When armed conflict linked to the Maoist insurgency started in the country in 1996, the populist movement was not only targeted at changing political paradigms but was also against poverty, inequality and the exclusion of marginalised groups (including women) from mainstream governance. Thus it was also known as the “people’s war”. Women constituted 40 per cent of the Maoist rebel forces at a time when state law prohibited women as combatants within the Nepal Army.
Following the royal takeover and subsequent public protests, women also participated actively in organising the so-called “people’s movement II”. After the peace accord in 2006 and the promulgation of the interim constitution, the Maoists gave 30 percent of seats in the Interim Parliament to women. Democracy, republicanism, secularism, federalism, and inclusion all became core values for the people’s movement and peace negotiation process.
This generated lots of hope and expectation among women for equality in Nepal, as women are still in grossly imbalanced power relations at home and at work. They are also excluded from access to, and control over, resources. The law itself discriminates against them and as a result denies equal access to equal rights in inheritance and conferring citizenship to their offspring through the mother. A few improvements in the legal status of women in Nepal – most notably, in inheritance law and in redressing some forms of violence against women – have taken place including the Supreme Court intervention in public interest litigation and through the legal amendments in the Gender Equality Amendment Acts in 2002 and 2006, and with the adoption of Anti Human Trafficking Act 2007 and Domestic Violence Control Act 2009.
But when the formal negotiations for a peace process were started, and when a comprehensive peace agreement was signed in 2006, not a single woman was included. The Interim Constitution drafting committee and the Judicial Inquiry Commission were formed without any women. Ultimately, after pressure from women’s groups, four women were included representing the political parties. The Interim Parliament resolution adopted a 33 per cent reservation for women in parliament. The Interim constitution guaranteed proportional representation and further guaranteed 33 per cent candidacy for women to the constituent assembly elections. But it wasn’t until the proportional election system reserved 50 per cent candidacy for women that the elections ultimately did result in 33 per cent of women members in the Constituent Assembly.
However, except for a similar percentage of representation in so-called Local Peace Committees, other institutions and agencies of the Nepali state are yet to robustly include women – including in political parties, the judiciary (2 per cent), and the security sector (3 per cent in the army and 7 per cent in the police). Except for the National Women’s Commission, not a single public or constitutional body is formally headed by a woman.
There must also be the recognition that the development of women’s capabilities and their advancement was hindered historically, as well as during and after the decade-long conflict. Historical apathy towards women was only amplified during war. Subsequently, their different needs and experiences during conflict and during transition have been completely ignored in the peacemaking process. In addition to being raped, sexually exploited, widowed and orphaned, women had to take on the burdens of family and livelihoods or migrate (compelled to take any kind of job for survival). The UN’s first verification process indicated 20-25 per cent of Maoist combatants were women, whereas the second verification round showed only 10.5 per cent women in cantonment sites. However no detailed assessment of women combatants needs has ever been undertaken. Ensuring access to justice for rape victims during the insurgency and women’s exploitation and discrimination in the Maoist cantonment sites have never been seen as political issues. The much-vaunted peace agreement failed to acknowledge the different impact of conflict on women and failed to assure the implementation of specific measures to address it. When the Special Committee for Reintegration of Maoist Combatants was formed, it too failed to include a single woman in either the technical committee or the secretariat, though there are many women commanders in the Maoist forces. The fact that women are seen as good enough to command and die on the battlefield but not good enough to lead in public life has sullied the image of the pro-women Maoists as well as the other political parties.
Similarly, although women’s representation in the Constituent Assembly is claimed as an historic achievement, women remain excluded from decision-making processes due to the formation of male-occupied high-level political committees in and across parties. While these high-level mechanisms may not be aimed at excluding women, they certainly do not intentionally include women either and therefore represent another lost opportunity to demonstrate commitment to gender equality. In addition to numerical participation, these male-dominated political party mechanisms have deep deleterious effects on the substantive contributions of women to the constitution-making process. As a result, decisions are made for women by men whose values and standards continue to reinforce patriarchy. For example, we are in a constitution-drafting process and parties are reaching a consensus on some of the contentious issues through political dialogue. A political agreement reached in November 2010 to improve the citizenship provisions in the upcoming constitution discriminates against women in the case of conferring citizenship to their children and to their spouse and, as a result, the number of stateless children will be increased and women’s independent existence will not be recognised. This political agreement on citizenship is even more regressive for women than the past two constitutions as it does not recognise the individual identity of men or women independently.
The present political crisis surrounding power-sharing and the differences among leaders within almost every party has overshadowed the peace process. It has hindered the formation of transitional justice mechanisms such as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Disappearances Commission, denying victims the right to justice. A Plan of Action on UN Security Council Resolutions 1325 and 1820 on women, peace and security has recently been adopted.
A five-member subcommittee with one woman member headed by Prachand (head of the Maoist Party and ex Prime Minister) has been formed to resolve the remaining disputes associated with the upcoming constitution. Some level of hope had been generated with the progress the subcommittee was making, but at present the subcommittee has also not been able to work effectively. The major dispute among the leaders at present is whether to complete Maoist ex-combatant re-integration first or tackle constitutional change first. All of this paralysis in high politics has created hopelessness among people and, worse, a feeling of disengagement from the collaborative state-building exercise they all embarked on after the elections in 2008. Party leaders have to seriously evaluate why they exist and for whom they work, remembering the vision they have outlined for the country under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. Trust, once lost, is very difficult to rebuild.
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Sapana Pradhan Malla is a lawyer and women’s right activist who has contributed extensively to women’s rights both within Nepal and internationally. She is the Founding President of one of the country’s leading women’s rights organisation, the Forum for Women, Law and Development, and engaged in amending discriminatory law through advocacy, research and drafting different laws including the Gender Equality Amendment Act, a model Human Trafficking Act, and a domestic violence law. She has extensively researched discrimination against women and filed several public interest litigations to reform discriminatory laws and uphold gender equality. She has been extensively engaged in raising the awareness of government institutions and courts of gender issues and she has strengthened civil society through capacity-building exercises conducted throughout Nepal and the region. She has been awarded the Gruber International Women’s Rights Award. Most recently, Sapana was elected to the Constituent Assembly where she has been working on committees responsible for drafting the Constitution and legislation.
