Views of a Nepali Economist

Acid Attacks and Violence against Nepali Women

Three girls studying in a tuition center at Basantapur, in preparation of their SLC exams, had acid thrown at them by a masked man on February 22, 2015. The main victim of the attack appeared to be Sangita Magar, a sixteen-year old. All she wanted was to get good grades in the upcoming SLC exams. Instead, she got acid thrown at her face by some unknown person. The police say that they have identified the suspect of the crime, but are yet to confirm in public who the perpetrator was.

The world today continues to prosper and reach greater heights through education, civil rights and political rights. However, we have yet to make considerable progress in reducing violence against women. In fact, the events and incidents around us suggest that we are regressing on the issue instead of making progress. In India, for example, five women suffer acid attacks each day. In Bangladesh, a woman suffers from such attack each day. Majority of such attacks on women occur when they reject the romantic or sexual advances or marriage requests from men.

While the incidence of acid attacks in Nepal is not as severe as in India or Bangladesh, there are areas in the terai where acid attacks continue to be perpetrated against Nepali women. The acid attack in Kathmandu is notable because it occurred in the capital. That makes the incident difficult to ignore for the intelligentsia and the Nepali state. It occurred at the heart of a city at the heart of the country. I believe that this is an isolated incident in the valley. However, for the sake of those in the periphery who suffer from such violence every day, I hope the incident in Kathmandu sparks a dialogue to address the issue of violence against women in the Nepali society.

Societies have been busy over the years in creating a system of hierarchy in which women have been reduced to a lower tier through systematic exclusion and discrimination. Patriarchy originated in Mesopotamia around 6000 years ago, and spread all over the world. Thus, women have been struggling against patriarchy and male dominance for over 6000 years now. Marilyn French, in her book “The war against women,” claims that all states in history had laws saying women’s bodies, sexuality and reproductive capacity were property of men. Things haven’t changed much. Even in the most developed western countries, such as the United States, women continue to wage wars against men to retain the rights to their own bodies. Patriarchy continues to be used to justify violence against women over the years. At the same time, women’s movement for equal rights has made women a target for further violence.

As with women elsewhere, there are all sorts of violence—physical, emotional, social and economic—that have been perpetrated against Nepali women. Long ago, Nepali women were forced to die alongside their dead husbands in their pyres. The society no longer considered that moral, and it was abolished. There was a time when women were not allowed in the workplace or in politics. That changed, too. Nepali women have more opportunities to work today than ever before. The last parliament had around 30 percent women representatives. There was a time when sons were sent to school but daughters weren’t. Years of efforts in increasing girls’ enrollment has meant that over 85 percent of Nepali girls of primary school age are now enrolled in schools compared to 90 percent of boys of the same age.

Despite all that progress, violence against Nepali women continues. In fact, it has actually increased over the years as Nepal has grown more progressive socially and economically. Even during the Maoist conflict, a movement against the status quo, rape was used as an instrument of war by both sides of the conflict. The security forces, especially, captured women from the opposing camp and rape them to teach the other side a lesson. Even when a rape does not damage the woman’s body physically, it leaves emotional scars. Those are difficult to heal. Acid attacks do the same. They result in more than a disfigured face or body. These attacks weaken the human spirit. They weaken the women’s confidence and their trust on others. They are an extension of the broader violence against women that exists in our society.

Violence against women is not a distinct Nepali phenomenon. Failure to address it is worldwide. The much touted Millennium Development Goals look into a variety of problems and wish to correct them, but violence against women is sorely missing from the list of problems that the MDGs wish to tackle. There is no denying that Nepali women today enjoy more rights and responsibilities than any other time in history. Compared to women in other regressive countries such as those in the Middle East or Africa or even some Asian countries, Nepali women today enjoy much personal and civil liberties. However, much remains to be done. Let us hope that the attack in Basantapur results in a renewed call for addressing violence against Nepali women.