Rights
Child
Polygamy
managing their own property …”
varies widely across religions and cultures.
Civil War’s ‘Half-Widows’
Marty Logan
KATHMANDU, Dec 31 (IPS) – Nepal’s civil war has spawned a
new term, ‘half-widows’, to describe the hundreds of women whose husbands are
abducted by Maoist rebels or soldiers and remain missing, some for years.
Feb. 13, 2006 will mark a decade since the Communist Party of Nepal
(Maoist) emerged from the country’s impoverished mid-western hills to launch its
first attacks against police stations and other government institutions.
The rebels now control huge swathes of territory in almost all of the
country’s 75 districts, where roughly 12,000 Nepalis, most of them innocent
villagers caught in the crossfire, have been killed. Tens of thousands of others
have fled their villages while many have been forcefully recruited by the
Maoists or jailed by soldiers on suspicion of collaborating with them.
A
2004 survey, in nine districts countrywide, found that 16 percent of women were
either widows or had no idea where their husband were, and had thus become
half-widows.
Such women are more vulnerable in numerous ways, concludes
a report by the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Samanata – Institute for
Social and Gender Equality.
“A lot of women are living in constant fear
of death of themselves or others (or of) abduction, rape or murder, of
themselves, their daughters or daughters-in-law,” said Samanata’s executive
chairwoman, Arzu Rana- Deuba, at a discussion, Friday.
Ironically, the
research also revealed that many women have become empowered because of the
conflict but overall “the negative effects have more far-reaching effects than
the positive ones”, added Rana- Deuba. “The negative effects are totally
devastating.”
On Friday, Nepal’s National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)
revealed that Maoists kidnapped 5,606 civilians during their three-month
unilateral ceasefire from Sep. 3 to Dec. 3, most to attend “education” meetings.
During that period, security forces killed 22 people while the rebels killed
four, added the NHRC.
The Maoists have extended the ceasefire until Jan.
3 but the government led by King Gyanendra again refused to reciprocate, calling
the move a ruse so the rebels can re-arm. It also dismissed a 12-point pact
signed by the rebels and an alliance of political parties designed to bring the
Maoists into the political mainstream.
Instead, the government is
redoubling its efforts to hold municipal elections on Feb. 8, although the
alliance is refusing to participate and the Maoists say they will disrupt the
polls. The army has vowed to maintain security for the vote.
On
Thursday, a group of mostly women villagers padlocked the NHRC’s door in the
capital Kathmandu demanding that commissioners push the government to reveal the
whereabouts of their missing family members. Local human rights groups say the
state is responsible for the continuing disappearances of 901 people and the
Maoists for 290.
According to Rana-Deuba, “the removal of one
wage-earner (in a family) can mean total poverty for many”.
Her survey,
questioned 227 individuals, 89 percent of them women. Eighty-three percent of
the families had been displaced, most of them moving from villages to
heavily-guarded district headquarters towns or Nepal’s few large cities, says
the report, ‘Changing Roles of Nepali Women due to the Ongoing Conflict and its
Impact’.
More than half of those questioned said they left because they
feared for their own or their family’s security, they feared abduction or were
searching for work.
“Most had enough to meet basic needs before the
conflict but not after,” said Rana-Deuba. “After being affected by conflict for
five years there was a steep downward slide economically”.
Families
adjusted by spending less money on food and other necessities, except schooling.
“The last thing families are compromising on is children’s education — they
value that greatly,” she added.
Still, the survey found that 44 percent
of children had dropped out of school and only 37 percent of those had returned.
“Mostly children have become very quiet; they’re serious, silent and
frightened,” according to Rana-Deuba.
With men absent, or in many cases
too fearful to move outside the house or village, women have been forced to take
on new roles in Nepal’s strongly patriarchal society. Sixty percent reported
they were more active in their communities, 70 percent that they were borrowing
money and two-thirds of women said they played larger roles in decision-making.
Rana-Deuba told the story of one illiterate village woman, whose entire
universe used to be contained in her village. Today, she travels outside the
village, alone, at least once a year to maintain her family’s claim on some
farmland.
“Women feel they are less vulnerable to these risks then men,”
Rana- Deuba said quoting the woman: “They might kill the men — I’m a woman they
won’t kill me.”
Two-thirds of women said these new roles had boosted
their confidence but 48 percent called them a “burden”, the survey found.
“As well as being physically and psychologically alone,” said Rana-
Deuba, widows or ‘half-widows’ “were more vulnerable to sexual overtures”.
“Sexual violence from security forces has become a new danger for
women,” she added.
Nepalis must start now to discuss how they will cope
in the vastly changed society that will remain when peace finally comes,
stressed Rana- Deuba. “There is a danger that we won’t look back at the societal
fallout of the conflict” but focus on rebuilding the infrastructure, she warned.
But some people continue living in the past, said Ava Darshan Shrestha,
president of the NGO, Nagrik Awaz (Voices of the People). Researchers from her
group met one old woman who unfailingly cooks a daily meal for her son —
although he has been missing for eight years.
“The mothers were saying
‘look, we have this sharp pain in our uterus’ because their sons were missing,
so we termed it ‘foetal bereavement’,” added Shrestha.
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