Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust

BANGLADESH

BANGLADESH LEGAL AID AND SERVICES TRUST

Dougal Burden,Christ Church,Second Year Undergraduate, BA Jurisprudence,Remote Working

Work Projects

I worked on several projects in the research team at BLAST as well as ad hoc tasks. My first assignment was to create a consultation note for a gender identity recognition advocacy programme. This involved researching several South East Asian jurisdictions engaging with case and secondary literature. I also attended a call with an external NGO about plans for this programme. Other work I was involved in included researching public interest litigation on police powers in Bangladesh, advocacy responses to Covid-19 and research into the implementation of virtual courts in India.

Daily Life

Working from home involved spending most of the day doing independent work and then partaking in calls later at night as I was located in New Zealand during the internship working across time zones in the UK and Bangladesh. Most calls were just with the research team, but I also had the opportunity to listen into wider discussion groups with other NGOs across South East Asia.

Lasting Impressions

I really enjoyed engaging in the important work that BLAST does. It was very rewarding to work on projects that will have a real impact on people’s lives by advocating for human rights. It was also a great opportunity to engage with the law and culture of a different jurisdiction. While it was a shame that, due to the pandemic, I was not able to travel to Bangladesh, it was still an enriching experience.

Final Year Undergraduate, BA English Language and Literature,Remote Working

Work Projects

I wrote articles about the impact of the lockdown on Hijra and transgender communities in Bangladesh and child marriage in Bangladesh and surrounding countries. I also conducted research into the impact of lockdown on UK courts and I took minutes for meetings with sister organisations in neighbouring countries about child marriage and rape law reform and different attitudes towards this.

I was working from home during UK lockdown so It was helpful to have some work to focus on.

Lasting Impressions

I learned a lot about the law and the rights of women and minorities in Bangladesh which I found very interesting.