WUNRN
Nepal - Women for Human Rights,
Single Women's Group
Women
for Human Rights, single women group (WHR), established in 1994, is a
Non-Governmental Organization actively working for the human rights of the
single women (widows) in Nepal. It has been dedicated to create an active
network of widows across the nation, regional and international level. WHR aims
for an equitable society where widows are respected and can live in dignity
with sufficient social, cultural, economical, legal and political rights.
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NEPAL - WIDOW LEADER CREATES WIDOWS'
ORGANIZATION
NETWORK TO ADDRESS DISCRIMINATION
AND RIGHTS
By Lily Thapa, Director and
founder of Women for Human Rights, working to support single women who have
lost their husbands.
When my husband died I was 29
years old with two young children. I was educated and from a professional
middle-class family in
But with his death I realized for
myself that education could make inroads into a society only up to a point. In
As is common practice I lived with my
husbands-in-laws and had three children. The first steps after my husband died,
was expectations that I, as a widow, follow the religious norms. This meant,
among other things, drastic change in my lifestyle. I had to wear white clothes
for a year, cut my hair, and completely reject any jewelry. I still recall the
time when I was forced to take off my nose ring. When I found it difficult to
get rid of my nose ring, I was confronted with a knife yielding man who was
ready to cut it out. I was horrified. I was suffering from the loss of my
husband but also was now face to face with the torment of my family. The life
of a Nepalese widow, I realized, was inhuman.
This is why I gathered enough courage to start a movement to support women who loose their husband. When I started out, there were many female groups fighting for women`s rights but had not really taken up the discrimination against widows. So a group of widows got together to talk about our concerns and how we can face the future. At the beginning we just hugged each other and cried.
Even that was a huge relief to
us, to have the space to talk about the serious discrimination each one of
faced. Some of the women said they were treated like animals and made to feel
utterly unworthy members of society just because they did not have husbands.
They were treated as symbols of bad luck and shunned by their neighbours. They
had no property rights. Widows were often kept away from their own children as
her offsprings were commonly called “ horses without saddles.” Indeed, poverty
is part of a single woman`s life. With women in rural areas in particular
marrying as young as 17 years, the chances of her loosing her husband when she
is still quite young, is high.
I realized these practices were
aimed at keeping women ignorant of their rights. So, since I was working as a
teacher, I began to use a classroom in the school as a place where we could get
together, Later, I registered myself in a management programme in Sweden where
I learned how to launch and sustain my own group. This was a turning point in
my life. I returned to
Major achievements of our
advocacy include pressuring the Nepal government to have a National Action Plan
for Widows under the Ministry for Women`s Affairs and an Emergency Fund for
Widows to help them to begin life again. Some legal changes for single women
are there is no need for male consent for single women to apply for a passport
and property already inherited when she married, does not have to be returned.
There are currently 425 groups of single women in 68 districts registered under
my organization. Total number of members are 40,000. We are now lobbying for
the government to provide job quotas, discounts on transportation and we also
need to establish more single womens groups at the district level and increase
members. My work must go on.