Recognising rights, gendering protection

“It is said that we have peace in Nepal now but how can we say we have peace in the country when we don’t feel safe?” Sandhya, AWAAJ [1].

Sandhya Sharma is one of a number of WHRDs working in Nepal’s Bardiya district. She joined Bimala B.K from Dalit Feminist Uplift Organisation (DAFUO) and Rekha Siddiqui from FATIMA Foundation to give suggestions to PBI on the change that needs to happen to improve the situation for women in general and then those who defend their rights.

Bimala B.K knows only too well the challenges of working for human rights in Nepal, especially those faced by women human rights defenders (WHRDs). As the President of Dalit Feminist Upliftment Organisation (DAFUO), Bimala works to effect social change in a conservative patriarchal society where caste discrimination prevails, despite being outlawed.

This is no easy task. Bimala and other members of her organisation, have been threatened, intimidated, accused of breaking up families and the moral fabric of the country by ‘meddling’ in domestic affairs.

Arguments for the need for gender equality are well-known at Kathmandu-level and within civil society. First and foremost, equality is a human right, and an end in itself. But at a very practical level - and importantly for a poor country struggling to recover from conflict - there are well-known correlations between gender equality and a nation's health, prosperity and peace [2]. Nations that attend to gender equality tend to make gains in other areas as well.

For Bimala and other WHRDs working in Nepal, delivering that message in rural districts is a constant challenge.   

The former Himalayan kingdom [3] is a conservative country with a caste-based society and strict norms that place men at the top of economic, family and cultural hierarchies. After marriage, the majority of Nepali women move from their Maiti (maternal home) to live with their husbands’ family.

A women’s work in or outside the home reflects her perceived ability to be a good wife. Challenging social norms and gender discrimination is thus often seen as a provocation. Threats and violence from perpetrators, communities and even their own families are common.

If the WHRDs persist in their work despite these intimidations this is often taken as proof they are troublemakers – a label which increases their insecurity and leads even the women they seek to help to doubt their intentions. Support and protection for their work is distinctly lacking, as Bimala explains:

“As a woman human rights defender, the lack of awareness and sensitivity regarding gender issues can still be a problem in district police posts, and the behaviour from the state authorities makes us feel we’ll never have their support and may never be able to provide justice to the victims...State authorities don’t take WHRDs and the issues we raise seriously, which is demoralising. It often seems that the authorities purposefully try to frustrate our efforts”.  

When confronted with threats and intimidation (from authorities or from inside their own communities), it is often impossible for Nepali WHRDs to find a safe place to go for protection. Political parties tend to politicise community issues, maximising their own support by wooing either the victim or perpetrator. Authorities often find it difficult or even impossible to deal with the political dynamics of such cases.

Bimala recalled one case where political party representatives had strongly encouraged local WHRDs to advocate on behalf of a woman's case. But the woman's husband subsequently met with the party representatives, offering his allegiance and some money. The party turned against the victim and the supporting WHRDs, threatening them to drop the case.

Political interference also affected the situation of a 40 year-old woman who was raped by her father. DAFUO activists responded, and were met by local political party representatives and elites of the area who stated that they planned to solve the issue ‘locally’ rather than see it through the legal system.

A DAFUO activist argued that such an incident could not be treated lightly and that the culprit should be tried. In response the political representatives and local elites accused the WHRDs of ‘going against’ the local society, saying “this is our issue! ... we can handle it!”.

“If a case is simple it usually gets filed. If it’s complicated it doesn’t," says Sandhya. "Negotiation within the community and political party interference cause major problems. The filing process in the police station is also very complicated and victims often need to visit the DPO 4 or 5 times”.

It shouldn't be this way. Through Article 5 of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, Nepal has made a promise to address "social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women, with a view to achieving the elimination of  prejudices and customary and all other practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women."

On paper, Nepal has also signed and ratified international treaties that oblige all officials of the state to respect and protect civilians, including WHRDs, and to take practical steps to support them, such as ensuring independent, impartial investigation and prosecution for human rights violations, providing equal access to law and the justice system and taking measures to protect human rights defenders against violent retaliation for their human rights work.

In relation to this last, Nepal’s Supreme Court this year made a landmark directive that the Government should create protections mechanisms for  WHRDs.

For WHRDs, making these obligations a reality is essential to ensure their protection and their ability to work for equality, especially for those who challenge traditional or conservative gender views [4].

CASE STUDY
Shanushree, Bardiya District: DAFUO was approached by a woman who had been abused by her husband for 10 years. She had fallen  ill and her husband was refusing to allow her access to a doctor. The DAFUO WHRDs attempted to counsel her husband. When he refused to listen, they brought the case to the Area Police. This prompted the husband to promise land and medical treatment to his wife but, after being arrested twice for not complying, he began to retaliate, this time against the WHRDs.  

He threatened the WHRDs with rape and promised to get their husbands to divorce them. The families of the WHRDs in turn threatened them to stop working on the case, ‘or else find shelter with the persecutor!’.

The local community refused to support the WHRDs, seeing the case as an ‘internal issue’ between husband and wife. Finally, the husband assembled a group of men who went to the home of one of the WHRDs and verbally and physically harassed her.

When the WHRDs and the victim went to the District Police Office to report this incident, the police officer in charge told the victim: “You won’t find justice with this gang of women. They have destroyed their own homes and now they’ll destroy yours. If you want justice, come alone next time.”