Nepalese women like most of their counterparts of third world countries have been suffering various forms of violence that originate from age-old gender-based discrimination and overtly patriarchal form of society, which still treats them as second class citizens. However, in the last one decade, the nature of violence perpetrated against Nepalese women has undergone a drastic change with the raging internal strife across the country. In addition to traditional forms of domestic violence, they are now subjected to terrors of armed conflict including being forced to pick up guns themselves, getting displaced, raped, suffering the loss of their husbands/sons and so on. Even though their trauma is growing, neither the society nor the state has been able to pay attention

By SANJAYA DHAKAL

On the eve of the International Day Against the Violence Against Women, Babita Biswokarma, a native of remote Salleri VDC-4 of Dailekh district, lost her seven-day-old baby on November 22.

She had fled to Dailekh district headquarters along with her family members after the Maoists killed her husband for trying to resist them. Forced to take shelter in a cold classroom of Tribhuwan Higher Secondary School, she could not save her baby from the harsh winter. In the next classroom Pagali Sinjali was struggling to protect her baby whom she gave birth the day she reached the Dailekh headquarters.

The two ladies were among the 1600 people – more than half of whom were women and children – who had fled to the headquarters of this Maoist-infested mid-western district after the insurgents began to crack down against those who tried to resist them.

In fact, the women of Dullu, Salleri, Naumule and surrounding villages of Dailekh had organized rallies and raised voices against the Maoist atrocities in desperation and frustration after the latter began to forcefully recruit the villagers as their ‘whole-time’ cadres. The show of resistance was the cause for their displacement.

The sufferings of Babita and Pagali reflect the miseries of hundreds of thousands of Nepalese women.

Just two weeks ago, around six personnel reportedly belonging to security forces were accused of raping a 15-year-old girl in Bharaul of Sunsari district. The forces were said to have gone to the area on search mission. According to the victim – who is now undergoing treatment at Dharan hospital thanks to the help extended by rights activists – six personnel raped her turn by turn and threatened not to divulge the incident.

The atrocities from both the sides have hurt the most vulnerable section of society – women and children – the most.

Violent Dimension

As the conflict rages on reports of rape, beatings, displacement, loss of relatives have haunted Nepalese women. According to a study conducted by Women for Human Rights (WHR), a single women group dedicated to address the social, economic and legal issues of widows, there are around 7000 women in the country who have been widowed due to the insurgency. It is anybody’s guess how the trauma of single women must be affecting the social system.

Till mid-November 2004, 10,524 Nepalese have lost their lives due to conflict, according to the INSEC data. Out of them, 708 are women while the gender of 1661 others could not be ascertained. Moreover, around 300 children, too, have been killed in the period.

Many more have been injured after being caught in crossfire. In remote villages, where youths have migrate en masse to India, women have even stepped into the shoes of their husbands and sons tilling the field and doing outside work in addition to the household chores.

“Although in terms of number, only ten percent of those killed in conflict are women. But they are the worst sufferers,” writes Mahendra Bista, in his paper titled Armed Conflict and Women. “Maoists have claimed that one-third of their cadres are women.”

“Because of conflict, women have suffered trauma of losing their husbands/children; displacement; disability and so on. That apart, they have also been burdened with social insecurity, physical-mental torture and other conflict-related health problems like lack of nutritional food during pregnancy, lack of regular check up etc,” writes Bista.

Violence against women exist at various levels domestic, community, social, religious and cultural. “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,” said Bandana Rana, president of Sancharika Samuha (Women Communicators’ Group).

According to Rana, the conflict has added another dimension in the VAW. “We have been collecting some case studies on sexual exploitation of women in conflict situation. When I read these case studies, I was shocked. 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,” she said.

Shyam Sundar Sharma, joint secretary at the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare conceded that the violence was taking a heavy toll on Nepalese women. “They are now being subjected to both the traditional as well as modern tools of violence.” Secretary at the Ministry Shashi Kanta Mainali goes a step further when he says, “Conflict has added another terrible dimension to the existing plight of Nepalese women. They are now forced to migrate. In absence of male family members they are also working in agricultural fields and conducting the death rituals of their dear ones.”

Sharma said that the government has been coordinating with the civil society organizations across the country to provide relief to such women sufferers.

Bharati Silwal Giri, Assistant Resident Representative, Gender Equality and Social Development Unit at the UNDP, also believes that women and children are the worst sufferers of current conflict in Nepal. “However, we must take armed conflict and the peace process as opportunities to address the inherent inequalities and discriminations,” she said.

Saga Of Displacement

One of the most appalling consequences of the internal insurgency has been the en masse internal displacement. Tens of thousands of families have migrated en masse in search of security and livelihood. Most of the displaced families hail from the Maoist flashpoints in mid-west and far west region.

Tens of thousands of youths have left the country to work in India or overseas. And many of their families who have been threatened by either of the two warring sides for some reasons have opted to leave their native.

The immediate destination of these families are the district headquarters from where they gradually move towards urban centers and capital valley.

According to the World Bank’s Country Assistance Strategy (2004-2007), approximately 300,000 people have migrated to Kathmandu Valley in recent years. “There has been large direct impacts (of insurgency) on the livelihoods of millions of primarily rural-based individuals, for which killing, extortion, confiscation, forced recruitment and infrastructure destruction have created fear and resulted in migration, decreased agricultural production, and a decline in living standards,” the CAS states.

More than half of the displaced persons are women and children. Their tales of tragedies are heart-rending. Parbati Khadka, 75, a displaced elderly in Dailekh recounts how she was forced to leave her village after the insurgents killed her son. Robbed of their livelihood, many displaced families are groping in desperation.

Dismal Picture

Despite some improvements in the situation of women in Nepal, they are still largely without voice and influence in the public domain. The violence against women is an aspect that has close links with their poor socio-economic conditions.

In education and health, they lag behind. The ratio of young literate females to males is 82 percent (WB, CAS report).

In Nepal, the very event of giving life often leads to death. Each year, some 4,500 women die of complications of delivery. According to surveys, every two hours, one woman dies of such complications. According to Census 2001, the Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) per 100,000 delivery was 539 in 1991. Still it was a vast improvement from the figure of 850 in 1981.

The Census 2001 also showed that the life expectancy of women has increased gradually to reach 60.7 years in 2001 (against 60.1 years of men). Again, this is a vast improvement from the female life expectancy of 53.5 years in 1991 (against 55 years of men) and 48.1 years in 1981 (against 50.9 years of men). The Gender Development Index (GDI) in 2001 was 0.470 against 0.312 in 1991. Likewise, the Gender Empowerment Ratio (GEM) was 0.385 in 2001 up from 0.191 in 1991. The Tenth Plan of the government aims to raise GDI to 0.55 and GEM to 0.5.

Half a million children of school-going age are still out of school and over 60 percent of them are girls. The overall literacy for female is 42.5 percent compared to 65.1 percent for male in 2001. “The number of women with School Leaving Certificate (SLC) and higher degrees still constitute only 43 for every 100 men with such qualifications,” writes Dr. Meena Acharya, a prominent women’s rights advocate in her recent book titled “Efforts At Promotion of Women in Nepal”. Similarly, the number of women with graduate and higher degrees, is still only 23 to 100 men with such degrees.

A report prepared for the National Women’s Commission revealed that only 0.78 percent of houses were actually (legally) owned by women – that is just over three women out of 500 had houses in their name. Only 5.25 percent of women had land ownership certificate in their name. Likewise, only 5.45 percent of women owned their livestock.

Around 17 percent of women had some kind of properties/assets in their name like ornaments, jewelries, houses, lands etc. Only 16 percent of women had a regular income. The civil service had 8 percent and private sector 8 percent of women workforce.

According to Census 2001, the sex ratio (males per 100 females) in Nepal, which has the total population of over 23.4 million, is 99.8. Among the women population, 55.3 were economically active. In fact, they occupy 43 percent in the total economically active population – 48 percent in agriculture sector and 34 percent in non-agriculture sector.

Conclusion

Thanks to the bloody conflict, women of Nepal have been subjected to added forms of violence. Rapes, displacement, lack of basic services, trauma, depression etc have hounded them.

It is high time the civil society and the state took notice of the deteriorating condition of the most vulnerable community. Involving them in the peace process could be a first step in the direction of addressing the social and economic problems faced by the women.

Meanwhile, the parties of conflict need to realize the consequences of their violent actions particularly in relation with the impacts on women and children. This is the least women like Babita Biswokarma expect from their community at this juncture.