Beyond Maintenance: A Critical Rethinking Of Post-Divorce Economic Justice For Women In Bangladesh
- IJLLR Journal
- 8 minutes ago
- 1 min read
Nazren Huda, Lecturer, Department of Law and Justice, Bangladesh Army University of Engineering and Technology (BAUET), Qadirabad Cantonment, Natore, Bangladesh.
ABSTRACT
Divorce is becoming more common in Bangladesh and women often carry the heaviest economic burden once a marriage ends. The present legal framework, especially the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961 and the Family Courts Act, 2023, mainly focuses on maintenance during the iddat period, a short waiting period of about three months. This narrow view of maintenance leaves many divorced women without long-term financial protection, even though they may have spent years contributing to the household. This paper states that post-divorce economic justice should move beyond the traditional idea of maintenance and instead adopt a wider framework that includes recognition of matrimonial contribution, fair dower recovery and long-term financial support. The study follows a doctrinal and analytical method, examining statutes, reported case law and secondary literature, together with recent statistics from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics and reports published in national newspapers. Landmark cases are examined alongside international examples. The paper also considers Bangladesh's reservations to Articles 2 and 16.1(c) of the CEDAW Convention and how these reservations affect the rights of divorced women. The paper concludes with policy suggestions, including reform of maintenance provisions, statutory recognition of matrimonial property and stronger enforcement mechanisms to build a fairer and more sustainable system of economic justice for divorced women in Bangladesh.
Keywords: Divorce; Post-Divorce Economic Justice; Maintenance; CEDAW.
