unregistered marriages, but only imposes a minor financial penalty on the person responsible.20 While men can divorce at will, women can only do so if they are delegated the right in their initial marriage contract. After the divorce, maintenance is only provided for 90 days from the date of official notice, or, if the wife is pregnant, until the birth of the child. 17. Hindu personal law in Bangladesh governs both Hindus and in some cases Buddhists. These laws deny women the right to divorce, even in cases of severe violence, and permit unlimited polygamy for men.21 The recent Hindu Marriage Registration Act 2012 remains optional, with even the minimal rights to separation being denied if a woman is found to be “unchaste”. With respect to succession, an unmarried daughter is excluded from any paternal property but may retain her streedhon property. 18. Under the Divorce Act, 1869 applicable to Christian women and those marrying under the Special Marriage Act, 1872(though not to Catholics), divorce is allowed on limited grounds with discriminatory conditions applied to women seeking divorce. Hence, while men may obtain a divorce simply by establishing adultery, women are required to prove adultery plus, they need to show an additional cause (such as conversion, bigamy, sodomy, bestiality, desertion or cruelty). 19. In 2013, the Government officially recognized Hijras (members of the third gender community), or transgender as a separate gender or the third sex. Measures was aimed at ending their discrimination in all spheres including education, health and housing. 22 This is considered as milestone progress in the movement of recognizing them and to ensure their rights. The Election Commission of Bangladesh has amended the voter list to include the third gender in the voter’s list keeping their identity as Hijra 23. Hijra community is a very small portion of the total population of Bangladesh and are mostly discriminated in grounds of healthcare, inheritance (particularly when it involves land) and education.24 20. The NHRCB notes with appreciation several initiatives25 and affirmative action such as State funds allocated to uplift the plight of Dalit 26 community estimated to be 6.5 million in Bangladesh. However, per a research study 27 members of the Dalit community are faced with specific challenges which need close attention. Of the total responded 24% were totally illiterate, 37% able to sign their name, 61% girls and 89% boys marrying before Aruna Kashyap, Will I get my dues before i die: Harm to Bangladeshi women from Bangladesh’s Discriminatory Laws on Marriage, Separation and Divorce, Human Rights Watch, September 2012, at: http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/09/16/bangladesh-discriminatoryfamily-laws-fuel-emale-poverty 21 Shahnaz Huda, “Combating Gender Injustice: Hindu Law in Bangladesh”, SAILS, Dhaka, 2011 at: http://www.academia.edu/1586976/Combating_Gender_Injustice_-_Hindu_Law_in_Bangladesh_Dhaka_SAILS_2011_ 22 http://www.msw.gov.bd/site/page/a3498c96-c94a-4fba-9518-13497bdfb46f/Transgender-People 23 https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2018/01/13/election-commission-adds-hijra-gender-to-voter-list 24 http://www.msw.gov.bd/site/page/a3498c96-c94a-4fba-9518-13497bdfb46f/Transgender-People 25 On January 26, 2014, the Bangladesh cabinet announced in its gazette that it has recognized the Hijra community of Bangladesh as a Hijra sex (Ministry of Social Welfare, Bangladesh Gazette, No. sokom/work-1sha/Hijra-15/2013-40.) Hijras and ethnic groups of Bangladesh are entitled to bank loans. The central bank issued a notice to all scheduled banks notifying them to take steps to bring these underprivileged sections within the SMEs. There are pilot programmes for livelihood development implemented by the Social Welfare Ministry for the third gender communities. 26 Special quotas are allocated for Dalits quotas in universities -Extracted from a circular. from the Prime Minister’s Office dated 29 May 2012 27 The Position of Women in Extreme Poor and Socially Excluded Dalit Communities of Bangladesh: A Sociological Study conducted by SHAREE 20 7