NEPAL-- WOMEN'S RIGHTS

THE CONFLICT AND WOMEN'S RIGHTS

Julie Bridgham's film, "Sari Soldiers: Women on the Frontline in Nepal", examines the lives of six different women and their involvement in Nepal's civil war. The Nepali stories include a Royal Nepal Army soldier, a Maoist, a mother of a "disappeared" daughter, an anti-Maoist village activist, a human rights attorney, and a street protester. Her film shows the role of women on all sides of the conflict as well as the greater political and human rights issues in Nepal. Women's rights are human rights, and there have been many instances of human rights abuses during the civil war. Even before the conflict began, women held an inferior position in society. The conflict only exascerbated these inequalities and exposed the vulnerability of the female population in Nepal.

Women have all too often been the unrecognized victims in the conflict because they already had limited access to protection, justice, and equal human rights. The Maoist rebel-Government conflict has created more chaotic conditions for most women in Nepal, especially those living in rural areas. The economic impact of the war has been even worse for the female population because all too often they had little before the war and they have limited access to education and other resources. The overwhelming majority of women victimized by Maoists are suffering incredibly because of the lack of timely financial support. Many women are left to fend for themselves economically when their husbands and sons are forced to fight in the war. They are forced to continue their work as well as take over for their missing spouse, while still trying to support and raise their children. Even worse, when a woman's husband is killed, she has no secure source of income for herself or her family, except for a small pension from the army. Already living in impoverished conditions, the conflict in Nepal has only made the situation more unbearable for the thousands of women who must deal with the emotional trauma of losing a family member as well as more economic burdens. Nepali women are the majority of the poor who stand to lose access to critical social services, especially if they are in an area that is mostly under rebel control.

Women in Nepal are also directly affected by the conflict because they are heavily recruited to fight for either side and they are often targets of violence and coercion. Maoists constantly target women and try to recruit them with propaganda about changing the situation of the rural population. The recruitment of women into the activities of the Maoist cause inhibits many women from working and caring for their children. Especially in rural areas, human rights abuses targeted at girls in schools are driving many Nepali families to keep their girls out of school, thus perpetuating the system of inferiority that already exists. In areas of Nepal where the conflict is the worst (the west), many girls are already not attending school because women and girls are most often abducted outside of their homes.

Perhaps the most devastating factor in the fight for women's rights in Nepal is the effect the conflict has on the participatory role of women. Maintenance of national security and peace is an important factor for economic growth and development and the empowerment of women. Violence, political participation, and attacks on women are discouraging political participation and endangering any gains that had previously been made on women's rights in Nepal. Participation in local political groups and community groups becomes more of a burden during times of conflict and it can also become dangerous. Program's targeted at women and other marginalized populations are no longer a priority and are very hard to sustain in the midst of conflict and danger. Yet, if Nepalese women are to play an equal part in security and maintaining peace, they must be empowered politically and economically. Because of gender discrimination, the needs of women themselves have been the first to be sacrificed during times of conflict. Women have been excluded from political decision-making, jeapordizing even more their rights for the future.

"Sari Soldiers: Women on the Frontline in Nepal" examines the role of women in Nepali society from every angle. It also shows how the conflict has impacted women of all economic, political, and regional backgrounds. The film not only looks at the individual struggles of each of the six women, it frames these struggles against a backdrop of economic and political strife. In the next blog, I will discuss the legal framework of this conflict and the human rights abuses that have been documented.