Perspectives on agency from adolescent girls in Feni, Bangladesh

For adolescent girls living in highly marginalized contexts, agency is lived as part of an everyday struggle. Girls and young women make decisions about their lives, in conscious ways and foreseeing their futures, while simultaneously navigating larger social structures, norms, and systems. Yet the agency of girls and young women living in marginalized contexts is often misunderstood, unrecognized, underdeveloped, and/or actively stifled. Adolescent girls may have their own definitions of agency, and their own understandings of marginalization, making it vital that efforts to promote agency in marginalized contexts start with girls themselves. The current report is our effort to do just that, as we share the results of two years of participatory, collaborative, and action-oriented research conducted by members of the Learning and Action Alliance for Girls’ Agency (LAAGA) with girls living in the Feni District of Bangladesh. We outline the context of Feni, describe our girl-centered methodological approach, share what we have learned from and with girls in the region, and propose priorities and strategies to mobilize actors to transform systems with and for girls’ agency.