Feminism in Nepal is primarily concerned with

equity Equity may refer to: Finance, accounting and ownership *Equity (finance), ownership of assets that have liabilities attached to them ** Stock, equity based on original contributions of cash or other value to a business ** Home equity, the diff ...

and

equality of opportunity Equal opportunity is a state of fairness in which individuals are treated similarly, unhampered by artificial barriers, prejudices, or preferences, except when particular distinctions can be explicitly justified. The intent is that the important ...

. Nepali society is traditionally

patriarchal Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of dominance and privilege are primarily held by men. It is used, both as a technical anthropological term for families or clans controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males ...

. Feminists in

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

seek to address this situation. Most women in Nepal are placed below to their husbands and fathers in a social hierarchy. In the past, Nepalese women were treated poorly in every aspect of Nepalese society: social, political, or economic. Statistics from Violence Against Women, highlights these inequalities: *77 percent of the episodes of violence against women are reported from within the family. *22 percent of women aged 15 to 49 have experienced physical violence at least once since the age 15. *43 percent of women have experienced sexual harassment at workplace. *Between 5,000 and 12,000 girls and women are trafficked every year. 75 percent of them are below 18 years of age and the majority are sold into forced prostitution.

History

The first feminist organization in Nepal was the

Nepal Woman Association Nepal Woman Association is the woman wing of Nepali Congress The Nepali Congress ( ne, नेपाली कांग्रेस ; abbr. NC) is the largest social democratic political party in Nepal. As per the results of recent local ele ...

, which was started under the leadership of

Mangala Devi Singh Mangala Devi Singh ( ne, मंगलादेवी सिंह) was a pioneer feminist and prominent democratic right activist of Nepal. Singh got involved in politics in 1940 at the age of 16. Her husband was the leading Nepali Congress Leader ...

. Before 2007, women under 35 could not apply for passports without their father's or husband's permission. In August 2009, there was a protest in

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

, in response to the government's decision to give $650 cash to single Nepali women in exchange for getting married. They called this march the "government sponsored dowry".

Achievements

*33% seats are reserved in every committee and group starting from the grassroots level up to the legislative of Nepal for women. However, these reservation policies are not strictly enforced. *Government grants subsidy on tax while registering property in the name of women to improve the access of women on property. *There are specific set of grammar rules within the Nepalese language, specifically toward women. Towards the mid-20th century, it began to change due to the feminist movement, which took notice of these words being used. Most of the language consisted of sexist words to describe women, while men were described with positive words.

Organisations

* ABC Nepal *

Maiti Nepal Maiti Nepal ( ne, :ne:माइती नेपाल, माइती नेपाल) is a non-profit organization in Nepal dedicated to help the victims of Sexual slavery, human trafficking. Currently, it operates a rehabilitation home in Kath ...

* Forum for Women, Law and Development *Sancharika Samuha *Shakti Samuha * Women LEAD * Women Rehabilitation Centre (WOREC Nepal) *Women for Peace and Democracy Nepal *Dilasha Aviyan (or Console Mission)

Significant individuals

One of the few women who have made a great impact on Nepal's feminist movement is Simon de Beauvoir, with her book ''

The Second Sex ''The Second Sex'' (french: Le Deuxième Sexe, link=no) is a 1949 book by the French existentialist philosopher Simone de Beauvoir, in which the author discusses the treatment of women in the present society as well as throughout all of histor ...

.'' Such strong-willed writing helped remind most Nepali women of their rights as citizens.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Feminism In Nepal Politics of Nepal