Status of Nepali Women

Nepali women constitute more than half of the country’s population but they remain discriminated lot and are treated as second-class citizens. This is due to the continuing dominance of the patriarchal value system which originates from the culture that always considers women inferior to men. There has been very little change in the status of women even after the restoration of democracy in 1990. On paper, the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, 1990 guarantees various rights to women. So do the International Human Rights Instruments to which Nepal is a party. In practice however, women do not enjoy equal benefits as men in the civil, political, social and economic advancement because of the discrimination institutionalized by family, society, market and the State. As a result, women remain marginalised in their pursuit of equality. Various factors, ranging from socio-cultural, economic and religious to political and legal, have played a role in affecting the status of women. These factors can not be analyzed in isolation because they are intrinsically tied to each other, but for the sake of clarity, each factor has been discussed separately.

Socio-cultural

The status of women has been affected by traditional patriarchal values that are prevalent in the society. Birth of a son is universally celebrated, but not so when it is a daughter, even more so in the case of the first child. The age-old adage, “Nevermind the delay so long as it is son,” (dhilo hos chharai hos) best reflects the patriarchal value system. Sons play a central role in the social setting, which accords sons a central role in carrying out family traditions. They carry the family name and hence give continuity to family tree, look after the old parents, and perform religious rites after the deaths of the parents. Daughters, on the other hand, are considered “outsiders”, their ultimate loyalty lies with their husband’s families. And therefore the general assumption that no use of giving opportunities to the daughters, it will be taken care of by her husband’s family. She is not defined as a lineal descent in the parental family. Thus a girl-child is exposed to a deeply entrenched gender-biased culture, and her priorities and needs get routinely sidelined—but it in sharing food, getting education, or clothing – at her parental home. This subordination starts very early and continues rights through the marriage. They are denied equal inheritance rights, are unable to pass on citizenship to their children unless their husbands are Nepali citizens, and in the eyes of the law their rights are based solely on their marital status, their allegiance to their husbands.

Child marriage, unequal marriage, and polygamy still exist.

While marriage potentially does grant the women some rights- as claim to her husband’s property – it hardly makes her life better. In a deeply traditional society, where societal norms regulate one’s life, a married woman has her task cut out. On the one hand, she is expected to live up to high expectations of a large number of family members, and on the other, she has her won husband and children to take care of. This puts her under immense physical and mental pressure.

Many become victims of abuses. But lack of education, societal pressure and economic dependency make them to be within the relationship even after continuous abuse from husband and in-laws.

Trafficking of women and children is a burning problem in the country. Some Badi women are still involved in the age-old practices of commercial sex, mainly due to the lack of alternative incoming-generating activities. Deuki and Jhuma traditions are still practiced. Nepali society still retains its superstitious belief on witchcraft, and many women, accused of being “witch” suffer severe violence.

Religious

Religion determines women’s position in the family and in society. Though existing religions differ in their approach to God and salvation, one common feature they share is the allocation of inferior status to women. Beside religious tenets, taboos also play a role in establishing women’s lower position in the society.

Nepal has two major religions; Hinduism and Buddhism, among them, 86.51 percent are Hindus and 7.78 percent are Buddhists. Broadly speaking, Buddhist women do enjoy better position compared to Hindu women, but within their own community, their status is lower in comparison to men. The notions of purity and impurity, which are dominant in the Hindu caste system, are even more stringent in relation to women. Menstruation and Childbirth are considered impure and this accords women lower status than men. Even women from high caste are considered lower in status than the men from lower caste. Furthermore, women are so influenced by the religious scriptures that they consider themselves subordinate to their male counterparts, and especially Hindu women consider it their duty to take orders from their husbands. Their whole life revolves around their husbands and children and only few have individual identities.

Economic

The right to economic independence is one of the core rights that influence the ability of an individual to make decisions and act on them. In addition, it has an impact on the access to and exercise of other rights, such as the right to education and health. The contribution of Nepali women in economic contribution is neither recognized nor valued as they do not have much control over family property and other resources. While more than 85 percent of women are engaged in agriculture, only 10.84 percent of households have land ownership of women. Women basically are engaged in unskilled domestic work, a contribution that has gone largely unnoticed by the State, and within their own family. Lack of economic empowerment means women are dependent on men and hence vulnerable to exploitation.

Political

Participation in political and public life has traditionally been regarded as a male domain in Nepal. Although women have been active in various political movements since the fifties, several factors have prevented their mass participation in local or national level politics, which in turn shapes the government. The factors include women’s illiteracy, their traditional and stereotyped roles that restricts mobility, and lack of resources. For majority of Nepali women, participation in politics still remains a dream. Women’s right to vote is often subjected to the consent of the male members of households. The past decades have witnessed an improveme3nt in women’s participation in political and public life due to reservation policies, especially in the local bodies. However, it seems women’s participation is limited to the reservation quota, and their partici9pation in each and every level of politics is far lower than men.

Legal

In Nepal, before the era of written law, Hindu scripture was a sole guide as source of law, which hardly favored the independence of women. Women were under men’s control in all aspects of life. Even after the introduction of written laws, the heavy influence of scriptural Hindu laws continued. The subordination of women can also be observed in the existing laws. Nepal still has 118 legal provisions and 67 schedules, spread in 54 different laws, including the Constitution, that are discriminatory against women. Though the recent amendment to the Country Code has attempted to amend some discriminatory laws, many discriminatory laws are in existence. For instance, according to citizenship law, citizenship can be acquired either through the father or through the husband, a practice that continues to reinforce the discrimination against the women, both as a family member and citizen.

There are laws which have attempted to provide special rights for the advancement of women. However, in doing so, they make women more dependent because some of the special laws are guided by a “projectionist approach”, rather than a “corrective approach”. For instance, to protect Nepali women from sexual exploitation in foreign countries an amendment was made in the Foreign Employment Act, 1986. The law required employment agencies to take an approval from women’s guardians and government before they were considered for foreign employment. However, instead of protecting women from exploitation by unscrupulous recruiting agencies, the law ahs further limited their employment opportunities, and in some cases they are at the mercy of the very male relatives they are trying to run away from.

Inadequate laws, weak laws and non-enforcement of existing laws make women further vulnerable to violence and discrimination. Moreover, lack of overall gender sensitivity among those in the law enforcement agencies and judges, who interpret the existing laws, coup0led with dominant influence of patriarchal culture, religions, social norms and values reinforced gender discrimination.

Text courtesy: Excerpts from a book published by the Forum for Women, Law and development on Special Measures for women and their impact. The TAF, NEPAL office supported the publication of the book. Our thanks are due to the Forum for women, Law and development. Ed.

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