I’ll write about something that stops me: the rights of minorities.
Nepal is a country where there are tens of ethnic groups, so we could ask who are the minorities? I would see minorities as groups that do not have as much power; political, economical or symbolical, and the group members are discriminated within the society. This still leaves as many groups. But based on my experience I would mention: low caste members, sexual minorities, women and children.
So what do I base my view of these groups as minorities that are discriminated?
Low caste members struggle with many issues. They are in a loop of poverty, they struggle to get their children educated, people in the society (themselves included) see them as plain stupid and this keeps them from getting many opportunities. Not only does the caste passes down also the poverty and place in the society passes on. It is quite unusual to see a low caste member in a high position in politics, in work market or in community. This means that high caste members have all the connections to high positions and others are left without.
Sexual minorities have a good status on paper, the court in Nepal has ruled, that non-heterosexuals including third gender persons should have the same rights as any other person. But in reality these issues are silenced and parents kick out and deny children that don’t behave in the “good-old-way”. Also this group faces a lot of violence and prejudice from the society. And because of the silence, there is no understanding; for example a former minister has stated, “Homosexuality is a product of capitalism. Under socialism this kind of problem does not exist!”
Nepal is a highly patriarchal society, and the position of the male is protected by traditions and religion. Nepal is also a very homosocial culture, by which I mean that males form tight inner groups, where there is no space for females. When trying to break these formations, one faces many problems. For example Loo Niva has tried to find more women for their board and other dimensions of their activities, but women with the needed experience usually have a family, which means that they are responsible all of the household works and with a job how could they manage the time for NGO work, even if they would be interested? Besides, the husband might oppose.
The status of women is seen allover the society: less women with education, lower literacy rate for women, women are poorer, women face more violence, there are less women in high posts etc etc. This is also a very difficult area, because traditions support the low status of women. For example during periods Hindu women are not allowed inside the temple. When I asked a local woman does she see this as a problem or as discrimination, the answer was: no. The same answer was given, when I asked does she see it as a problem that she is responsible for more domestic work than the males in her family. Nepal is honor based society, and one should always behave honorable way, so s/he would not bring disgrace on themselves let alone their families. And the honorable way of life is defined by the traditions. And females loose their honor easier than males.
Children have very little power over their own life. A child should do what the parent tells: go to school, work, do domestic work etc. And children should always respect their elders, otherwise (or with no clear reason at all) a teacher, a parent, an employer has the right to beat a child. Also children face a lot of sexual abuse, especially the child workers. It would seem that a child is seen as a less of a human than an adult. Therefore a child doesn’t seem to have the same human rights. Because some of the parents and schooling system treats children very badly, I don’t wonder why some choose rather to work than go to school: at work children can experience empowerment and get power through money. Then again many children would choose education if they could, but they can’t because of poverty (parents don’t have money to send them to school), gender (some think that there is no reason to educate girls, because all they have to learn is to be a good wife) or caste (they are not seen to have the capability to learn).
Sometimes faced with these problems I would like to scream. There seems to be so much to do, but the question what can you do stops you. And what is in your right to do, because you are not a part of this society and therefore can’t understand the meaning of traditions and the structures that run the society. In a way, I’m in good position. I can help by doing work, which is asked by the locals. There are many NGOs in Nepal, that work on children’s rights, women’s rights and human rights. Their work is important in this country, which is still in turmoil with its political past and current situation. Sometimes I fear that all the efforts for change will be stumbled by the political problems. Also people don’t trust the politicians and don’t believe in the change by politics; in current situation politicians don’t seem to be able to change things, policies don’t move directly to the grass root level and furthermore some people think that politicians are only after their own benefits and many of the politicians are from a high caste. Still I see a lot of potential in this country, people that want a change and believe in a change. It’s up to all of the Nepalese people including all the castes, men and women, children and old people to decide in what kind of society they want to live in and we can help them in their efforts.
