It is moments like these that truly emancipate and liberate women from long-drawn inequality and discrimination. Bigelow and contributions of many like her representing the real power of women in their respective professions should be hailed and their achievements honored so that it motivates women to excel in what they do. Unfortunately, however, for the majority of female citizens in this part of the world, professional success and substantive progress remains a far cry. This is so because much of the success of women’s rights movement is contingent upon openness and change of attitude of the society at large. It also invariably rests on the willingness on the part of the lawmakers and executives to scrap discriminatory laws and practices.
At home, since the formation of the Constituent Assembly (CA) in May 2008, the legislature-parliament passed a historic bill. On April 27 last year, the CA, which itself has 197 women members out of 601, passed the Domestic Violence Bill after 14 years of consistent lobby by various women bodies. Earlier, in November 2006, the then House of Representatives passed the Citizenship Bill allowing citizenship in mother’s name. These are progressive initiatives. However, sadly, the implementation aspect has remained so weak and ineffective that hardly few women have benefited from these laws of the land.
Likewise, the civil society-led movement is driven by donor funding in Nepal. Very few NGOs have reached the remote corners of the country with effective women-oriented programs. And even in those cases when they have, there are no sustainable awareness campaigns that have long-term impact to empower the rural women. As a result, conservative practices like witchcraft or even the outdated dowry system goes on in the country unabated. It is high time the women rights workers realize that just by organizing rallies and one-day seminars and by attending international events, no substantive progress can be made in emancipating women. They must apply consistent pressure to keep the momentum of the entire process alive. Real change will be felt only then.
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