A writ has been filed in the High Court challenging the legality of provisions that limit or deny maternity leave and maternity benefits to women who have more than two children.
Supreme Court lawyer Ishrat Hasan filed the writ on Monday (June 15). The writ challenges the relevant provisions of the Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006, and the relevant provisions of the Bangladesh Service Rules (BSR).
The writ petition states that maternity leave is not a special benefit or a tool to encourage childbirth; rather, it is an essential health-protection measure to ensure a mother’s physical and mental well-being, post-delivery recovery, newborn care and breastfeeding.
The writ further notes that whether a woman gives birth to a first, second or third child, the physical risks of childbirth, the need for medical care, rest and the requirements of newborn care remain the same. Denying maternity leave or benefits solely on the basis of the number of children is therefore discriminatory, unreasonable and in conflict with the constitution, it says.
The writ claims that such provisions are contrary to the guarantees of equality, non-discrimination, the right to the protection of the law, and the right to life and personal liberty under Articles 7, 15, 18, 26, 27, 28, 31 and 32 of the constitution. They are also inconsistent with the state’s constitutional obligations on maternity and the protection of public health, it says.
The writ also states that, as a member state of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), Bangladesh is under an international obligation to eliminate discrimination relating to maternity.
The writ seeks the framing of the necessary policy to ensure non-discriminatory and constitutionally protected maternity benefits for women, regardless of the number of children.
Lawyer Ishrat Hasan later said: “Maternity leave is not a tool of population control. It is a basic protection for the health of mother and child. Even if a mother gives birth to a third child, her need for health protection does not diminish.”
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report