The Epitome of Strength: Women of Nepal

                For generations, women in Nepal have been subjugated to maltreatment, hard work, lack of education and health care, and discrimination. Within each caste in Nepal, the treatment and responsibilities of women varies, but the underlying tone is the same: Men are more important.

                It is the women who bear the brunt of the manual labour in farming and industrial areas. Women are often given lower wages for longer hours of work, and are still expected to take care of the children and the household. It is said that female wages in Nepal are some 25% less, than that of males in the same position. Studies have shown that malnutrition and poverty hit women of lower socioeconomic classes harder, as during times of food shortages, women and female children are given less food than their male counterparts.

                The government in Nepal has set up equal rights acts, but the lack of education has driven a deep divide in the equality of men and women in the country. The literacy rate has improved substantially over the past decades, but a huge percentage of women in Nepal are still unable to read.  There is said to be at least a 30% gap difference in literacy rates from women to men.

                Education is on the rise, especially in the wealthier castes of Nepal—and while this may guarantee financial security for women, this does not necessarily guarantee just social treatment. Many times, the status of a woman is left in the hands of her husband’s authority, and the prestige or lack thereof, of his family’s name. Arranged marriages, based on caste, are not uncommon in modern day Nepal. A woman can be completely and hopelessly in love with someone from another caste, and still may not be allowed to marry him because of the caste difference. More and more, this is being done away with in lower castes, but is still very prominent in upper Nepali societies. Once the woman is married, she is then in the hands of her new family. As with any marriage in the world, the gaining of in-laws can be either a positive experience or a negative one. In Nepal, however, this can mean a happy life or a miserable life, as the family ties here are still extremely strong.

                The women of Nepal are strong women, carrying the weight of the country on their shoulders. While they bear the majority of the work, they still have very little voice as to what goes on in their country. With Nepal’s progression into the modern age, and the dawn of a new government, one can only hope the treatment of women gets pulled along in the right direction.