SINGLE WOMEN EMPOWERMENT WORKSHOP IN DANG

Organised by Women for Human Rights (WHR)

9-11 June 2003

Executive Summary

It is often stated that social affirms that a woman's place in society make the level of civilization. By this definition one is left wondering at what level of civilization Nepalese society is. Discrimination against the single women has followed a set pattern in our country. The single women have been looked down upon, trapped within a cultural and religious framework. The death of the husband was the start of woman's problem; it will be harsher if the woman is young enough.

Though there are some positive situation laws towards the rights of the single women but due to the societal structure and the deep rooted cultural phenomena, the single women prefer to stay as a single on her marital home and be dependent than be unwelcome in her parental home.

A young single woman is often viewed as an adversary and the family often taunts her as being responsible for her son's death. Their own parents try to provide emotional support and prefer her to stay in her marital home rather than come back to them. One of the biggest traumas that the single woman faces after the death of their husband is the whole questions of support of shelter.

A definite social change alone can alleviate the trauma of single women. In a patriarchal society like ours change has to emanate from the man. The single woman needs social encouragement to get over her traumas and pick up the threads of her life again in terms of taking up a career. The first utmost thing is that single women requite a time and space to meet organize and unleash their own power for change. The organizations agencies should be sensitized to examine the actions they are taking to support single women their own role in perpetuating patriarchy. It is necessary to build social awareness and to change the mind of people towards single women.

The Single Women workshop conducted by WHR were designed and targeted at single women to make enlighten in the form of social cultural, economical, legal and political issues including long term and short term strategies to enhance the capacity of single women so that they can act as change agents in the communities. The workshop focused to create awareness in the public, the media and administration regarding the plight of single women and encouraged participants to ensure to get back the socio-cultural rights to live as the human being in this earth, to revolt for legal rights, and also the inheritance rights which in turn would give them the economic independence.

Dang was found to be in the most deprived stage where people in Dang seem to just surviving and not living their lives. The training programs also highlighted on the importance of single women group in the districts which enables the single women where to be aware of where they are now and where they can reach up to.

However, there are great variations in the life of the single women in Dang due to the so called lower castes, suffer greater discrimination and marginalization than others. Most of them are found malnourished and ill and at the same time they are often badly treated in the homes of welcoming relatives.

Among the participants, most of them were the victims of the insurgency from all the parties of Maoist, the security forces and the civilians. The sad part of the fact is that no concerted efforts has been made so far to uphold the rights of the single women of Maoist and civilians in spite of the single women of security forces are getting a long sum amount of compensation from the government. it is clearly understood that the social costs of last seven years of insurgency in the country have been enormous in Dang district and the socio- economic conditions of the single women are amongst the worst than in other districts. However, WHR has formed two groups of single women in Phulbari VDC and Goltakuri VDC and opened the bank account with the aim to start Saving/Credit programs within the single women. WHR, from its opportunity Funds have provided scholarships to the two children of needy young single women for their education.

Overall, the stigma of single women in Dang is a social issue and what is important for them is awareness against social taboos, shelter, occupation, employment and their property rights. A carefully worked out strategies involving rehabilitated and implementation measures with capacity building and sensitization so society will alone give these victimized women the dignity that is rightfully theirs.

The workshop of Single Women Empowerment in Dang would not have been possible without the help and support of Friedrich Ebert Stiftung to WHR. This in turn has reflected the stage of the marginalized single women of Dang. Therefore, WHR family hereby would like to thank the team of Friedrich Ebert Stiftung for their cordial support which made it easy for WHR to focus the issue of the single women in Dang.

Introduction of Organization

Who are single women?
Women who got no support of any kind from the male counterparts in their families are called single women. Single women may be a widow, divorce, separated or an unmarried woman over 35 years. This workshop was totally focused on the single women, whose husbands are dead.

Introduction of organization
Women for Human Rights (WHR) is a Non-government organization registered on 1994 with the Kathmandu District Administration Office, HMG Ministry of Women & Children, Social Welfare Council. WHR is formed to address the rights of single women in Nepal. WHR, which is based in Kathmandu with its charitable status, is rendering its services to the young needy single women who are in difficult circumstances and their children.

The main objectives of WHR are

• To raise the social and economic status of Nepalese single women and their families.
• To mainstream the rights of single women in development, humanitarian and peace building projects.
• To enhance the capacity of single women themselves to be their own 'agents of change', and to develop their confidence and self esteem.

What does WHR do?

Social Empowerment

• WHR advocates eliminating the social ostracism of single women as to incorporate them into the social mainstream.
• WHR provides care and moral support to destitute single women.
• WHR runs an open forum for single women every last Friday to the Nepali month where they can share their feelings and experiences through discussion.
• WHR offers counseling services and legal awareness to the single women and their children.

Education

• WHR supports the needy children of single women by providing scholarship.

Economic empowerment

• WHR work very closely with a cooperative organization called Aadhar to assist the needy single women to obtain micro credit to start income generating activities.
• WHR has initiated the single women entrepreneur' for the single women, to promote and find market for the products made by single women in Nepal.
  

Empowerment for peace

• Publication seminars and conferences are aimed towards women's participation in the peace movements.

Definition of Single Women

• Widows
• Divorcee
• Unmarried over 35 Years
• Staying alone

After the workshops in different districts of Nepal, it was felt that organizing the Regional Workshops in Dang in order to form single women group in every districts and work collaboratively for the awareness and empowerment if single women would be beneficial. One of the major problem in Nepal is that of the after marks of insurgency, the number of single women are increasing thus affecting many children are most vulnerable victims in terms of education, health and psychological impacts.

The main objective to conduct single women workshop in Dang are to:

• Document the status of single women in Dang emphasizing on the commonalties and diversities resulting from socio- economic regional and cultural difference.
• Attempt to duplicate the best practices on empowerment of single women thus, duplicate these practices helped to create awareness.
• To observe the discriminatory rules and regulations for her to fight for legal rights on property, compensations with the revise study on legal perspective help to move the declaration with the revised version on legal rights of single women.
• Analyze the different role of the society, culture, religion law and media concerns single women.
• To build the network in development religion with the guidance of the center based WHR work force as well.
• To form the single women group in every district of Nepal in order to help support to the single women for the single women and by the single women.

The major reason behind the regional workshop into the limelight is to draw the attention of every citizens of the country of what is the set back in the lives of single women when she is deprived to live as an individual, what are her values, expectation and how she can be as normal as any other citizens of the nation in the national economy and prove to be the praise worthy citizen of this nation.

Opening Ceremony and Closing Ceremony.

The 3 days (10th - 12th June, 2003) Single Women Workshop opening ceremony was conducted in Hotel Dang Valley, Tribhuwan Nagar, Ghorahi, Dang. The opening ceremony program was anchored by Amita Adhikary of WHR, Single Women Group. The Honorable guests Chief Justice District, CDO, Local Development Officer, President Bar Association, Journalists, District Police officer, Local NGOs, and GOs in Dang were present n this program along with 48 participants. The program started lighting the floating candles and placing them on water. The candle light in the water pot indicates the unity of single women who were dispersed at one point of time. The objective of three days programs was to unite all single women and tie them in one knot to raise the collective voice against social, cultural, norms and values which ahs negative impacts in the society.

The President of WHR Single Women Group Lily Thapa briefed about the objectives of the program. During the program one single woman from Fulbari- 4 VDC presented her views. The Chief Justice of Law, The Chief District Officer also presented their views towards single women. Successful and praise worthy Ballet ' Shakti' was shown in Dang signifying role to spread the awareness of the stage of single women in our society, and the impact of family. The vote of thanks was presented by, President of Aadhar, saving/credit group.

Methodology

On the first phase of intervention on empowering single women the workshop focused the participatory methodologies by involving local bodies of governmental and non governmental personals. The workshop aimed to include young single women of different classes, castes and ethnicity emphasizing the victims of conflict.

The inauguration of the workshop was with a musical play to present the strength of single women against the social evil to make aware to the local community, governmental and non governmental personal.

The second phase will be capacity building approach to empower group of single women in V.D.Cs of Dang which will be day's package program of training that eventually led to link with follow up training with other possible training further more.

On the 3rd phase of interventions the group themselves will find out the various schemes empowerment at their local level in order to disseminate the knowledge to build capacity to the needy single women.

Profile of the participants:

Dang being the most seriously vulnerable districts of Nepal are suffering due to the insurgency in Nepal is found facing immeasurably and uncountable barriers and obstacles to grow ahead once again. Analyzing the situation of the after marks of conflict between
Security forces and Maoist, high number of victims are women who have turned single after their husband's death falling into different circumstances. This intern is directly or indirectly affecting the future of their children.

High percentages are found to be illiterate, and few have attended old literacy programs. Total numbers of population covered into this workshop were Hindus and are above the age of 16 and below 51. Similarly 90% of these single women possess their own living residences while others are living in rent and few others in their parental homes. The cause of death of husband varies from conflict between Maoist and security forces to the natural death, accidents, illness and an unknown murder case too. However irrespective of the circumstances these women are living in, they strongly possesses the desire to work or to get into formal income generating and skill oriented trainings to have sustainable future ahead. For this if one is ready to leave home town and to go abroad too, others are found interested to earn their living by working within the home town.

Case study:
Sabitri Nepali aged 32 living in Goltakuri 8, a mother of three children total, two daughters and one son. Sabitri turned single after her husband was killed by security forces while he was on his working period and was out of his home in the nearby by forest. On his work to cut trees to collect wooden planks, security forces forced him along with his six other friends to dig the ground of the human size and buried them alive. This incident could be reported in the community as one of these six men managed to escape from their inhumanity. Sabitri is an experienced women with skill of weaving, thus possesses a desire to have a formal weaving training to generate income and to live independently.

Case study:
Samjhana Budathoki the youngest of all the age group of 16 years of aged a Hindu, is a resident of Kathokhel Bharatpur, Dang 11, and is a mother of one son. Her husband was a police officer was killed during the insurgency and a conflict between Moist and Security forces. This man already had a wife and a family but had an extra marital affair with Samjhana who in her innocent age lost the charm of her life. Therefore she is still not accepted in her husband's family as they have no legal clue of Samjhana being his wife. Today as student of 8th standard wishes to study further and to get into the nursing training but has no formal experience of any work. She is presently living in her parental home.

Case study:
In the mood of festivity and when the celebration was flowing in the air, Prem Kali Nepali faced the worst period of her life. The day when few of the her neighbours were gathered at her place in the celebrating mood in general, her husband and few others neighbors men were shot by security forces, which according to them was for not as single good reason. Prem kali is a Hindu, living in Fulbari 4, who lives at her own home with mother-in-law and her three sons. She has no work experiences and no training thus hopes to get income generating trainings.

Case study:
Gayatri Pokhrel aged 50, lives in Tribhuwan Municipality 11 in Dang. A mother of one son lives with her daughter-in-law. Minimum educational qualification background was not a barrier for Sharadha to take the initiative to work for people and their welfare. Just the S.L.C passed women turned single women after her husband died in a plane crash in Nepal. Today she is a president of Bidhuwa Mahila Sharokar Kendra of Jhapa, has formal training experiences in nursing, saving/credit program and self-motivating programs.

Social/Cultural/Religious Marginalization

• Present Scenario:
  • Widows are not allowed to be the part of social gatherings during the programs for good women.('Subha Shayit, Subha karya, Shagun karya').
  • Restrictions on healthy nutritious food and colored dresses/ dress codes.
  • Restrictions to hang around with any male friends, or relatives.
  • Treated and taken as slaves.
  • Feeling of helplessness, lack of self confidence.
  • All negative aspects to be revised and changed/ modified.
  • All modified factors to be implemented in day-to-day life.
  • Negative and superstitious names given for single women whose husband is dead for eg.' Bokxi' means 'Witch'.
  • Single women are always motivated to take part in ill omen occasions to break the bangles, to take off the Pote, to wipe off the sindoor, only widows are allowed.
  • Discrimination on widows according to communal standard should be changed.
  • No rights to live life independently by her wish.

Findings:

The single women of Dang are still facing discrimination and treating bad by the society through there has been some voices arose against all these taboos by forming an organization named ' Vidwa Sharokar Samaj Kendra' as a pressure group in Dang. One of the biggest traumas that the single women facing in Dang district was, the whole question of moral support and counseling.

Economic Status:

• Present Scenario:
• Lack of resources to provide education to children of single women.
• Lack of knowledge of property rights to use it effectively.
• Lack of knowledge of skill oriented trainings.
• Problem faced to ask for loan in villages.
• High problems with in family atmosphere with failure to convince the objective.
• Unimaginable discrimination to insurgency victim's families.
• Positive aspects:
  • Confidence and desire to work.
  • Facility of old age widow compensation
• Factors to be improved
  • To ask for equal legal rights it is necessary to improve the existing need and demand of rules and regulations according to the time.
  • Increase in the new skill developmental trainings.
  • Equal access to education and developing more of awareness raising program to be conducted.
  • Capacity building/ empowerment.
  • Opportunity of economical fund saving activities.
  • Entrepreneurships.
  • Age restrictions for widow compensation should be abounded.
  • Single women of Maoist family should also receive the death compensation of the deceased husband from the government.
  • Unawareness of skill developmental and economic empowerment programs.

Findings:

Though the constitution says all men and women are equal however the society has made women and more to single women into bonded slave. Due to not believing on the single women, the society doesn't give any kind if big economic opportunities to single women thus loose the self confidence. Lack of proper education and professional skills make it impossible to find them the suitable employment opportunity. Without access to financial resources she is hard pressed to establish herself independently. So the time as come for sincere effort to empower single women by all the sectors of society.

Legal Review:

• Present Scenario:
  • Domestic violence on widows is ignored.
  • Single women whose husbands are dead can claim for their property any time. If the property is not claimed and circumstances of selling those property arises the family members of her husband should get the permission from this single women.
  • Single women whose husband is dead possess full right to use claim property according to her wish,
  • Marginalized surrounding. ('Sath' boundary). Widows are supposed to live in the name of her deceased husband, and is questioned if she is found to have any doubtful relationships, her property rights gets waived, this is not applicable for widower.

Findings:

Though the legal system have provided some support in favor of single women now a days but lack of confidence and lack of ignorance and awareness makes them easy victims by the family members and the society. The new legal systems have given priorities on legal rights for single women but still a lot has to be done to provide the fundamentals rights for the single women. Most of them are ignorant of their family's account and property and therefore easily become victims by the family.

Importance of single women group:

Due to the insurgency in Nepal in the midst of various districts Dang has passed through the traumatic state of affairs. People have migrated to Dang from Rolpa and Dolpa etc. Therefore, through the pre-workshops and the studies in Dang it was found that people there are illiterate and are suffering due to extreme poverty and lacks the knowledge of their human rights. In this case single women are found in the setback state as very high number of population of women is single after their husband's death resulted from the insurgency and conflict in the country from past few years.

Thus to spread the awareness about the single women's issue, how they are marginalized and are taken as an unwanted element of this universe the single women group formation was learnt to be imperative. As this helps them to become aware of their socio-cultural, economical, legal rights in day to day life, to unite the dispersed single women to come and work together for self development and for human development and welfare of the mankind.

Why do we need single women organization?

• To bring the unity among the diversified communal groups in Nepal.
  • Helps to bring all the creative ideas and thought together and to work out practically.
  • To improve the economic strength.
  • To bring the awareness through individual or united ways.
  • To increase the communal leadership qualities.
• Advancement of thoughts transformation from discrimination to equality.
  • To bring a revolution of change of the positive attitude in every family and its members about the concept of widows in Nepal
  • To bring a change in the present way in which, the media symbolizes and figures out the widows in the community.
• Social revolution from Anti- social ways of up taking widows.
  • To raise a voice against religious, social superstitions and anti-cultural and anti-traditional thoughts present in Nepal.
• How to increase the single women to get involved in the welfare program.
  • By inspiring to face the outside world.
  • By exchanging the views and news.
  • Strengthening economic status of women by providing different skill development programs.
  • Increasing the decision making capacity and leadership qualities.
  • Involving and including women in different awareness building workshops/ seminars/ training programs.
• Introduction to human rights of women and the ways to implement these.
• To introduce the legal and constitutional rights.
• Rights to equality.
• Rights to independent living (rights to work according to ones wishes and desires, organizations, profession or any occupation).
• Governmental rights.
• Economic

Achievements:

• Formation of single women group.
  Two new single women group was formed in Dang of 2 different V.D.Cs namely Phulbari and Goltakuri. The new group formation has included 33 new single women registered members.
• Saving/credit Program initiated:
  WHR has provided the seed money of Rs- 2000/- for the opening of saving/credit program in two V.D.Cs.
• Scholarships Program:
  WHR has provided scholarships to the needy single women's children with the money from the opportunity fund. Thus two children from 2 different V.D.C have been provided with the scholarship.

Action Plan and strategies of Single Women Group in Dang.

Action Plan:

• Door to door campaign.
• WHR single women organization to work as a central facilitator, for resource and documentation information, sharing for the district levels organizational networking.
• Once in a month date and time to be fixed for monthly meeting on discussion regarding the issues of single women, and to bring the awareness programs. Minutes to be jot down.
• Advices and suggestions to be collected from intellectuals present in the meeting.
• Talents and skills present in single women to be brought out to exchange and to set a platform.
• Collect data's about the single women present in individual's districts.
• To revolt against the discriminations and tortures happening on single women in one's own community and in others.
• Plan of future strategies of organizing single women workshops/ seminars in one's district.
• Setting up group work and saving and credit program.

Strategies:

• Monthly meeting with sharing and learning following discussions with resource persons.
• Advocate the development of pertaining apartments towards the rights of single women in the respective communities.
• Bring out the social acceptance of single women in religious and social functions.
• Eliminate the biasness due to the synonymous of the word widow.
• Run the open forum for single women as monthly basis.
• Provide care and support to destitute single women of VDCs.
• Offer counseling services and legal awareness to the abused single women and their children with the support from local concerned authorities.
• Run Saving/ Credit program assist the needy single women to obtain micro credit to start income generating activities.
• Initiate the "single women entrepreneur" for the single women, to promote & find market for the products made by single women in Dang.

Approval of the Declaration:

DECLARATION
2060, Jestha, 26th - 28th.

The organization working for single women empowerment had conducted 3 days workshops dated on 2060, Jestha 26th- 2060, Jestha 28th inclusive of different VDCs with 30 participants. During the period of the workshops every participants represented the importance of the single women's group of their respective districts, which led to several activities, like group discussions, group discussions, presentations brought out the sum of the discussion session. Workshop included various factors influencing the present state of single women in Nepal, which are socio-cultural, legal, religious, and the standpoint were found to be similar, thus, it added to the path to improve the status of single women's empowerment. Thus, our trial is to make the Nepalese society and the people from different fields and organizations of Nepal to be aware of single women's issue and to accept the outcome.

We the participants and facilitator present in this workshop hereby wish to draw the attention of our work related fields and the government to bring the empowerment of widows:

We hereby would like to focus on the new addressing of widows as single women. This should be applicable in every sphere of society and its people, governmental and non-governmental organizations, schools and colleges. This recognition of single women includes women whose husband are dead, divorcee, separated women, women who are not married till the age of 35, and women who gets no support of any kind from any male counter partner of any types in the family.

We are here focusing on the impact on single women due to the poverty, war, diseases, religion, disadvantages and demerits due to natural and human created disasters, in Nepal.

We want to clarify, the impact on single women due to the misuse and misinterpretation of socio-cultural traditions, beliefs, cultural norms and values and stereotyped beliefs of religious epics.

We also want to clarify the discrimination on single women by political imbalances, legal discriminations, lack of awareness of legal rights of single women, contrast in written legal polices and practical approach in daily lives, low economic empowerment resulting into abolished human rights.

We wish to focus on the present scenario where single women are invisible community and the point of time where self identity of single women in society is nil. Thus, we bring out the fact that no governmental as well as non-governmental organizations has taken any single step towards socio-cultural, physical, mental and economical upliftment of single women.

Single women are exploited in these ways:

• Views and saying of society, culture, traditional and religious ways are found in contrast to the practice in real life.
• Economically deprived, lack of job oriented opportunities, resources and means, patriarchal views and its result in building up the deprived single women category.
• Among the single women group, women whose husbands are dead are considered merely as a 'thing' than as a human, and as a burden. Single women are deprived of the rights on her own body. Psychological and mental tortures, carelessness in health and sexual harassments on single women are common in Nepal.

We strongly protest:

• Such social and religious practices which exploits single women.
• Patriarchal views based legal policies which deprives human rights from single women.
• Injustices on single women.
• Terrorist, arms and bullets, war which increases the percentage of single women.

We strongly support:

• Action avoiding unequal practices traditions, norms and values through legal systems.
• Government should and must give attention of providing death compensation to the Maoist victims too, as this will be of some help to their families.
• Legal actions on those who gives no values to the single women for her equality on human rights on her body, social and individual prestige.
• Revising and improving the legal policies on the single women and her rights on her property.
• Developing and policy making to give a social security to single women and economic empowerment by government.
• Raising a voice of women for human rights in international level of meetings and seminars.
• Working together to bring out the opportunity of equality and human rights of single women by governmental and non-governmental organization, media and by UN.
• Bringing the total change on the existing trend of negative social and religious norms and values, it is necessary to bring religious and social organizations and priests and religious preachers together.
• Every political parties should provide reservations from grass root levels for the single women.

We bestow importance:

• State should provide special economical allowances and benefits to women whose husbands are dead and are in their youth, adolescence and the old age.
• Every organization coming together from their individual sector for single women and to keep the existing positive trend and to bring the awareness regarding the social status of single women in front of governmental and non-governmental organizations.
• Making the policy giving social security for single women and her children, educational opportunities and facilities and to turn them economically independent from the level of local government.
• Joint venture of government and respective sectors to carry on the level of gender equality and to practice in real life.
• Religious groups and committees with positive thoughts, media and social organization coming together to bring the change against the discrimination on single women.
• Building awareness to give respect and social dignity to single women and old aged people from the early childhood.
• Curriculum development to bring awareness regarding systems of remarriages among school and colleges students.
• Acknowledgement of the activity that provides the upliftment and facilitates single women.
• Research and study of facts and figures of single women depending upon the field of work.
• Talents and skill present in single women to be explored and given a platform.
• To raise a voice against war, and terror.
• To create the joint working atmosphere with the organizations to maintain peace, build human rights and to eliminate poverty.
• Upliftment of single women through media.
• Drawing immediate attention of HMG of single women, orphans, due to war and terror in Nepal, and a request to control over these aspects.
• Networking in every district to work for single women through WHR.
• Facts and figures collection from the ward level.

To bring the positive changes, is our objective from this declaration. Depending upon which organizations, governments, and individuals social workers are expected to follow these proposal based declaration in united ways which in turn is helpful and brings no second thought to improve the status of single women in Nepal.

Lesson learnt and Findings

As a matter of insurgency most of the Dang victims are subjected to psychological traumas where they are found to be under depression and state of fear. While reading the mind of the people in Dang every single human being was found to be fearful and their mind looked preoccupied with the single concern for the welfare of their children. Single women thinks the problem they are facing today is because of the policies in the country, legal policies, cultural practices, socialization processes. The police families whose husband deceased encountering receives compensation and salary regularly after 7 years pension distribution. Where as Maoist families have no provision to get the death compensation after husband's death as they are taken as the enemy of the country both by the security forces and also by the other civilians. Young single women are more victimized comparative to adolescent single women. They are violated, tortured within family and are ill treated by society too.

Single women should ask and fight for their human rights like other women in our society. To change the society single women should first act as the agent of change being aware of the present scenario and the way to improve it. It is found that the urgent situation is to change the social ostracisms, for which media plays a great role to bring the awareness. Once the best practices of different groups is introduced in awareness programs this would help to erase the negative practices in our society. Major findings of the program was the realization for the value of the formation of the single women group in Dang to build up the unity amongst the dispersed single women who are in majority the victims of the same cause, the insurgency in Nepal.

The major finding of the workshop is that the single women of young age go through lot of changes both physically and psychologically. They feel alone and unwanted by the society. Being marginalized by the every sector of society and culturally reduced to non-entity most of them feel loss of identity and loose self confidence.

Conclusions:

Single women's issue is one of the most neglected issues in Nepal. Basically a woman's life is viewed as no specific and individual value without her husbands. So it is indeed necessary to empower the single women to change the whole status of women at all. To empower the single women of Nepal, first of all it is important to create awareness in the society in terms of code of behaviors towards single women.

The governmental perspective of the rehabilitation measures must undergo a qualitative change to make the package more viable. More needs to be known about the condition of conflicts victim's single women as there are discrimination on the government's security measures. Sensitization for the family is need since the subordination of women begins in the family. All the agencies should encourage to the single women group in the district, so that they may solve their problem themselves and work as an agent of change in their respective areas.

Overall, it was clearly understood that the single women are doubly discriminated against as women and as being single. Above all, we need to sensitize ourselves to view the single women and its trauma as a natural cycle of women's life.