Women’s Empowerment
Discriminatory Laws Must End

By Prativa Subedi

EMPOWERMENT is a process that addresses the condition and position and real participation of women. The term empowerment has been widely used in Nepal’s development field for the last 12 years, yet the current development strategy goes only some way towards achieving empowerment.

Despite gradual progress over the last 30 years, in our country the condition and position of women, remain poor. Our laws and customs continue to discriminate women on the basis of gender. From a very early age, females are treated as if they are not as good as men. Young girls are fed after their brothers, young wives look after husbands, and elderly women look after their sons.

Men are seen as protectors and providers. Women are seen as housemakers and farmers. That is why when it comes to being educated, boys are always encouraged to attend school, whereas female children (some as young as six) are expected to work in the house or in the fields.

The discrepancy between the status of men and women is evident in statistics: when it comes to education, Nepal’s literacy rates stand at 55 per cent for men and only 30 per cent for women. The discrepancy in terms of health is reflected in Nepal’s life expectancy rates: Nepal is one of only three countries in the world where the life expectancy for women is lower than that of men (53.52 years as compared to 54.88 or men).

Women’s culturally constructed inferior position to men is in part responsible for the huge amount of violence inflicted upon them for it has made violence acceptable. Women are victims of atrocious and inexcusable crimes, including witch hunting, child trafficking, wife beating and being excluded from the home.

The self confidence, of women in Nepal is very low. Many feel that they are worthless because they are rated as if they are worthless. For example, when someone asks a woman working in the land what she does, the typical response is nothing. This is because the woman’s activities, which are to generate food for her family, are not considered important because she is not earning money directly. That is the man’s job.

Development work over the last 25 years has taken a welfare approach to improving the living conditions of these women. Programmes, such as income generation activities, literacy classes and setting up health facilities, drinking water and child care facilities, have been implemented across Nepal by both the Government and local, national and non governmental organisations.

These activities are excellent: they alleviate poverty, bring women together and allow them so share information, learn skills, improve their self confidence and bring about the possibility of mobilisation.

This type of development, although essential, is the first step towards female empowerment. These grassroots activities improve the condition of women, but only lay the groundwork for improving the position of women.

The position of women comes through political empowerment, and by political empowerment it is referred to any decision making process, be it in the home, in the community or in parliament. Political empowerment only occurs when women play an equal role in all decision making processes across all sectors of society, from the family, the business sector the legal sector and the governmental sector.

Nepali women are slowly working towards improving their position. Currently 40,000 women are participating in local politics and there are afew female parliamentarians. Although Nepali women are underrepresented in the government, they are taking the matter into their own hands and empowering themselves.

After the restoration of democracy in Nepal in 1990, Nepali women have organised themselves into groups for different social and economic purposes. For instances, many village women have organised themselves into savings and credit groups and cooperatives so that they can look after their own financial transactions. This has enabled women to take out loans and make decisions for themselves.

For real political empowerment to occur we need to change our laws and discriminatory traditions so that they become non gender discriminatory. One of the first laws that we need to change in the one that denies women the right to own and resources. Not only is this discriminatory in itself, but it generates further discrimination for it limits the scope of women’s power. In almost every case, women can only use the land that most of them rely on to survive. They cannot own the land, and hence they do not have power. When it comes to decisions, women are forced to be subservient to the male members of their family. This law is representatives of a cultural and social system that discriminates women in every way.

For political empowerment to occur we need to train women to have confidence in themselves and to question the patriarchal institutions that subordinate them. Women need to become aware of their rights and what oppresses them if they are to grow. This can only happen if women and men have equal access to the tools that create power and confidence; education and information.

Currently, our socialisation process and education system does not teach the people how to question and analyse the world around them. Women blindly accept the discrimination that they endure for they do not understand that this discrimination is not a given. They need to learn that things can change.

Empowerment requires a multifaceted approach. Education, information and the ability to question are all essential ingredients when one wants to create an empowerment person. It is also important to remember that the process of empowerment is only possible in peace and under a non corrupt democratic system.

Women’s empowerment does not threaten male power. Female empowerment also empowers men or it liberates disadvantaged people from a false value system that treats women as inferior and not as powerful individuals who could be working side by side with men to make our society a better place.

Development should not only work towards fulfilling everybody’s basic needs but empower them to represent themselves and their needs in all aspects of their life.

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