The Gender Question
THOUGH the findings of the Human Development
in South Asia-The Gender Question, the UNDP report released Monday, are not all complete
revelations, they go to reinforce the common belief that South Asian women are indeed
treated most unjustly by the political, economic and cultural systems obtaining in the
countries in the region. The report presents a litany of woes that women in South Asia
sufer from. An estimated 208,000 women in South Asia die annually due to pregnancy and
birth-related complications. South Asian women in general receive less attention to their
health needs than the region’s men. If that is the situation on the health front,
women rights in South Asia continue to be violated despite constitutional guarantees of
equality. This happens because the enforcement of laws intended to protect or empower
women is obstructed by cultural traditions, ignorance of law, legal loopholes and
inconsistencies and a lack of will among enforcement agents and the judiciary. One of the
reasons why women continue to suffer from inequality is the fact that they are hardly
there at the higher echelons of decision-making. The report rightly draws the attention to
the fact that though women account for half of the population in South Asia, they remain
mostly invisible in all government institutions. Women’s participation in
decision-making bodies remains low, notwithstanding the fact that four out of the seven
South Asian countries have had female heads of state and prime ministers.
At the root of all that perpetuates the
current situation of South Asian women is, of course, the low levels of literacy. The
female literacy rate is only 37 per cent, which is the lowest female literacy rate among
all the world’s regions. Incidentally, Nepal has the worst female literacy rate of 21
per cent in the region. To look ahead, one may take heart from the report’s finding
that despite obstacles many grassroots initiatives across South Asia are helping women to
realise the importance of their role as people, and as citizens. In Nepal’s context,
Chairman of the National Assembly Dr Mohammad Mohsin, while releasing the report, said a
joint committee of the parliament was being formed to review all the protocols on
women’s rights endorsed by Nepal so far. What is more essential is to see some
actions to address the gender question by drawing up programmes that give equality to
Nepalese women in governance and in economic, political and educational opportunities.
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