Hamida’s story
“I started working when I was seven years old,” says Hamida Begum, 30. “My first job was in the house of a big farmer who had a tailoring shop. I only got food, no payment.”
Since Hamida was not bringing in money for the family, her parents forced her to marry. Her relationship started with severe physical abuse. “He bound me with rope to a tree and beat me with a metal rod. When he tortured me, I was two months’ pregnant. Sometimes he stuck needles in my skin. I still have the scars,” she says.
The police intervened and Hamida returned to her parents’ home. She gave birth to a boy, but when he was 18 months old her husband’s family took him. “I have only seen my son three times since then,” she says.
“When I was 12 or 13, a man from my village brought me to Dhaka and sold me for 3,000 taka ($38). I didn’t know I had been sold, so when I asked for my wages after a month, they said: ‘We don’t need to pay you, we bought you.’ I still work in the same house. I do the cooking, dishwashing, laundry.”
Hamida attends a training course run by Oxfam and its partner Nari Maitree in Dhaka – it focuses on skills such as cooking and food hygiene, but the sessions also offer a chance for women to meet, build confidence and understand their rights. “I come to learn something different,” she says. “I now get extra wages from my employer. I negotiated with them, explaining that my family is poor – and they agreed to pay me. I now work five days a week and things are better. I get 4,700 taka ($60) per month and proper food, and my employer is better behaved … I get strength and courage from friends in the slum and women here at the training course. I can raise my voice now.”
Hamida remarried and has two children, aged seven and 10. “My husband is sick so I maintain my family,” she says. “My only happiness is through my children. My plan is to help them grow. I want to give them a proper education, and I am succeeding.”
Nipa’s story
Nipa, 14, has only been to school for one day in her life. She has worked in a garment factory and as a domestic worker. She lives with her parents, three brothers and three sisters in one room in Rayer Bazaar slum in Dhaka.
“There is nowhere to play but when we sit together in this room and talk together or watch TV, that’s our entertainment. It’s very noisy at night,” she says. “I help my mum to cook the food, clean the utensils, look after my brothers and sisters, clean the room. I like to help my mother rather than to work with my siblings. I don’t want to go to school.
“When I worked as a maid I was not allowed to meet my parents or sisters or brothers so I didn’t like being there. I got 3,000 taka per month. I handed over all the money to my parents.”
Nipa had four good friends her age in the slum, but they all got married and moved away. Her parents, Zakir and Shanaz, want Nipa to wait until she is 20 before she gets married – and they made this clear when Nipa met 17-year-old Biplof.
“Nipa and Biplof wanted to get married” Zakir says. “They were neighbours and were texting each other. I was 15 and my wife was nine when our parents decided we would be married, but we are having problems, so we realise it’s better to get married later.”
Nipa’s father, a truck driver, earns less than $150 per month. “It’s not enough for nine people,” he says. “I cannot earn more because I don’t have any other skills. I tell my children, ‘You cannot expect more from us. We will do the best we can for you but we have to cut down on good food, good clothes … everything.’
“The situation is getting worse day by day. There are lots of drivers and the opportunities are being squeezed out.”
Nipa says: “My parents discussed marriage with me so I decided not to get married now. I will think about it in five years. Until then, I will do a job in garments or open my own tailoring shop, if I get help.
“I can write my name but I can’t read or write. I am happy with my life now.”
