According to Anbeshi – yearbook published by the NGO WOREC Nepal–1,581 cases of Violence Against Women (VAW) were registered at WOREC in 2012. WOREC has recorded 150 cases of VAW being registered on average every month and being published in different national media. We know that this is only the tip of the iceberg. The term VAW includes a wide variety of acts and practices that violate women’s rights. [break]
As Dr Yakin Erkut states in her report, “the violence is not an isolated incident targeting vulnerable women, but a systematic tool of patriarchal control to ensure that “women stay in their place”.” Women’s place is determined by society and supported by the state. In each society, masculinity is established by socio-culturally constructed malestream norms about gender and sexuality. Women who try to challenge that malestream become vulnerable to violence. Deep-rooted practices of oppression based on factors like race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, and sexual orientation also affect women’s lives, making them more vulnerable. Intersectionalities of these factors with oppression by patriarchal values make women more oppressed than men in any given class, race or group, reinforcing women’s low status in society and creating multiple disparities between women and men. This phenomenon makes clear that violence against women and girls is not just a consequence of the sex they are born with. VAW needs to be understood as a much broader social issue and not be limited to a “women’s issue”. It needs to be situated in the full spectrum of prevailing oppressive practices.
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Our context
Understanding the causes of VAW requires an understanding of political, social, and economic policies and the patterns of structural discrimination that create unequal power relations between different groups, and between men and women within these groups.
In Nepal, long standing feudal relations of production, specially on issues related to land, established discriminatory practices against “Dalits.” This created sharp divides between people from ruling class and the rest, and between rural and urban areas. The belief that the needs, feelings, or beliefs of one person or group are more important than those of another person or group—which relegated the latter group to “second class” status—are also instrumental in causing VAW. This belief created grounds for rationalizing humiliation, intimidation and control of the group or person considered to be “second class.”
Established patriarchal values in all groups (oppressed and oppressors) use this ground to rationalize humiliation, intimidation, control or any other form of violence against women. These practices constantly give the message that men and women are different, and that men are superior to women. These messages affect an individual’s capacity to respond to the violence, and create ground for the circle of violence to continue. As a result, inequality between women and men has become institutionalized in all areas affecting public and private lives. Politics, religion, media, civil society movements, cultural norms, values, and work places are just some examples of arenas built on patriarchal beliefs. It is even manifested in human rights movements.
Present practices
It is quite unfortunate that de-linking VAW from its root causes and undermining women’s agency by labeling them a group in need of protection is the dominant mode of addressing VAW today. The practice of categorizing women as a vulnerable group along with groups such as children, elderly, and people requiring support due to different physical or mental disabilities is widely prevalent. But the reality is different. The first People’s Movement in 1991 (when Nepal committed to international human right instruments) and grassroots level mobilization by Maoists during the conflict provided women with the space to understand their rights and the oppressions they endure. During the violent conflict, women proved their ability to run communities, take care of families, and raise their voice for justice in different ways, making clear at every level that they are fully formed human beings. Unfortunately, the state machinery and society still finds it difficult to accept.
The difficulty in acknowledging that women are fully formed human beings became even more apparent during and after the peace negotiation. Increasingly fundamentalist views on identity and rights, coupled with the tendency to militarize the country (treating army reintegration as the only issue of importance in the peace process) put issues related to justice and socio-economic rights of the people on the backburner. The whole country became focused on reintegration of the Army, reconstruction of destroyed physical infrastructure, and restructuring of the political system. Issues like reconstruction of the governance system and changing dominant values and practices related to laws and beliefs that present one group of people as better than others, were neglected. This practice also extended to development partners. This resulted in the continuation of the same values, practices, and structure of power, which was considered the origin of the conflict in the first place. This situation has provided ground to carry on or even bring in new disempowering elements in gender relations in laws, policies and social values. This has ended up perpetuating women’s dependent and subordinate status, making them key factors in the continuation of the circle of violence.
Another practice which factors in the continuation of VAW is the perception that it is the problem of poor/ignorant women, acts of alcoholic/psychologically abnormal men, or culture of a certain group or people (oppressed groups are usually singled out for blame). These groups are portrayed respectively as victims and perpetrators, and the measures to reduce VAW are tailored along the same lines. This, unfortunately, distracts from the reality. It leaves the structural agenda aside and disempowers women by compartmentalizing broad gender agenda.
Taking VAW merely as a law and order issue is a big mistake that we continue to make. Creating hierarchies among crimes, and treating crimes against women according to these hierarchies is another factor that continues VAW. Prioritizing sexual violence in comparison to other forms of violence before and after the conflict gave the message that some forms of violence are accepted. Laws and policies directed at narrowing down VAW by compartmentalizing it and prioritizing one or another form based on “expert advice” rather than the perspective of the persons affected has also been problematic.
The present global and national economic policies have reduced people to merely exportable goods (commodities). The erosion of livelihood options inside the country due to the absence of developmental programs on the one hand, and demand of cheap labor on the other has pushed women’s reproductive abilities and nurturing skills into the international market. Stereotypical values regarding women’s work is another factor that helps VAW thrive. These issues must be considered while designing programs to address VAW.
The author is Founder chairperson WOREC Nepal, and Current chairperson of National Alliance of Women Human Rights Defenders
Suchana.renu@gmail.com
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