When, how, and why do women’s power struggles succeed in retaining power and sustaining their gains against backlash? In answering this question, BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD) has conducted research under the Sustaining Power: Women’s Struggles against Contemporary Backlash in South Asia (SuPWR) from 2019 to date. This five-year multi-country research project, spanning Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan, was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and led by the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex.
In Bangladesh, the research focused on coalition building within women’s movements to counter backlash from state and non-state actors. The four contemporary women’s struggles studied included the anti-child marriage efforts with the Girls Not Brides alliance, comprehensive sexuality education initiatives with the Right Here Right Now coalition, rape law reform (RLR) advocacy, and the trade union movement for decent wages led by the Bangladesh Garments Workers Solidarity (BGWS). After four intensive years of data collection from 2020 to 2024, BIGD arranged a residential validation workshop on 5 and 6 October 2024 at the Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD) to share preliminary research findings with participants. The workshop also provided an opportunity for the movements to reflect, learn, and strategize to further strengthen their efforts.
