Nepal: Activists debate on empowering women

August 12, 2008 – (Nepalnews) Women activists have extensively debated the empowerment of women emerging out from the decade long insurgency alongside the deliberate incidents of sexual and domestic violence and cultural domination at the backdrop of the war.

Some 117 activists, including women and men gathered for the first Nepali Women's Global Network Conference (NWGN) at the University of Connecticut, USA recently to make deliberations on the problems, challenges and opportunities that Nepali women have been facing.

Their mission was to address problems such as inadequate health care, poverty, human trafficking, sexual abuse and educational access.

Dr. Bidya Ranjeet, president of the Nepali Women's Global Network (NWGN), provided a global framework focusing on the current status of Nepali women.

Participants discussed the issue of cultural traditions that place women in a subordinate societal role in which they neglect their own interests and place the needs of their husbands and their children in highest regard. Domestic violence that takes shape in physical, sexual, emotional, and financial forms often takes place within this social construct. Conference panelists shared knowledge on how to encourage oppressed Nepali women to seek help to restore their human dignity.

Dr. Suresh Chandra Chalise, Nepali Ambassador to the United States, addressing the conference, spoke of his sincere interest in women's issues and of the importance of women in society as they fill social, political and economic roles. He acknowledged the persistent marginalization of women in Nepal.

The second session of the conference focused on building bridges through advocacy, research and collaboration on issues like sexual health, education, and solutions for survivors of domestic violence.

Dr. Ranjeet noted that women are treated as second-class citizens and that women must consciously stand up against this cultural violence to relinquish tradition and to carry on with new standards.

CA member Sapana Pradhan Malla, the keynote speaker for the conference, said women are looking for space in a patriarchal legal framework and laws that implicates female participation in politics as women are excluded from the developmental process.

Sapana spoke of the emphasis on abortion rights, property rights, educational rights, citizenship rights and economic rights.

International Nepali Literary Society joined hands with NWGN to organise the womens poetry festival.

From:http://www.nepalnews.com/archive/2008/aug/aug12/news06.php