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Summary: The introductory section gives an
overview of the various forms of
discrimination girls face in S. Asia,
which regionally constitutes the worst
in the world. It then sets out the
rationale for this research. This in
part came about as a result of SCF
(UK)'s decision to address violence
against girls as a regional thematic
issue. Contents
Acknowledgements
Contents
Acronyms
Maps
Executive Summary
Section 1:
INTRODUCTION
1 .1 Girls and Discrimination: An Overview in South Asia
1.2 Research Rationale
1.3 The Nature of this Research
1 .4 Key Questions/Issues
Section 2:
METHODOLOGY AND PROCESS
2.1 Background
2.2 Location of the Study Site
2.3 Selection of Study Villages
2.4 Selection of the Groups
2.5 Reasons for Choosing These Groups
2.6 Data Collection Tools
2.7 Limitations
2.8 Ethical Issues
2.9 Research Timing
Section 3:
MY EXPERIENCE AS RESEARCHER
3.1 Researcher's Observations
3.2 Local Cultural Understanding
3.3 Local Political/Economic Context
Section 4:
KEY FINDINGS
4.1 Adolescent Girls
4.2 Married Adolescent Girls
4.3 Brothers' Group
4.4 Pre-Adolescent Girls
4.5 Parents of Adolescent Girls
4.6 Village Representatives
4.7 In-depth Individual Case Studies
Section 5:
CONCLUSION
Section 6:
LESSONS LEARNT AND RECOMMENDATIONS
6.1 The Challenge
6.2 Local Level
6.3 National Level
Section 7:
LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS
7.1 Children's Role in Confronting Social Environment
7.2 Children and the Decision Making Process ...
7.3 Establishment of Community Support Systems is Essential in Every
Village
7.4 Children's Movement to Fight Discrimination and change the
Society for Equality, Peace and Justice
7.5 Leading the Way in Local Advocacy Campaigns .
7.6 leading the Way in National Advocacy Campaigns
7.7 Policy for Adolescent Girls and Boys
7.8 Research Recommendation
Bibliography
Appendix 1:
Interview responses from four children's groups in Surkhet concerning
'The difficulties girls are facing'
Interview with parents and girls' brothers for the film about their
attitudes and responses on violence and discrimination against girls
Appendix 2:
Married Adolescent Girls' Stories
Appendix 3.
Individual and Their Peers' Case Studies
Appendix 4
Checklist Used in Discussion with Different Groups
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1 The introductory section gives an overview of the various forms of
discrimination girls face in S. Asia, which regionally constitutes
the worst in the world. It then sets out the rationale for this
research. This in part came about as a result of SCF (UK)'s decision
to address violence against girls as a regional thematic issue. The
research sought to find out from primarily rural adolescent girls in
two villages of Surkhet district, in mid-west Nepal, the difficulties
they face. These adolescents live in families and are not especially
vulnerable as a group.
The research addresses 3 key questions:
i. What do girls, their brothers, parents and community leaders
understand about girls' aspirations and the difficulties girls face?
ii. What solutions do they suggest to address the difficulties girls
face?
iii. What are the barriers that prevent the solutions?
In order to better understand the situation of adolescent girls the
research protocol proposed that in-depth interviews were held with
adolescent girls as well as focussed group discussions. So as to
triangulate the information and gain more understanding of the family
and community context with regard to discrimination against girls
additional interviews were held with the peers of adolescent girls,
with pre-adolescent girls, with married adolescent girls, the
brothers of these girls, their parents and community leaders.
2. Section 2 describes the research methodology and process used. It
provides a brief background to SC F's work with partners in Surkhet.
A regional SOF seminar on 'Violence against Girls' in October 1998
was the catalyst for a case study on the difficulties girls face in
the two villages. The resulting group interviews were filmed and
edited into a video called 'Girls' Voices'. The transcripts of the
interviews with the children's groups and later with the parents and
brothers is given in Appendix 1. This research was a continuation of
that case study and was carried out over a 3 month secondment to the
SCF (UK) OSCAR regional office in Kathmandu from November 1998 to
February 1999. The research took place in Ramghat and Ghusra
villages, where SCF's partners have been working with children's
groups for the last 6-9 months. Table 1 on page 6 shows the number
and breakdown of the 155 people interviewed individually and in
groups, and their caste/ethnicity. Individual intervie ws took place
with 9 adolescent girls from their group and with 13 of their peers.
Otherwise interviewing was done in groups. The profiles of the
various groups were:
Pre-adolescent girls aged 6-10 years
Adolescent girls aged 11-18 years,
Married adolescent girls aged 14-18 years,
Brothers aged 10-18 years,
Parents of adolescent girls,
Community leaders of the 2 villages.
The original case study and the research interviewed members of the 3
different caste/ethnic groups separately to see if there were any
noticeable differences as to how adolescents and adults in these
groups viewed their situation and responded to similar questions.
Appendix 4 contains the check list used in discussion with different
groups. The caste/ethnic groups were the Kamai/Damai (traditional
artisan caste), Brahman/Chhetri (traditional priestly/educated and
warrior castes) and the Tharu (an ethnic group of cultivators). The
reasons for choosing these groups to interview is described and also
how individuals were selected. Also described are the methods for
data collection, how various ethical issues were addressed and the
time schedules for different parts of the research.
3. In Section 3 the researcher describes her own background, her
experiences and observations concerning the research. This includes
what she often found the interviewees wanted of her. Interestingly,
the brothers' group expressed great sympathy with their sisters.
However, the fathers seemed not to accept that they had any role in
bringing up their daughters. The cultural norms which restrict
unmarried girls are described. Some background is also given by the
researcher concerning the political and economic context of the
caste/ethnic groups she interviewed
4. Section 4 records the key findings of the research. With regard to
the 32 adolescent girls interviewed in the 3 groups it analyses their
aspirations but particularly the 6 key issues they identified as
significant in making their lives difficult. These are:
low value and status,
workload,
mobility restriction,
scolding and attitude of parents,
early marriage,
attitude of neighbours.
The great majority of girls are not happy at being daughters.
Education is bringing some improvement to their lives (see Table 2)
but because of cultural norms and being undervalued they are usually
not given the same opportunities as their brothers and are less
supported by their parents in terms of encouragement and basic school
requirements (pens, stationary and books) In addition, the heavy
workload they have to undertake as opposed to their brothers means
that in comparison they are at a grave disadvantage in succeeding at
school. The girls resent the restrictions put on their mobility due
to societal pressure and their being the custodians of the family
honour. Because of the very different expectations of how girls
should behave, in comparison to boys, girls are frequently
reprimanded and scolded for their behaviour by parents, relations,
neighbours and brothers, while boys are allowed considerable to
excessive freedom. Traditionally girls were married in their early
teens or before nowadays for various reasons, e.g. workload,
attitudes to sex, restrictions, etc some girls are choosing
themselves to marry early. Others want to put off marriage until
after they have completed their education but come under great
pressure to marry before then. Neighbours especially exert pressure
on parents to remove their daughters from school once they have
reached puberty so that they should marry. The solutions and the
barriers to these solutions are discussed.
20 married adolescent girls were also interviewed. Information
concerning their ages and domestic situation is set out in Table 3.
13 of the 20 married men of their own choice rather than having a
marriage arranged by their parents. Case examples are given in the
text and in Appendix 2. For most of the girls life became harder
after marriage and they seem to have been ill-prepared, despite all
the hardships they experienced in their parents home, for the
isolation, reprimands and hard work they encountered. 15 of the 20
reported being unhappy in their marriage. For the Kamai/Damai and
Brahman/Chhetri all but one of their husbands have left home for
India or elsewhere. 5 of the Kamai/Damai have returned to their
mother's home. In their suggestions they advise other girls not to
marry early but to continue their education, For those who do marry
they recommend belonging to a support group The barriers to their
suggestions are listed and the researcher's observations.
20 brothers were interviewed, mainly younger ones, and seemed well
aware of the plight of their elder sisters, which they regretted.
Across caste/ethnicity brothers describe the same problems for girls.
The boys have given their suggestions as to how girls should achieve
equal status to boys but they and the researcher also note the
barriers to this.
29 pre-adolescent girls (aged 6-10) were interviewed. Their
educational status is set out in Table 5. Unlike the adolescent girls
who saw the age of 10 as the time that discrimination began these
girls saw it starting at the age of 6 years. Their feelings and
responses to questions very much depended on whether they felt their
parents openly showed them love and affection. The scoldings and
beatings they commented on was frequently connected to their not
doing the housework to their parents
satisfaction.
16 parents (12 mothers, 3 fathers and 1 uncle) of the adolescent
girls Lhey describe their expectations and aspirations for their
daughters. The the mothers want a better life for their daughters,
particularly on remembering their own. However, the research shows
that the powerful influence of neighbours and the long accepted
divisions of gender labour and responsibility make such change
difficult
The comments from the group interviews held in the two villages with
a total of 21 VDC representatives (17 male, 4 female) further
underlined the known discrimination girls face from birth, noting
that boys are greeted with joy but not the girls. They have put
forward their suggestions for girls' development which is very
enlightened as well as the likely barriers. However, those who were
fathers did not see it as their role to improve the status of girls
but that of the mothers, which makes future change problematic.
In-depth individual interviews were conducted with 15 adolescent
girls. 9 were with girls from the adolescent group and 13 with peer
girl friends of girls in the group. As can be seen from Table 8 in 7
cases girls were interviewed with regard to both roles. Two case
examples are given in the text and nine others in Appendix 3. The
peer friends support to individual girls appears to have been much
valued by them and reciprocated. Their ideas for improving the
situation of girls is listed, as also the barriers. The areas that a
village support system for girls should cover are detailed.
5. The conclusions from this research are set out in Section 5. They
show that girls, parents, brothers and VDC representatives express
the wish for a social environment where girls are encouraged in every
sector and given the opportunity to lead a life without
discrimination or violence. They know many of the solutions by which
to bring about change but the root of the problem seems to lie with
the lack of will by men and boys to change their behavioural
attitudes to girls so that they receive equal opportunities and by
society to adopt other than negative and inhibiting attitudes towards
them. The saddest issue to emerge from this research is the under-
valuing and low status given to girls, which led most of those
interviewed to express strong frustration and resentment at being
daughters. Despite the ratification of various intemational
instruments (the Convention on the Rights of the Child, etc) little
has changed for girls in Nepal. A positive attitude by men and boys
towards an equal status for girls as their right is seen as one of
the major critical factors required for their real future development.
The need to mobilise the strengths of girls, families and communities
to work out solutions is emphasised. Building the capacities of girls
to analyse and identify issues and advocate for change with like-
minded adults is essential and will require a new approach from all
levels of government, NGOs and other development agencies. Girls
should also be encouraged to carry out their own research. Strong
commitment is required at many different levels especially by
decision-makers to redress the current low status of girls by
recognising and changing discriminative attitudes and by responding
to what girls see as their most pressing needs.
6. Section 6 look at the lessons learnt from the research and the
recommendations as to how the challenge of eradicating discrimination
against girls should be taken forward locally and nationally. The
lessons learnt come under the following headings:
At Local Level:
Children's role in confronting social environment.
Children and the decision making process.
Establishment of community support systems essential in every village.
Children's movement to fight discrimination and change the society
for equality, peace and justice.
Leading the way in local advocacy campaigns.
At National Level:
Leading the way in national advocacy campaigns.
Policy for adolescent girls and boys.
Research recommendation.
7. Section 7 lists the recommendations in the areas where lessons
have been learnt as follows:
At Local Level
7.1 Children's role in confronting social environment.
i. Children should be encouraged from pre-adolescence to meet
together to play, discuss and act to improve their own and their
community situation.
ii. The rights and hopes of girls and their achievement of them
should be constantly on the agenda at all levels especially in the
family, VDC, DCWC, schools, women's groups, children's groups and
other user committees at local level and this also should be
discussed up to the national level.
iii. To use the child to child approach, especially through the role
of adolescent brothers and sisters with younger pre- adolescent
girls, to establish a non-discriminatory approach to gender.
7.2 Children and the decision making process.
i. That girls and boys be involved in decision making in their groups
first then in their families and schools and then more widely in the
village and VDC
7.3 Establishment of community support systems essential in every
village.
i. Community support systems for girls need to be developed in every
village to enable girls to achieve their potential.
ii. Girls' groups to identify and make profiles of persons
(especially men, women and boysi at community level who are willing
to raise their voice against the agents and perpetrators of
difficulties and give them advice and long term support at local
level.
iii. The children and their adult supporters should meet with local
and district officials especially the DCWC to emphasise a rights
based approach to the treatment of girls.
iv. The role of fathers in supporting their daughters needs to be
explained and emphasized.
7.4 Children's movement to fight discrimination and change the
society for equality, peace and justice.
i. Programmes should be designed to provide equal opportunities for
girls and boys to develop their skills in leadership and advocacy so
as to empower them to raise their joint voice against girls'
discrimination.
ii. Boys should be encouraged with girls [particularly brothers and
sisters] to join a grass root movement which emphasizes equal
opportunities to girls, sharing of the workload in their own home, to
support each other having equal opportunities to education, health,
nutrition and mobility and then each to have equal responsibility for
their parents.
iii. Groups should be set up by NGOs and INGOs for married adolescent
girls who are isolated by all.
7.5 Leading the way in local advocacy campaigns.
i. A dialogue with journalists should take place especially at local
level to exchange views about the difficulties girls face based on
this research, so they could raise awareness of these difficulties
with the public through local nev.'s~ 2pers.
ii. Girls should be encouraged to describe their difficulties through
the local press, radio, village theatre, puppetry and television to
disseminate and create awareness in different villages.
iii. Discussion should be held with local teachers to promote the
giving of positive images concerning women and girls in class work
At National Level
7.6 Leading the way in national advocacy campaigns.
i. The deficiency in present legislation and policies concerned with
property rights should be made public both locally and nationally. A
campaigning network should be started from local to national level
ii. Teaching materials, including text books should be reviewed and
revised to promote self-esteem of women and girls through positive
self-images highlighting women's/girls role in society including in
decision making, development, culture, other social and economic
endeavours.
ii Active networks of girls and women, which increasingly should
include boys and men, should meet and exchange their experiences and
encourage new groups/networks in areas where they do not exist and
through this strategy empower the girls/women movement nationally.
7.7 Policy for adolescent girls and boys.
i. The government and other organizations should have a policy and
programmes focussin g on adolescence
ii Sexual and reproductive health education should be introduced into
schools from age 8-9 years i.e. well prior to puberty.
iii. Groups should be set up by NGOs and INGOs for married adolescent
girls who are isolated by all.
7.8 Research recommendation
i. To understand why some of the girls are more fully able to
exercise their rights in certain areasOwner: Irada Gautam