National 4 (Spotlight Weekly)

“The Girls Of Nepal Have To Be Given Equal Identity”

— Bandana Rana

Bandana Rana is the president of Sancharika Samuha, a women communicators’ group. She has been involved in advocating women’s rights and in efforts to end gender-based discrimination in the country. A well-known women’s rights advocate, Rana spoke to SANJAYA DHAKAL on various issues confronting the women of Nepal. Excerpts:

What are the major issues before Nepalese women at present?

There is not one single issue and I don’t know where to start from. As you know, Nepal has a strong patriarchal society and women still remain in the second category of citizens – highly deprived of many facilities and opportunities. If you look at civil service or other positions, you can find the absence of women very strongly. I don’t know why it doesn’t bother people that there are so few people in such positions. Over fifty percent of our population is not reflected in these positions. And then there is the issue of education. Now we have the Millennium Development Goals and many other UN goals, which still remain unfulfilled. The MDG does give a target of improving education by certain standard by 2015. The MDG started in 2000 and we are already in 2004 – looking at the rate of progress we are making, it doesn’t look likely that we will achieve the goal. Girls still don’t go to school in many rural areas where they bear the burden of household. The percentage of girls going to primary school has still not improved significantly despite primary schooling being free. On top of that, if you talk about female teachers, there are hardly any female teachers in rural areas. Although there is a policy to have at least 40 percent of female teachers, there are hardly ten percent of them. There is significance of female teachers in education as studies have shown that girls tend to come to school if there is a female teacher.

What about their legal status?

Still there are scores of laws that discriminate against women. According to a study conducted by FWLD, there are still 137 legal provision that are discriminatory. Though the Constitution says that men and women are equal, these legal provisions make them unequal. Look at the 11th amendment of Civil Code, which has been said to be the crux of women’s rights to property – the 16 number clause still entitles you to return property. Here we are not talking about property, we are talking about identity, which is the most important thing. The girls of Nepal have to be given equal identity. Then comes the economic security; then comes the empowerment; then comes the women’s rights. These areas have not been addressed. We have been advocating for participation of women, at least 33 percent of women participation in every sphere of life. At this rate of progress, we cannot expect to meet our goals.

Violence against women is also seen as a major issue. What is the situation here?

Violence against women is a major concern. Because of the discrimination, because of the lack of policies and infrastructures, and because of the lack of awareness – as we have a very strong patriarchal culture – I must say that violence against women of every kind including domestic violence, community violence, social, religious and cultural violence exists. Everyday women have to face mental as well as physical torture, which disables them from taking part in any kind of social activities. These apart, there are different discriminatory rituals and cultures taking place here. There are things, which we can’t imagine in this 21st century, take place in our society. There are practices like Jhuma, Deuki, Jari, Chhaupadi and so on that occur in our society. These things are so common in our society that everybody including educated communicators like you and me turn a blind eye. Women are being treated like animals. Actually, we need to do an analysis to find out whether religion really is perpetrating such violence against women, which I don’t think is true. I am sure the religion is being misinterpreted to carry out these practices. We need to think hard do we really need to blindly follow these rituals even when we know that it is violating human rights of women.

What do you think about the situation of health of women?

Health is a quite critical issue. In rural areas, when we talk about health of women, it all starts from gender discrimination. Right from childhood, girls are not given nutritious food. We also have cultural restrictions where during menstruation and where during motherhood, you are supposed to stay on a fast and you are not supposed to eat certain food and so on. To make the matters worse, in rural areas there are not enough health services. Doctors are rare and health posts are manned by health assistants. Women are also shy to visit the health posts where all doctors are male. Moreover, women don’t have the decision-making power even when it concerns their health, particularly reproductive health. They can’t decide on their own to use family planning and things like that. Unless and until these things are improved, women will have to continue suffering. We have to plan to improve women’s health. They are the ones that are creating the next population. If their health is bad, what can we expect of their offsprings. We have a staggering statistics where 12 women die everyday while giving birth to child.

Women’s rights movement has been going on in Nepal for the last three decades and particularly after the restoration of democracy in 1990. Looking back, what do you think have been its achievements?

The women’s rights movement got started right from 1970s but it got accelerated after 1990s. Most particularly, this movement got a boost after the Fourth Women’s Conference in Beijing in 1995. Almost a decade has passed since Beijing conference. After Beijing Conference, the number one agenda was the violence against women. It was only after the Beijing Platform for Action that the violence against women got the center-stage. Yes, to a certain extent the women’s rights movement has been able to establish itself and raise voices. Earlier voices were heard from individual level but now they have been institutionalized. There are a lot of networking now. And another important aspect is that the women’s movement no longer remains in the domain of women alone. Its men and people at large who have become sensitive enough. The awareness level has gone up. Earlier it was said that women’s movement was being launched only by a handful of city-based and educated women. But now even rural women are raising their voices. Women’s voices are now being heard at the policy level.

How do you think should this movement shape up in the coming days?

Well, we don’t have a strategy in black and white, which, I think, we should have. One thing I must say is that Nepalese women were not too good at advocacy. When you want to have advocacy, you need an integrated collective voice. Here, different networks work in different manners, which sometimes create confusion. We are also very weak in research, study, statistics, documentation and justification. We just say that we want this. Earlier we used to advocate for women’s rights and when we were asked to justify, we didn’t know how to. That had weakened our advocacy. I believe that advocacy needs to be complimented by research, statistics, real case studies, which lends truth to your case.

What are the positive developments that have been witnessed in the situation of women in the past one decade?

There are some positive developments though the picture is dismal. The awareness level has increased; women are no longer voiceless; there is more institutional development; and that there has been some level of receptiveness at the policy making level. But there is a long way to go.

Of late, a lot of women have come up impressively in different walks of life. How do you see this?

It is really encouraging to see women succeeding in various field like business, communications and so on. This is what we have been aiming for. We don’t want women restricted within the four walls of their houses. They have proved that, given the equal opportunity, they can succeed in any field. More remarkable has been the growing level of acceptance of women in working environment.

What are your views about the need to provide reservations for women?

I think it is absolutely necessary. In the present context, there has to be competition between equal partners. In order to create an environment, positive discrimination like reservation is very necessary.

What are the differences between the situation of rural and urban women?

Mostly, the issues they face are common and shared. All women face violence- the kind and degree may vary. Definitely, rural women are more deprived due to obvious reasons. And we also need to provide special care to them. Women in rural parts do face more challenges in terms of access to health services and so on. Urban women being close to policy-making level, have double role to play for women empowerment.

How do you the ongoing conflict affecting women?

We have been collecting some case studies on sexual exploitation of women in conflict situation. When I read these case studies, I feel shock. On one hand, there are men fleeing the villages for fear that they might be recruited by the Maoists or if they have joined the Maoists leaving women behind to look after the field as well as households. They now have dual responsibility; they have to look after their children and also plough the field. On top of that, they face problem as their sons grow up – should I keep my son with me? Sometimes they are not even in contact with their husbands for ages. Suddenly, these women who never had to make any decision, have to make a lot of important decisions. Do they make the right decision? The trauma that they go through is miserable. They are also squeezed between security forces and the Maoists. The Maoists come and ask for food and shelter, and the security forces come scolding why they helped Maoists. Their daughters are being raped – by both sides. Look at the loss the women are facing. On the other hand, look at who are dying whether the security forces or the Maoists, it is the women who have to suffer the loss of their sons and husbands. So, it is clear that women are the worst sufferers of this conflict. Worse, they are not being involved in peace management.