Women’s Rights in Nepal: Big Changes, Broken Promises
DEVELOPMENTS
Nepal is promising its citizens some big changes, but the reality is littered with broken promises. Unfortunately this is a pattern especially familiar to most women fighting for equal rights.
After a bruising civil war between the monarchy, various political parties and Maoist rebels, Nepal finally became a republic in 2008. The so-called “People’s War” saw a record number of women participating actively in the conflict. For the first time in the country’s history, women were equal partners fighting alongside their male comrades. For many women, a democratic Nepal appeared to hold the promise of equal rights and greater empowerment.
Despite the expectations of a new dawn, women continue to face many of the same barriers to progress as before. Attitudes entrenched by centuries of patriarchy and caste discrimination have been difficult, if not impossible to combat, especially in rural areas. Primitive social customs like child marriage and widow abuse persist, despite the work of many women’s rights organizations. There has also been a serious lack of government initiative. The political quagmire has led to the country functioning sans constitution or official head of state, and threatens to undo all the hard-won progress. An NGO activist summarized the depressing state of affairs: “On paper it looks great. There is a women’s development office in every community in the country but the government hasn’t allocated enough funds to run the offices.”
BACKGROUND
The women’s movement in Nepal didn’t take off until the 1990s. A new constitution in 1990 decreed that no individual could be discriminated against on the basis of gender. Through the nineties, new women’s organizations emerged and took on domestic violence, trafficking, and women’s reproductive and property rights. After a Supreme Court decision in 1993 gave women equal rights over property, it took nine years before a seminal piece of legislation fundamentally changed the lives of women in Nepal. The 11th Amendment to the Civil Code allowed women to inherit property at birth and gave widows the right to claim property from their husbands’ families. It also allowed women to seek a divorce from their husbands in instances of abuse or infidelity, increased the penalties for polygamy and rape, and legalized abortion.
Nepal’s patriarchal system still continued to present significant challenges to women’s rights. Similar to other Asian countries, sons were preferred over daughters, women were confined to the household, and almost 95% of those employed were in the agricultural sector. Girls were woefully undereducated and malnourished, with Nepal having the ignominy of being one of only three countries with a lower life expectancy for women than men. Globalization brought its own problems – sex trafficking and higher instances of men infecting their wives with HIV. A review conducted by a women’s organization in 2000 revealed that Nepal’s constitution still contained 188 laws that discriminated against women.
The event that had the biggest impact on the women’s movement in Nepal was the Maoist insurgency, resurrected towards the end of the millennium. Women, both peasants and educated, were strongly attracted to the movement’s promise of equal rights and personal liberation; the ranks of the Maoists swelled with women cadres. For the first time, Nepalese women occupied leadership roles both in the political and the military wings of the group. After interviews with female Maoists, a researcher summarized their contribution thus:
“These women…..undertook several roles such as formulating policies and progammes, giving a strategic direction, extending the organization, leading the fronts of social struggle, commanding and fighting in the battle fields, providing service and treatment to the injured in war, conveying information, conducting mass meetings etc. Among these, many have worked extensively on women’s issues such as violence against women, banning alcohol, against discrimination based on sex, the issue of women’s inclusion at all levels, women’s liberation from the feudal state power etc.”
The end of the “People’s War” in 2006 and the abolition of the monarchy in 2008 were heralded as turning points for women. More changes to laws were made that further advanced women’s rights. The 2008 elections had 161 Parliamentary seats (33%) allotted for women, and saw a landslide 191 women elected.
The optimism isn’t entirely misplaced. Certainly, Nepal’s urban population has undergone a transformation. More urban women today are educated and hold positions of power. 61% of women in urban settings are educated compared to 30% in rural areas. Yet, while urban women lead very different lives from those of their rural counterparts, they still face their own gender discrimination issues. Finance professional Ashesworee Khanal, who grew up in Nepal and now lives in the U.S., says that most families still balk at women working despite sending their daughters to the best schools. “Many of my friends back home constantly have to deal with this challenge,” she explains. “The expectation for most women is that careers come later, marriage and kids come first.”
Women in rural settings continue to bear the brunt of Nepal’s failed promises. Whether it’s violence against women, polygamy, child marriage or widow abuse, rural women have yet to see the progress promised by Nepal’s new democracy. For instance, women without children face intense discrimination, many times having to contend with polygamy. Similarly, atrocities against widows and lower caste women continue with impunity. Many times, the resistance to change comes from women themselves, as the tormented become the tormentors.
ANALYSIS
While the situation may appear dire, the women’s movement in Nepal is in fact more advanced than in many other developing countries. For one, there seems to be widespread recognition among leaders that women’s empowerment is closely tied to the country’s development. Over the last 10 years, the number of NGOs fighting for women’s causes has proliferated- over 8,000 by some estimates. I found several organizations that focus on specific issues within the movement, each seemingly catering to a different aspect of women’s rights.
Perhaps this dispersion of focus is partly contributing to the slow progress of women’s rights in Nepal. I found organizations specifically dedicated to Dalit women, widows, socio-economic welfare, women’s development, violence against women etc. With so many groups battling for limited funds, these organizations are often fighting against each other. According to a recent series on the movement:
“The integral flaw in the women’s movement – one that makes the phrase itself a misnomer – is that it is driven by foreign aid and competition for foreign money, pits organizations against each other… Women and empowerment have been recognized as buzz words by the many disingenuous charities in the sector, to attract foreign dollars and the spirit of competition has taken the soul out of a movement.”
The solution for this may lie in some level of consolidation, so organizations are able to join forces to combat overlapping problems. For instance, it is not a stretch to imagine that some of most disenfranchised women in Nepal today are illiterate, widowed, victims of violence, and lower-caste at the same time.
Another problem curtailing the development of women has been the dearth of women in decision-making positions. While women have a 33% quota in government, the lack of education and training makes them ineffective leaders. Many are unable to influence decision making due to lack of confidence or policy-making experience. Deficient education for women continues to challenge the movement, which is why the government should consider making male and female literacy mandatory.
Finally, as frustrating as it may be, attitudes take time to change. Like most evolving democracies, Nepal is caught between its traditions and the call of modernity. Women play a leading role in the country’s development, but are still expected by society to adhere to traditional roles at home. Says Ashesworee, “Despite all the progress, just going out of the house and trying to make something out of yourself is a challenge for many women. They have to overcome that social barrier before things can change…. but attitudes are changing slowly.” They certainly are.
Aarti Ramachandran is a Public & Government Affairs advisor in the energy industry and is also a blogger for the Foreign Policy Association.
