Feminism in Nepal

Feminism in Nepal is primarily concerned with equity and equality of opportunity. Nepali society is traditionally highly patriarchal—it was not until 2007 that women under 35 could apply for passports without their father's or husband's permission—and feminists in Nepal seeks to redress this situation. Most women in Nepal are considered to be beneath their husbands and fathers in a patriarchal society.

History

The first feminist organization in Nepal was the Nepal Woman Association started under the leadership of Mangala Devi Singh.

Achievements

• After the lobbying of various organisations and feminist groups, 33% seats are reserved in every committee and group starting from the grass root level up to the legislative of Nepal.
• Government grants subsidy on tax while registering property in the name of women to improve the access of women on property.
• Women are allocating and reserving 33% seats on every possible programs fromm scholarship to government jobs to increase the participation of women.

Organisations

• ABC Nepal is a non governmental, non profit organisation based in Kathmandu with regional offices in Bhairahawa and Biratnagar. It has been working since 1987 to empower women, raise the status of women through gainful employment opportunity, vocational training and leadership development in women. It has its focus on anti trafficking campaigns.
• Maiti Nepal
• Sancharika Samuha ^[1] www.sancharika.org: Sancharika Samuha (SAS) is a Forum of women communicators established after the Beijing conference in April 1996 with the objective of promoting a healthier and gender sensitive media.

Regarding its History of establishment, after studying the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA) closely, small group of women media professionals legally registered “Sancharika samuha” as a non-governmental organization with the objective of taking forward the section “J-Women and Media” in Nepal.Since then Sancharika Samuha has been promoting the creation of a gender equal society by enhancing the capacity of media for promoting equity and equality based development.

As its slogan 'Communication for Equality' implies mainstreaming gender in the media has always been the overriding concern of SAS. For this purpose, SAS has been conducting various activities on media advocacy on gender and equality particularly related to reducing gender based violence. SAS has also been conducting activities for raising awareness by conducting public outreach programmes, research, Sancharika feature service, media monitoring and media campaigns. With these activities and programmes, SAS has been able to play a catalyst role between the women's movement and the media contributing to generate better understanding and bridging the differences that exist.

The mission of the establishment of “Sancharika” is to enhance the capacity of print and electronic media for promoting gender equality and equity based development in Nepal.It also advocates for equality through research and media campaigns.The campaigns and advocacy programs have direct impact on Women.

Sancharika Samuha has its main objective to design programs which aims at building capacity of women in the Journalism sector. The other objectives are as follows: To create gender equal society by enhancing the capacity of media for promoting equity and equality based development. To enhance representation of female journalists in the Nepalese media and strengthen the capacity of female journalists through the improvement of their professional skills and their access to the Nepalese media. To ensure press freedom

• Shakti Samuha
• Women LEAD is a non-governmental organization based in Kathmandu that provides women's leadership development training and advocacy in Nepal.

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References

1. Sancharika Samuha

Feminism In Nepal The main goals of Feminism are gender equality and equal respect for both men and women. In Nepal there are many legalized patriarchal values under Malikhain (Nepal national code.) Women in Nepal do not share and cannot gain ancestral property, and women cannot transfer citizenship to her children. When the movement first began the original goals were concerning education, awareness, and voting rights for women.[1]

Violence against women in Nepal

"Gender Based Violence (GBV) is the leading cause of death in women aged 19 to 44." [2] GBV can include both physical and psychological damage. According to http://www.vawhack.org One-third (35 percent) of women in Nepal experience GBV at home, although most violence is unreported and unrecorded in informal or formal institutions."[3] Many of these cases will go unreported.

Statistics from http://www.vawhack.org a website dedicated to raising awareness as well as finding solutions to present day issues 77 percent of the episodes of violence against women are reported as being from within the family 22 percent of women aged 15 to 49 have experienced physical violence at least once since age 15 43 per cent of women have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace. Between 5,000 and 12,000 girls and women are trafficked every year. 75 percent of them are below 18 years of age and the majority are sold into forced prostitution.[2] Organizations

ASMITA

Non-profitable group of women journalist in Nepal advocating for gender equality. Founded by Anju Chhetriand others in 1988, they call themselves a "women's publishing house, media & resource organization"[4]. Their objectives are to fix the participation, representation and access to media of women. It’s their goal to see more women in the media in Nepal. They have criticized media in Nepal for its representation and portrayal of women, and made Nepali women aware of how the media plays a role in their life. Ultimately it is their goal to understand women's issues, and raise awareness in Nepal, while empowering women. In 1997 this organization won the Rastriya Samaj Sewa Puraskar, or the National Social Service Award for their achievements in the women's movement. Earlier in 1993 they were given the Pandora Award by the Women in Publishing (WPI.) [4] ASMITA has released three editions of their magazine and have published other works.

Individuals

Anju Chhetri (born in 1961) A female journalist who has played a predominate role in the women's movement in Nepal. She helped found the Asmita Women's Publishing House, a leading feminist organization, aiming to empower women through media outlets. Before her, very few people were discussing women's rights issues in Nepal; the Asmita magazine became an outlet for feminist discourse, making the public and policymakers aware of pressing issues. Anju has also published pieces on government corruption and other political issues. The ASMITA publishing house stated that, "From August 2001 to September 2003, she wrote 86 pieces for her weekly column in Kantipur, the country’s largest daily."[5]