The 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence commenced on November 25 with this year’s slogan From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Let’s Challenge Militarism and End Violence Against Women!
On the eve of this campaign which ends December 10, I was travelling around eastern Nepal listening to real-life tales of female victims who had metamorphosed into women activists in rural Nepal.
“Just because we are women, the whole community treats us very badly” says Kamala Danuwar, a health worker from Jilke Tole, Udaypur District. She took me to meet Dashami Maya Danuwar, a 76 year old farmer who suffered from a prolapsed uterus during most of her reproductive age. Kamala informed me that women all over the country faced this problem, where sections of uterus extend out of body causing severe pain. However, many husbands prohibited their wives from seeking treatment, as they would have to show their private parts to doctors. Also, they did not want to be deprived of sexual pleasure even if it was at the cost of their spouse’s health.
Dashami suffered from conditions related to prolapsed uterus after the birth of her first son. However, she bore this in silence for several years and gave birth to a second son. This torture continued until her eldest son got married and his wife took Dashami to Kamala who was a health worker in the area. Kamala, at the time, was associated with Women Rehabilitation Centre (WOREC), a feminist organization, and took Dashami in for treatment. That was about a decade ago, when there was very little awareness in rural Nepal on prolapsed uterus and its treatment. Dashami was lucky, but many other women like her pass their entire reproductive lives in suffering. Most of the times they do not even realize that their rights as human beings are being violated.
Kamala then took me to a neighboring village to meet Meena Danuwar who was married at the age of 14. “My husband used to beat me till I fainted. Then he would carry me to the hospital for treatment, and beat me again as soon as I healed,” she informed me. Her husband also tied their sons and beat them up. Her father-in-law supported her husband and encouraged him to beat his wife as she had brought no dowry. When the police or doctors enquired, she protected her husband, afraid that he would beat or even kill her if she named him. She hid her suffering from her maternal family as well. Kamala added that they used to see Meena being taken to the hospital, but did not raise their voice as it was normal for women to be beaten.
Community members thought that men had the right to treat their wives inhumanly. Women were afraid that if they said anything, they and their children would be kicked out of the house. Only after organizing into groups did Kamala learn that women also had rights, and could assert themselves. After this awareness, she encouraged Meena to register her case, and together they have taken action against the latter’s husband. In this way, women like Kamala and Meena turned themselves into human right defenders of women.
I then encountered Maiya (name changed) in Jilke tole. Her eyes swelled with tears when she remembered how her neighbors had labeled her a witch and tried to drive her away from the village. “Before my husband died, they all treated me like a special person. As soon as I became a widow, they wanted to drive me away so they could capture my land,” she informed me.
In a neighboring district of Udaypur, a father of an eight year old girl (names not disclosed for privacy) told me of the agonies he faced after he learned that his daughter was raped when she was seven. He was brave enough to register the case in the district court. However, “where is justice?” he asks. Two years after the case was registered, the perpetrator was still scot free. He still goes to the police station regularly, but the police tell him to give them the man’s whereabouts so that they can arrest him. The identity of the man is already known, but he has long since disappeared from his home town.
While the world is marking a 16-day campaign against gender violence, I was reflecting upon these stories from real life. It is a matter of shame for entire humanity that people are still subjected to violence just for being women. Girls are still married off very young, and sent to the custody of strangers who feel it is their right to treat them as they see fit. What are the rights of those girls? What are the responsibilities of their parents and in-laws? And finally, what is the role of the state? In reality, all roles and responsibilities, together with rights, are clearly defined by law. However, violence against women, especially the most vulnerable and disadvantaged of them, like children, single women, and women from poor and marginalized communities, still occurs all over the world. Therefore, there is still a need for women’s rights movements and campaigns to end discrimination and violence of all kind.
“For me, the 16 days of activism is a space to review the commitments made by different stakeholders throughout the year for women’s rights. This space allows us to come together and understand the actual situation. It also gives space for us to get connected with international women’s rights movements,” says Dr Renu Rajbhandary, a rights activist and founder of WOREC. She further informed that a lot of campaign activities are planned for the 16 days, in which information would be disseminated to the communities, and support extended to women all over the country.
The 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence is an international campaign originating from the first Women’s Global Leadership Institute sponsored by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership in 1991. November 25, the International Day Against Violence Against Women, was chosen as the first day of the campaign, and December 10, the International Human Rights Day as the last day in order to symbolically link violence against women and human rights, and to emphasize that such violence is a violation of human rights. This 16-day period also highlights other significant dates including November 29: International Women Human Rights Defenders Day; December 1: World AIDS Day; December 3: International Day of disability; December 5: International volunteer Day; and December 6: anniversary of the Montreal Massacre.
Let us hope that the campaign this year is able to decrease violence against women like Dashami, Meena, Maiya and the unnamed seven year old. Let us also hope that national and international activists, together with women victims turned activists in rural parts, like Meena, get more support from the state to take their campaign forward.
The author is Editor of Nariswor
Namrata1964@yahoo.com
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