Gender as a violation of women

Women must necessarily be included within the equality of person’s norm embedded in the political and social framework of this society, specifically articulated in the equal protection clause of the constitution.

By Ganesh Bhattarai

Gender, culture, ethnicity, religion, tradition and class are essential considerations for every legislature. However, these have not been incorporated into the legal system of Nepal. Half of the total population of Nepal is women. Many languages, cultures and ethnic groups co-exist in Nepal. However, the Nepalese legal system is dominated by the Hindu religion. All laws are made pursuant to the Hindu religion, which relegates women to a subordinate position in society.

The Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal stipulates that all are equal in the eyes of the law and no discrimination shall be made between male and female, irrespective of race, cast, religion and tribe. The theory is significant but it has not been turned into practice. Most Nepalese women are exploited. They are treated inhumanely but do not reveal it, due to the prevailing norms and values of society. Society is plagued by discrimination. While the male dawdles through the day gambling, sitting idle or involving himself in unproductive work, the female works beyond her physical capacity from dawn to dusk. Women have no access to the resources and power with which to make decisions. Since they are ignorant and ill treated, they are vulnerable to the suffering that arises from many different forms of harassment and exploitation.

There is a saying that "Motherhood is the great mesh in which all human relations are entangled in which lurk our elemental assumptions about love and power." Society nurtures a high preference for having sons. They are considered as economic insurance against the insecurities of old age and as an instrument for opening a gateway to heaven for parents by performing death rites, and by carrying on the family lineage and legal status. Women suffer within the natal family and outside it. One newspaper carries the news that a bus driver raped women within his bus. There are no any places where women feel secure. These incidents indicate that women are vulnerable and are used by men at their convenience. They are considered to be the objects and commodities of men and relegated to the position of second class citizens.

The source of discrimination between males and females is the defective value system prevailing in society from immemorial time. Women are neglected in this society. They are considered to be the property of men and there is no investment made in their lives. These defective values drive women into vulnerable situations. As a consequence, women are vulnerable to polygamy, child marriage, domestic violence and trafficking. This vulnerability is very fertile ground for the exploitation of girls and women. The patriarchal nature of society dominates the woman. The male mechanism of society has gripped the identity and sexuality of women, who become dependent on men.

Civilization is seen as the work of men, while women are essential to sustain it both through reproduction, childcare and softening and mending the rough edges of male creativity. These examples buttress the male dominant culture and justify the male strain thought. Women’s sexuality in society is structured into an objectification of the male gaze rather than being a consequence of natural or true forms. Gender formations are structured on the basis of this. Ultimately the power that constitutes the structure of gender relations and the domination of women by men is that of the visualization and definition of the nature of women’s sexuality and this gender. Social reality constructs the hegemony. The process that gives sexuality its male supremacist meaning is therefore the process through which gender inequality becomes socially real.

Justice for women is determined by the traditional male argument that women are different from men and have an undeveloped sense of the abstract and impartial objectivity that justice requires.

The law sees and treats women the way men see and treat women. The liberal state coercively and authoritatively constitutes the social order in the interest of men as a gender through its legitimating norms, forms in relation to society and substantive policy. The state’s formal norms recapitulate the male point of view on the level of design. The Constitution envisages an equal footing for men and women. However, discriminatory laws are in force that confines women within the four walls of the house. Interestingly, women are not regarded as members of their natal family. Parents shoulder the burden to bring up their daughters until they reach 16 years of age. At 16, a girl is of marriageable age under the law. After marriage, a woman can become a member of her husband’s family.

A daughter is expected to give birth to sons for her husband in order to continue his family lineage and legal status. If a wife fails to have a son, the husband is able to have another marriage consummated legally. A wife has then two options left. Either she should compromise with her husband and continue living with him together with his other wife, or she should divorce (Muluki Ain, Logne Swasni ko Mahal). However, due to the social circumstances, she cannot take this second option. The law allows legal separation from a husband in such a condition. However, the husband can do all sort of tricks to disable their wives. Since the law is not favorable to women, the justice for them from courts is not only expensive but also almost impossible. Women must struggle to live as women while existing inside a social world heavily structured and imbued with masculine practices. They must claim the rights to develop specifically critical perspectives to affirm and change for the better the position of women, and by implication come to a fuller and deeper appreciation of the nature of humanity.

Women of Nepal have no any independent status, thus are deprived of fundamental rights. They are deprived of education, social mobilization and entrepreneurial opportunity and are subject to the choices of men. They are compelled to tolerate unwanted and untimely pregnancies. Women must face unbearable situations to make their male counterparts happy. Social norms and values are major barriers to the equality of men and women. These barriers are embedded deep in the community and cannot be uprooted without the cooperation of community members. To change or remove this pervasive mentality, women should be empowered. Sharper tools should be applied to cut social barriers.

Women must necessarily be included within the equality of person’s norm embedded in the political and social framework of this society, specifically articulated in the equal protection clause of the constitution.

Male supremacy is a complete social system for the advantage of one sex over another. The injustice of sexism is not irrationality; it is domination. Law must focus on the latter and that focus cannot be achieved through a formal lens. Binding ourselves to rules would help us only if sexism is legal error.

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