28] Billah and Baroi [29] found that mothers who are sex workers are themselves poorly educated and do not share a favourable attitude towards educating their children, as it tends to add more financial burden to their uncertain daily wages. The NGOs working for these children's welfare tend to initially provide basic school readiness skills and then admit them to schools after they acquire certain academic proficiency. ...
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... Education is working as an empowerment tool for underprivileged group (Shohel & et al., 2012). All of the respondents agreed about the necessity of transgender education without any doubt. ...
Challenges of Access to Education: Transgender Society of Bangladesh
Technical Report
  • May 2016
Transgender is a common phenomenon in our society. The present qualitative study aimed to explore the challenges of access and continuation to education of transgender people of Bangladesh. The secondary data were collected through document survey previous reports, articles and news, while the primary data were collected through semi-structured interview with transgender and semi-structured interview with experts including NGO officials and Head Teachers. The area of the study covered Dhaka division of Bangladesh. Respondents from urban and rural were selected purposively both from Dhaka and Tangail. Major findings of the study showed that, transgender do not carry any recognized honorable social status and people used to dislike them due to lack of education. All the respondents agreed about importance of transgender education. Transgender students face no major challenges in getting access to education. In few cases parents of female students consider transgender students‟ access to education as possible threat to their children. But, more than 90% transgender students cannot continue their education. Different attitude of transgender, negative comments from peers, lack of economic and mental support, discrimination in classroom and uncomfortable school environment are responsible for dropout. This study also found some possible recommendations for transgender education. Providing separate classroom, emphasizing on technical and vocational education like cook, sewing and beauty parlor are mostly recommended. Training for the teachers, including a chapter in the textbook, separate sanitation are also recommended by the respondents. But their empowerment is not possible without financial support. And the transgender people also require quotas in access to education and job opportunity as well.
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... Samata is a cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) that was conducted across 80 villages with an equal number distributed in intervention and control areas in the districts of Bijapur and Bagalkot in North Karnataka . 4 It is being implemented and evaluated by the Karnataka Health Promotion A longitudinal primarily qualitative study in Bangladesh on the benefits of formal education for sex 1 workers and their children found that completion of secondary school education was a route into greater social mobility for sex workers' children with just 1 out of 30 students in the study dropping out of school to join sex work (Shohel et al 2012) For the emancipatory benefits of education to be realised, schools need to have progressive 2 curriculum, the focus of which is not just limited to textbook knowledge, but also to transform pupils into ethical, creative and engaged beings -a tall order, but not outside the realm of possibilities. ...
Engendering Social Transformation Through an Educational Intervention Lessons from the Samata Project
Article
Full-text available
  • May 2018
While getting girls into school, is necessary it is not sufficient to manifest the transformative potential of education. The curriculum needs to have gender equity embedded within it. We argue that it is possible to address the drop-outs of girls from secondary education through a change of gender-inequitable norms and practices such as the early marriage of girls. We use the example of Samata, a multi-year intervention with rural adolescent girls and boys, in some of the most disadvantaged districts in North Karnataka (NK) to illustrate this. While a slow process, it is possible to engender a shift in regressive gender norms through a suite of measures such as fostering leadership in adolescent girls, outreach with parents, advocacy with the community and co-opting community leaders and pre-existing local government institutions. After seventeen months of the intervention, we find the results to be sobering. Some norms have changed but this is difficult and slow work, and the process of transformation is still underway as our findings illuminate. The full paper can be found here: http://practiceconnect.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/2018/05/09/engendering-social-transformation-through-an-educational-intervention/
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English Language Learning Journey of Rural Students: Cases from Bangladesh
Technical Report
  • Aug 2014
The present qualitative study aimed to explore the English language learning journey of the Bangladeshi rural learners. In doing so the researchers identified the teaching-learning activities experienced by the rural learners in their English classes. Learners’ home environment and the family support for learning English and the impact of home environment and the family support on learning English were also investigated. Data were collected from two secondary schools and total number of respondents were twenty including the learners, parents and English teachers. The data derived from the direct classroom observation of English lessons, Interviews of learners, parents and teachers and informal artifacts collection showed that the learners had favorable environment in schools for learning English. Different types of interactive teaching-learning activities held in the classroom. However, teachers used Bangla most of the time in classroom. Though the school environment was good but the learners did not enjoy proper facility and environment in their home for learning English. Parents’ economic background was poor and at home there were nobody with whom the learners could practice English language skills. As a result they had to depend on schools totally for learning English.
View
English Language Learning Journey of Rural Students: Cases from Bangladesh
Technical Report
Full-text available
  • Aug 2014
The present qualitative study aimed to explore the English language learning journey of the Bangladeshi rural learners. In doing so the researchers identified the teaching-learning activities experienced by the rural learners in their English classes. Learners’ home environment and the family support for learning English and the impact of home environment and the family support on learning English were also investigated. Data were collected from two secondary schools and total number of respondents were twenty including the learners, parents and English teachers. The data derived from the direct classroom observation of English lessons, Interviews of learners, parents and teachers and informal artifacts collection showed that the learners had favorable environment in schools for learning English. Different types of interactive teaching-learning activities held in the classroom. However, teachers used Bangla most of the time in classroom. Though the school environment was good but the learners did not enjoy proper facility and environment in their home for learning English. Parents’ economic background was poor and at home there were nobody with whom the learners could practice English language skills. As a result they had to depend on schools totally for learning English.
View
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