The housing struggle: Challenges single, working women in Dhaka city face accessing reliable housing

By Inaya Zaman

The identity of being a single, working woman is one that is progressively becoming more prevalent in Dhaka, Bangladesh. As Bangladeshi women are becoming increasingly educated, and female participation in the workforce is encouraged, the inclination to get daughters married off as soon as possible is slowly diminishing. These changes have resulted in a heavy increase in internal migration by young women to Dhaka city.

However, although there are a number of vacant apartments around the city, finding housing is one of the main, yet lesser known, issues affecting single, working women in Dhaka. Landlords and other tenants usually do not want to rent out to these women, requiring them to be married to be able to acquire the space. Consequently, if offered an apartment, unmarried women are often only given spaces with the poorest facilities at incredibly high prices, as landlords know they may not have many other options.

The challenges these women face with finding proper housing is an issue discussed in the short documentary “Narratives of Single Working Women in Dhaka City.” The video, based on research by BRAC JPGSPH, highlights these types of stories and more. One participant affirmed that her landlord stopped communicating with her five days before she was supposed to move into the building with another friend. She later found the reasoning behind this silence, stating, “We were told that the residents of the building have not agreed to let us rent as we are unmarried”.

Single, working women carry a stigma created by the traditional, patriarchal mindset on the role of a woman in Bangladesh. This mindset keeps marital status as an important aspect of a Bangladeshi girl’s life, due to the notion that she will be protected and supervised by her husband instead of her family. The stigma against unmarried women living alone portrays them as unsupervised by a man, and therefore able to be promiscuous or engage in risky behaviors. They are characterized as immoral for being independent. In addition, single, working women are deemed easily susceptible to danger and harassment, as they are seen as unprotected.

Consequently, as expressed by the participants of the study, these notions regarding unmarried, working women are definitely detrimental towards finding a place to stay in the city. The apparent risks of renting to an unmarried woman, such as staying out late or bringing men home, deter landlords and other tenants from wanting them in the building. For instance, some landlords even worry about the integrity of these women, as another participant discusses “hassle” with the police as a reason a landlord did not want her. She says she replied to the landlord with indignation, “‘Why will the police come? Will we be running a brothel here?’”.

The lack of housing available to these women has prompted the emergence of private and public hostels across Dhaka, specifically for single, working women. These options are quite popular amongst working women due to their immediate availability. However, for its extremely high price, the quality of life in the private hostels do not measure up. The inhumane facilities, such as a lack of safe drinking water or good quality food, make living in these spaces next to impossible.

While facilities are slightly better in public hostels, there are still issues concerning safety and expenses among them. In addition, local newspapers report that the number of public hostels available are not enough to support their growing demand from both working women and students in Dhaka alike. Many working women have not been able to get a place in these public hostels due to students using fake job papers to gain this access.

Women in Bangladesh generally face a number of societal pressures to conform to traditional roles and expectations, with single, working women in turn dealing with the consequences of not doing so. The lack of available, suitable housing for these women becomes ironic, as women make up such a vast majority of the workforce, particularly in the country’s booming, ready-made garments sector. Therefore, they too should have the right to access safe and reliable housing, and this should not be such a gendered issue.

The stereotype attached to single, working women, portraying them as easily susceptible to risky behavior or danger, is one that in turn truly puts more harm on these women. In order to improve this issue, more positive messaging and change in perception is required to revert this mindset. Videos like “Narratives of Single Working Women in Dhaka City”, are key tools in raising awareness about this issue. In addition, more women’s advocacy groups, and teaching children in schools about the issue of gender equality in daily life, would help combat this existing stigma.