Counseling Training for Victimized Single Women of Ghorahi, Dang

Organised by Women for Human Rights (WHR)

28-30 June, Kathmandu

Summary of Workshop

After the formation of single women groups in Goltakuri and Phulbari many single women form Ghorahi, Dang requested to form the group and to make them involved in the empowering activities that is identified by WHR. WHR also felt it necessary when the country is passing through phase of violent conflict adding many young single women. WHR felt the need to start from somewhere to help the victims of conflicts especially the single women from Dang because it is the worst conflict-affected district.

The single women group in Goltakuri and Phulbari are working collaboratively for the awareness of their situation and devising self-help strategies of empowerment in their respective communities inducing manifest positive changes among them. These groups have understood the discriminatory rules and regulation of the country, and have begun to analyze different roles of the society, culture, religion, law and media concerning to their life, liberty, property and identity.

Learning from the positive impacts on the group of Goltakuri and Phulbari program, WHR intended to form another group in Ghorahi, in order to make single women of this areas involved in the productive activities. This workshop was also intended to build a committee of single women groups in Dang, with the aim to unite them, enable them to work collaboratively for the single women of Dang District and improve material and psychological conditions. This program helped to encourage single women to speak and to make them aware of what is the reality behind this natural process in human life cycle, which in turn would help the society to come forward to rethink for this issue that can uplift the life cycle of single women.

This workshop was also helped to focus the single women's group in Dang in order to bring the positive changes towards empowerment collectively. This workshop helped the government to revise the governmental intervention in the form of social, economic and legal remedies. With this, single women became capable of identifying the activities that are relevant to their sustainable livelihoods.

The informal opening of the program was held in the office of WHR along with the Director of FES Nepal. Mr. Dev Raj Dahal and staff of FES Ms. Samira Paudel Luitel. The participants introduced themselves with their existing situations of suffering and trauma due to the insurgency in Nepal and are found facing myriad of barriers and obstacles on the way to their dignified life. Most of them were found semiliterate and lack of proper education and professional skills making them impossible to find suitable employment and causing dependent on others. Without access to financial resources they are facing hard to stand independently in the public and private life.

However irrespective of the circumstances these women are living in. They have strong desire to work on to get life better by means of income generating and skills oriented training to have sustainable future ahead.

After the introduction of the participants Director of FES, Nepal Mr. Dev Raj Dahal expressed the concern of his office to help groups in Dang and committed to support the group as far as possible.

Last year's micro-credit program for single women in two VDCs of Dang districts, building their organization link to national coalition and display of drama reflecting the life of widows had a very positive bearing. The demand for more programs like these and evaluation of its effects now can be a learning exercise for the improvement of this initiative on civil peace work. This also suggests that civil peace work should continue in a continuum during pre-conflict, conflict and post- conflict situations. A small support for the victims can helps them survive, cope with their situation and contribute to peace building efforts.

The 3 days workshop was unique in the sense that it was forward looking and came up with a strategy to build network of committed women within the group of Dang, that will be the strength of single women so that they would become agents of social change themselves and work as a pressure group against the negative behavior towards single women of Dang districts. Twenty women from Dang district, upon receiving training became social mobilizers for group formation, linkage building, micro credit management and rehabilitation, reintegration and civil peace work projects.

The workshop was successful to examine difficult aspects of single women of Ghorahi, Dang and the serious attempt was made to analyze the situation in which they were forced to live under conditions of fear, stress and family obligation. The workshop successfully prepared a plan of Action, in order to work in their communities on the basis of the analysis of the problem that they are facing. The curtain raiser of the activities to empower single women of Dang certainly goes to FES Nepal. Without its support it would not have been possible to make group involved in the productive activities.

The first session was devoted to the introduction of program which focused on the different traditional practices of the single women starting from how and what these women had to undergo basic marginalization in their own experience. The session hoped to get into the root causes of the human rights deprivation and of what, how and when the changes can be implemented. The aim of this session was to go into the depth of the suffering of single women in the districts. The dynamic moments at this session were those when all participants passionately spoke their minds for the cause that had brought them all together and motivated to work for common good.

An extremely lively discussions followed and it became clear that the marginalization of single women did not differ from anyone. It stems from traditional practices as much as social mindsets and gender stereotypes.

Chairperson of WHR, Lily Thapa expressed the need to create more groups in the districts that will help lay focus on the importance of single women in communities in order to decrease the forms of violence. It will help to empower single women though each other. She also stated that very few were supportive on this cause. But now many more people & organizations have realized the importance of the group and helping to empower the single women to effect the changes by the groups themselves.

Coordinator of Fund Raising Program and a member of WHR, Amita Adhikari made clear on how gender discrimination in our society is posing difficulties to bring women into the mainstream of development. She expressed that it is indeed necessary to enthuse political awareness and sensitize the society not to discriminate the girl child who might have to encounter unintended widowhood in future.

Nirmala Dhungana, member of WHR made it clear that though the holy books and religious dicta did not confer any kind of inhuman practices that the single women should undergo. Manuscripts have told to women to be looked after by father and husband and son. Women themselves did not have any independent locus to any stage of their live. She briefed that we all have to be able to analyze the superstition inflicted against single women and have to follow the positive modern norms that helps single women to achieve self empowerment.

Lawyer, Kabita made it clear about the legal aspects of single women and how we should get the rights of our own though there are legal boundaries that do not easily permit single women to get their rights. She also mentioned that the single women group in the districts has at least basic legal knowledge so that they will not be exploited by other.

Rama Shrestha, Coordinator of Single Women Entrepreneur Group and Neera, volunteer of WHR clarified the participants on the economic challenges faced by single women. They helped groups to make the action plan on how the single women can have access to economic resources. Chandrika Bhattarai, president of Aadhar, saving/credit program of WHR trained groups to run their saving credit activities and made it cleared that how WHR from the central level can help them to achieve economic independence.

Group work:

Social/Cultural/Religious Marginalization

Present Scenario:

• Widows are not allowed to be the part of social gatherings during the programs for good omen, ('Subha Shayit, Subha karya, Shagun karya') rituals and similar other occasions.
• 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 and lack of self-confidence.
• All negative aspects to be revised and changed/ modified.
• All modified factors to be implemented in day-to-day life (resocialization is important for attitude change).
• Negative and superstitious attributes accorded to single women whose husband is dead (eg.' Bokxi' means 'Witch') because of her bad deeds ought to undergo change.
• 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, etc. only widows are allowed. Transformation in the meaning of social symbols is no less significant.
• Discrimination on widows according to communal standard should be changed.
• Right to independent life to widows ought to be granted for their self development.

Economic Status

Present Scenario:

• Lack of resources to provide education to children of single women.
• Lack of knowledge on property rights to use it effectively.
• Lack of knowledge on skill-oriented trainings.
• Problem faced to ask for loan in villages.
• High problems within family atmosphere with the 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 needs and demands 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 for fund saving activities to be used for relief and income-generating activities of widows.
• Entrepreneurships measures for widows.
• Age restrictions for widow compensation should be delimited.
• 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 have prohibited widows access to the institutional resources of the state it should be changed.
  

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 their husbands should get the permission from this single women.
• Single women whose husband is dead possess full right to claim property according to her wish and use for their purpose.
• Marginalized surrounding. ('Sath' boundary). Widows are supposed to live in the name of their deceased husbands, and are questioned if they are found to have any doubtful relationships, her property rights gets waived, this is not applicable for widower.

Importance of single women group:

Due to growing insurgency in Nepal in various districts women and children continue to suffer. Dang district 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 lack the knowledge about 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 and their number is growing.

Thus to spread awareness about single women's issue, how they are marginalized and are taken as an unwanted element of this universe organization of the single women group was learnt to be an 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 as social mobilizer to come and work together for self-development and for human development of the community.

At the end of the session the participants were made a short term and long term plan of action and expressed commitment to fulfill when they go back to their to their own communities.

Action Plan and strategies of Single Women Group in Dang.

Action Plan

• Door to door campaign.
• WHR, single women organization, works as a central facilitator, for resource transfer, social mobilization, linkage building and documentation and information sharing for the district levels organizational networking.
• Once in a month meetings on discussion regarding the issues of single women are organized, and to bring the awareness programs. Minutes to be jotted 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 about the single women present in individual's districts within its capacity.
• To resist 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.

Findings: The major finding of the workshop was that single women of young age undergo deep changes both physically, mentally and psychologically. The most immediate problem after their husband's death is a economic deprivation and lack of shelter. Overall, it was clearly understood that they need a kind of moral support and guidance for the time period to build their self-confidence which later can bring changes among them.
Above all, if the groups in districts are empowered they can act as change makes in the sustainable development and peace building processes.

Strategies:

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

Approval of the Declaration:

DECLARATION
2061, Ashad, 14th - 16th
The organization working for single women empowerment had conducted 3 days workshops dated on 2061, Ashad 14th- 2060, Ashad 16th inclusive of different VDCs with 20 participants. During the period of the workshops every participant presented the importance of the single women's group in their respective districts, which led to several activities, like group discussions, focused problem analysis and the summary of the discussion session. Workshop included various factors influencing the present state of single women in Nepal, which are socio-cultural, legal, religious, and political standpoints of many widows were found to be similar, thus, it added to the path to improve the status of single women's empowerment. Thus, our trial project aims 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 positive outcome.

We the participants and facilitators present in this workshop hereby wish to draw the attention of our work related fields from concerned NGOs, INGOs and the government and support the empowerment of widows:

We hereby would like to focus on the problem of 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 husbands are dead, conflict victims, 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, gaps in written legal polices and practical approach in daily lives, low economic empowerment resulting into abolished human rights, etc.

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.