Sapana
Malla Pradhan is regarded as one of the leading figures of Nepal’s Women’s
movement. She is the Founding President of Centre for Women, Law and
Development, an NGO dedicated to advocating for the removal of discriminatory
laws against Nepali women. She was also a member of the Constituent Assembly
representing Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist Leninist). The Peter and
Patricia Gruber Foundation awarded her the Gruber International Women’s Right
Award for advancing gender equality in 2008. Below is my interview with her,
originally in Nepali.
What
are some of the laws that discriminate against women in Nepal?
The
reason we started Forum for Women, Law and Development (FWLD) is because,
although we always worked for women’s rights, but the law itself was an
obstruction. The justice system had many discriminatory laws. For example
daughters did not have the right to parental property. Women did not have
abortion rights. There was not an understanding of the concept that married
women could be raped and abused. Even though polygamy was prohibited, its
indictment was minimal. Child marriage laws were not effective. In divorce
laws, women’s rights were not respected. Women were not allowed to go abroad as
migrant workers. There were a lot of discriminatory laws against women, and we
challenged each one of these in the court. Looking at the results, there are
still three main discriminatory issues against women today. One is in regards
to citizenship. Another is regarding inheritance of parental property. Married
daughters may not own property, whereas unmarried daughters may, but must
return it once married. Laws regarding marriage are still discriminatory. And
there are still certain cases and circumstances in which polygamy is still
allowed. Besides this, we identified 174 laws that were discriminatory to women
and more than 100 of these laws have been rectified.
What
is the issue regarding citizenship?
The
law says that one can acquire citizenship via mother’s citizenship. However if
a women is married to a foreigner, she has to be living in Nepal, her children
have to be born in Nepal and the children have to be permanently living in
Nepal in order for the children to get citizenship. In other words there is a
big difference between being a male and female parent with regards to
citizenship. Children of a male parent can be born anywhere. They can get
married to anyone and they can live permanently anywhere. Hence the citizenship
right of the children of Nepali mothers is highly circumscribed. With
matrimonial law, if a Nepali woman is married to a foreigner, the husband cannot
acquire Nepali citizenship. On the other hand, if a Nepali man is married to a
foreigner, then she can acquire Nepali citizenship. Hence in regards to
citizenship rights for Nepali women’s dependents, we have strayed away from the
correct path.
What is
the overall status of the Women’s rights movement in Nepal?
Well
there is never an end to a movement. There is never complete fulfillment of
rights. When one says movement, it does not have to be a Sadak (street)
movement. A movement can take place inside one’s heart and it can also take
place by speaking up. Our main movement (FWLD) works to change the system of
discriminatory laws in Nepal by filing cases against the state in the court. We
furthered our movement by presenting alternative wording when the state came up
with policies. When discussing issues in parliament, we collaborate with
political leaders and members of the parliament. We have also started social
initiatives. I feel that there has been effective work done in Nepal. But
definitely it is not enough. Yesterday we fought for the creation of legal
rights. Today we need to fight to implement these legal rights in people’s
day-to-day lives.
There
are a lot of movements in Nepal such as the Janajati movement, Madesh movement
and others. How do they affect the Women’s movement?
There
is definitely a struggle for the recognition of identity in Nepal. In fact,
this struggle exists throughout the world, and Nepal is not alone in this. Here
the struggle of Madeshi and Janajati is also a struggle of identity due to
marginalization, and the lack of political recognition. But the good news is
with the issues related to women; women from different castes, women who speak
different languages, women from different regions and women from different
political parties are united and standing together. That is our strength.
How
did you get involved in the Women’s movement? Were there any personal reasons
or specific influences?
My educational
background is in Corporate Law. I did my Masters in Comparative Law (MCL) in
Delhi. I went to Italy to train in Corporate and Development Law. I also
started working on Corporate Law, but many women would approach me for help
with their difficulties. I would not be able to help most of these women due to
biased and discriminatory laws. According to what I had understood and learned
in law school, the law is the basis for justice, inclusion and equality. But in
Nepal this was not possible. The law was itself a hindrance for justice and
equality, in many instances. Therefore instead of staying in Corporate Law and
making money, I decided to challenge the judicial system of Nepal. I felt like
I needed to fight for equality. For these reasons, I decided to partake in this
movement.
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