INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:

Kathmandu, June 24 Mala Devi Jaiswal, 42, a resident of Rautahat, could not take part in her daughter marriage ceremony rituals

She was told her participation would be ‘inauspicious& because she happened to be a widow. &I felt bad and discriminated yet I couldn&t

say anything,& said Jaiswal. In patriarchal Nepali society, where women are still fighting for equal rights, a woman who has lost her

husband faces even more discrimination

The oppressive social norms bar widows from wearing whatever she likes: Red-coloured clothes are a big ‘no&

She cannot move freely, take part in religious ceremonies or remarry

A widow also faces difficulty in claiming her husband property and is taunted by in-laws as she is blamed for her husband death. Sakuntala

Yadav, 39, a resident of Siraha, whose husband disappeared 14 years ago, has raised two children on her own since then

For her children further studies she needs money

But she has not been able to claim her husband property

&I fear my younger son won&t be able to get his citizenship if I ask for my share of property from the in-laws,& she said. Yadav had to

produce 25 villagers as witnesses before the local authority to enable her elder son to get a citizenship

Now, her younger son has become eligible for citizenship

But in Nepal, only a father or his family members have to be present at the ward and district offices to get the document

&If I take legal recourse to get my share of property, my in-laws will trouble me when my child initiates the process of obtaining

citizenship,& she said. In-laws of most of widows use lack of financial acumen and chances of misuse of assets as pretexts to deny property

rights to single women

But in reality, property is generally used as a bargaining tool to provide citizenships to their offspring. &My son probably would not have

received his citizenship certificate had it not been for my brother in-law,& said Sashi Devi Bhatta, a resident of Dharmasthali, Kathmandu,

who lost her husband 19 years ago. Nepal has seen significant political changes over the years and participation of women has gone up in the

Parliament as well government offices

But rigid social structures have not changed. Yadav, for example, has faced allegations of ‘having an affair& simply because he has held

conversations with men. &It is sad that we are sometimes not treated as human beings

People often use harsh words and some of the men even follow us and sexually harass us,& said Sita Shrestha, a resident of Janakpur, who

lost her husband 11 years ago. Shrestha once had to hit a man who misbehaved with her when she was returning home from the workplace with

her daughter

&It is very difficult to protect your children, especially girls, if you are a single woman,& said Shrestha, a mother of six

daughters. Single women are still barred from vital registration

There is no ownership of property

They are economically dependent

The government has to bring pragmatic programmes that would improve the lot of women at the grassroots level to help them become

independent, said Lily Thapa, founder of Women for Human Rights. The post Single women still face social discrimination appeared first on

The Himalayan Times.