Triple Burden Through the Eyes of Urban Slum Women in Bangladesh: An Anthropological Perspective

The urban residents who live in slums in Bangladesh are a marginalized group who live below the poverty line and are frequently deprived of standard livelihood amenities. The primary source of income of urban slum women is limited to a few options such as working in the garment industry, temporary domestic assistant (chuta bua), beggar, cleaner, street hawkers, brick-breaking in construction work, prostitution, etc., which are extremely low-status and poorly paid work. They are excluded from mainstream society and thus are deprived of fundamental human rights such as nutrition, safe shelter, education, health services, electricity, healthy career, and lifestyle. Unlike others, they lead highly miserable lives due to poverty, lack of capital, social negligence, stigma, crime, and violence. Additionally, their traditional roles, such as reproductive and productive works and community activities, force them to bear extra burdens. These roles became their utmost burden during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. On the one hand, they provide sufficient time, energy, and dedication to fulfill their responsibilities. On the other hand, they are highly undervalued in society. Therefore, this anthropological endeavor has focused on urban slum women who are marginalized and stigmatized by stereotypical patriarchal social structures. For that reason, 80 women from different occupations and age groups who live in various slums in Dhaka megacity are chosen as the sample. This study explains their triple burden by deconstructing their experiences through intensive research.