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]]>A victorious moment for all Nepali women around the world indeed! But that didn’t put an end to an ancient tradition of suppressing women’s freedom. In fact, the journey is a long way to go.
Nepali Women Inequality Statistics:
Yes! Nepal definitely has a long way to go in bringing empowering its women. But some recent events from the year 2017 have reinstated our faith in humanity and justice.
Social Stigmas and Inequality against Nepali Women:
Nepal is a developing nation, but there are many traditional practices and other societal thought-processes that influence the ideologies and mindsets of the citizens of this nation; restricting their women from exercising their rights.
Some of which include:
What measures need to be taken?
“Awareness and advocacy are very important. If women are intellectual and have access to education and economic opportunities, empowerment is possible,” says Valerie Julliand, UN Resident Coordinator for Nepal.
The United Nations has been working closely with the N Nepali adult fe epal government, lawmakers, judiciary & executives with national and international civil societies in law, policies and capacity building to do the following:
So, how have Nepal’s ‘S’heroes contributed to Women Equality?
Nepal Against Child Marriages
Change needs to be brought about at the grass-root level and no one understands this better than Sangita BK. She currently leads the Pariwartan Girls’ circle and is teaching 28 girls to fight for their rights.
Sangita convinced her parents out of her own marriage at an early age and now she’s convincing the government against child marriages in Nepal.
With skills and training from UNFPA, she now shares her knowledge with girls who have the same story as hers and who can still be saved from the curse of child marriage.
Sangita now has a community that supports her cause against child marriages and chhaupadi, a practice that keeps menstruating women away from their homes.
Nepal Against Human Trafficking
Aama is Nepal’s most loved mother and why not? Anuradha Koirala is a mother to every survivor of human trafficking because she leaves no stone unturned in saving them from the menace.
With an ever-vigilant team, she has been rescuing young women since 1993. Not only does she rescue them but supports them mentally and emotionally. She helps them make a living for themselves.
Maiti Nepal, Aama’s foundation conducts regular activities including awareness campaigns and women empowerment programs and provides legal support to the needy.
Nepal for Women Empowerment
Bridging the gap between urban and rural population in Nepal, GET Nepal empowers young girls through travel.
While travelling is not an option that the rural community would consider, Sajana’s team works to bring these girls out of their societal stigmas and learn & understand the world through different cultures, lifestyles and exchanging skills/knowledge.
And then we cannot overlook Aama Surakhsya’s contribution in ensuring safe childbirths by drastically reducing maternal mortality and infant mortality in Nepal.
Other than providing timely transport to ensure safe childbirths, the community is working in challenging the existing health practices in Nepal.
Thanks to the program, more than two million Nepali women have access to medical services in the hilly terrain of Nepal.
Nepal Government for Motherhood Rights
Government policies and initiatives are also changing the face of Nepal’s erstwhile women-unfriendly environment.
The recent bill on single-motherhood sent some waves across the country and provided the much-needed relief for single mothers in Nepal.
The new bill titled Right to Safe Motherhood not only enables single mothers to pass on their identity to their child but also incorporates some stringent laws concerning the medical health of mothers.
The History of Women’s Equality Day
August 26, 2018 marked Women Equality Day, which was first celebrated in the US in 1920. The day commemorates the adoption of the 19th amendment to the UN Constitution, which granted American women the constitutional ‘right to vote’.
President Richard Nixon issued Proclamation-4236 for Women’s Equality Day, which reads:
“The struggle for women’s suffrage, however, was only the first step toward full and equal participation of women in our Nation’s life. In recent years, we have made other giant strides by attacking sex discrimination through our laws and by paving new avenues to equal economic opportunity for women. Today, in virtually every sector of our society, women are making important contributions to the quality of American life. And yet, much still remains to be done”.
Coming back to Nepal, the journey for Women’s rights has been as old as the People’s War, which petitioned against economic stagnation, high unemployment, poor education among many other factors prevailing during the monarchic rule.
The 40-point set of demands penned down by Maoist Communist Party included a specific demand for women calling for equality through ‘stopping of patriarchal exploitation and discrimination against women’.
The CPN-M later formed the All Nepal Women’s Association which organized grassroot campaigns against caste and gender discrimination throughout the war.
The movement encouraged women to become action-oriented and insurgency participants. A lot of women believed that a struggle for democratic rights should be a struggle for women rights.
The belief would help them bring about legal equality, political participation and socio-economic empowerment. Throughout the People’s War, women were political activists and guerrilla soldiers, contributing to 40 percent of the military group.
Conclusion:
While the rest is history, we hope for a brighter tomorrow in Nepal’s economy where women are equally empowered as men and utilize their rights as Nepali citizens to their full potential.
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]]>The last three years has seen her transform from a girl to an activist. During this time, she formed nice adolescent girl support groups and on her own has stopped at least a dozen child marriages. Currently leading the Pariwartan Adolescent Girls’ circle, Sangita is teaching 28 girls to stand up for their rights.
Climbing newer heights in her fight against child marriages, she convinced the local government authority to allot a budget to help these girls progress with their empowerment activities.
Early Childhood and the Challenges
Sangita and her family members are from the marginalized Dalit ethnic group, or caste. Being the target of inequality since her childhood, Sangita still has memories of being discriminated based on caste. She says, “I asked my parents so many times: how can such discrimination exist in our society?”
She was also faced with gender-equality, where in she was going to be married while she was still in her 10th grade. Her parents had stated that they wanted her to get married.
If It were not for her knowledge about the downsides of child marriage, she would have been a victim of child marriage too. She says, “Had I married back then, I would have definitely been out of school”. She had been educated through a program supported by UNFPA and the government’s Women and Children’s Office, which trains community leaders, activists and youth about human rights, as well as the harms of child marriage
In Nepal, Child marriage is a common country. As per statistics, more than a third of women, aged 20-24 were married before the age of 18 years.
The practice can prove very fatal to girls, they either become victims of abuse or suffer with early pregnancies that their bodies will not be able to bear. It also forces them to drop out of their education which is very crucial to their growth. (Image Source: Nepalindata)
Sangita says” I was not against my parents but against their mindset that a girl should be married off at an early age.” “I repeatedly told them that for any girl, education and empowering come before marriage. And they were convinced.”
Empowering Young Girls
Sangita took part in UNFPA-supported leadership trainings in 2013 and 2015. There, she equipped herself with counselling, social and financial skills that she could share with her adolescent girls’ groups.
Rupantaran helps girls develop a range of skills including accounting, nutrition, sexual and reproductive health and civic participation. With support from District Women and Children’s Office and the UNFPA-UNICEF Global Program to Accelerate Action to End Child Marriage, Rupantaran has reached more than 5,000 girls like Sangita since 2015.
The knowledge I acquired from this training has helped me give a voice to other girls so that they can take ownership of their lives and develop their leadership skills.”
Contributions to the Community
The girls’ groups she started have made a strong impact on the girls in Bajhang. Many members were able to convince their parents into cancelling or postponing their marriages. They have been empowered to the extent that they intervene whenever child marriages are being arranged in the community.
These girls also conduct peer education sessions in their schools, community rallies and in door-to-door campaigns.
Other Initiatives
They also address Chaupadi, the practice of secluding women during menstruation and that too in unsafe and unhygienic conditions and other practices like gender-based violence and the caste-discrimination.
The Difference Made
Now a graduate, Sangita is still the same passionate young girl she was. She treks five hours a day to and back from her class. Speaking about Sangita, Tita Magar, official at the Women and Children’s Office says, “She is a role model in her community and family, and many girls look up to her.”
Inspiration to the Generations
Sangita has a set a special mark for herself among the women of Nepal and worldwide. Her efforts will continue to be remembered for ages to come.
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