Abstract:

This study was conducted in Bhola district of Barisal Division in Bangladesh. The purpose of the study was to conduct a careful analysis of the plights of working adolescents who are also attending schools, to find out whether UNICEF project being implemented by COAST Trust is actually leading to the intended objective of adolescent empowerment. I organized focus group discussions reaching a total of 60 adolescents. Educational pass records of a total of 120 students were reviewed and compared to ascertain whether the work of the children has potential correlations with their pass grades.

I conclude that the empowerment project has instead caused disempowerment of the adolescent girls because of a number of reasons; long working hours are so detrimental for the girls given that the girls have to attend school and after schools proceed to work for additional 4 hours, and perhaps perform other domestic works in their households, the remuneration of girls is very low but being so helpless, they cannot complaint about the unfair wages for which they work daily, the speak up culture which is so much required in empowerment situation is not available in the work places of the girls, the girls leave their work places at night which could expose them to other sexual harassment scenarios in a very conservative environment, the working environment could endanger the health of the young girls since they are dealing with cotton materials which may lead to respiratory related diseases, and finally, the extra work time has to a larger extent led to the low pass grades of the girls in schools.

Certain measures could be taken to avert or reduce the impact of working adolescents such as: girls who are below the minimum required age for work can appoint their parents or representatives to work on their behalf while close scrutiny is maintained to ensure the girls benefit from the proceeds of their work. The entrepreneurs can be compelled by Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MOWCA) to ensure they pay necessary minimum wage that is commensurate with the work of the adolescent girls. Finally, the employers must be compelled to reduce the number of working hours to ensure the girls can reach their houses before dark as well as by allowing them a day off in a week.

Keywords: Empowerment, impoverishment, agent, empoweree, disempowerment, child labor, Power differentials, economic influence.

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