PRATICHYA DULAL
KATHMANDU, MAR 28 -
Srijana Shrestha vividly remembers the day a gang of men stormed into her home, looking for her husband. After corralling him for a brief talk, they shot him dead. This was during the early years of the Maoist insurgency and since then, the loss of her husband, the family’s sole breadwinner, has placed an emotional and psychological burden on her family that is not easy to compensate for in cash and kind.
“My son who was 10 years old then is afraid of going out in public alone. My efforts to socialise him all went in vain,” Srijana, 32, who hails from Kirtipur, told the Post. “My plight as a psychologically-affected single mother receiving no help from the state tells me that the government will not be able to compensate me for the physical hardship I’ve faced,” she added as she attended a programme held recently to discuss the TRC ordinance that was okayed by the President on March 14.
Srijana is just one of the thousands of victims of the 10-year civil conflict who are waiting for the government to address their problems through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission ( TRC ). The proposed TRC will look into cases between February 13, 1996 and November 21, 2006.
However, victims and rights activists claim that the recently endorsed TRC lacks provisions to address the problems of women who were victims of several forms of violence, including rape, murder and other forms of physical and sexual abuse.
“We had hoped that the TRC would address our problems and take the much needed action against the culprits,” said Purna Maya Lama, whose husband disappeared during the war and is still missing. “Much to our dismay, the ordinance is not any different from other existing provisions to compensate the mental torture that families, particularly widows and rape victims, are facing.” The TRC ordinance has drawn widespread criticism from victims and women’s rights activists for being ‘gender-unfriendly and incomplete.’
Advocate Sabin Shrestha said the TRC does not have adequate women representation to address gender-related issues. “It does not even meet the 33 percent criteria,” he said. “This means that women’s issues will get less priority, despite the fact that women suffered the most during the conflict.”
Shrestha suggested that a representative from the Women’s Commission in the TRC ’s executive committee could make it more gender-friendly. “Otherwise, it is also going one of those cases where women victims do not come out fearing isolation and social stigma,” he said.
Prabina Bajracharya from the International Center for Transitional Justice said she is concerned about the safety of those filing war-era cases. The TRC ordinance says that protection, if sought, will be provided to those filing cases and acting as witnesses. Bajracharya, however, said that this provision alone will not be adequate as provisions for protection in other ordinances have not been implemented. “The same provision applies for trafficking, but none of those victims have received protection,” she explained.
Victims like Srijana also raised questions over state mechanisms that will measure her case and its compensation for the life that was taken away. Lama pointed out the inadequacies in the ordinance on inquiries of rape or other forms of gender-based violence.
“If the TRC moves ahead with the existing practices while investigating rape cases and other issues of violence against women, then I can say that it will be of no use,” Shrestha said. “More women need to be consulted while dealing with such sensitive issues. Investi-gations must be conducted privately where victims feel free to tell their stories.”
According to a report by the Women’s Rehabilitation Centre, 56 percent of cases of violence against women go unreported due fear of additional violence or social stigma.
Posted on: 2013-03-28 09:01
KATHMANDU, MAR 28 -
Srijana Shrestha vividly remembers the day a gang of men stormed into her home, looking for her husband. After corralling him for a brief talk, they shot him dead. This was during the early years of the Maoist insurgency and since then, the loss of her husband, the family’s sole breadwinner, has placed an emotional and psychological burden on her family that is not easy to compensate for in cash and kind.
“My son who was 10 years old then is afraid of going out in public alone. My efforts to socialise him all went in vain,” Srijana, 32, who hails from Kirtipur, told the Post. “My plight as a psychologically-affected single mother receiving no help from the state tells me that the government will not be able to compensate me for the physical hardship I’ve faced,” she added as she attended a programme held recently to discuss the TRC ordinance that was okayed by the President on March 14.
Srijana is just one of the thousands of victims of the 10-year civil conflict who are waiting for the government to address their problems through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission ( TRC ). The proposed TRC will look into cases between February 13, 1996 and November 21, 2006.
However, victims and rights activists claim that the recently endorsed TRC lacks provisions to address the problems of women who were victims of several forms of violence, including rape, murder and other forms of physical and sexual abuse.
“We had hoped that the TRC would address our problems and take the much needed action against the culprits,” said Purna Maya Lama, whose husband disappeared during the war and is still missing. “Much to our dismay, the ordinance is not any different from other existing provisions to compensate the mental torture that families, particularly widows and rape victims, are facing.” The TRC ordinance has drawn widespread criticism from victims and women’s rights activists for being ‘gender-unfriendly and incomplete.’
Advocate Sabin Shrestha said the TRC does not have adequate women representation to address gender-related issues. “It does not even meet the 33 percent criteria,” he said. “This means that women’s issues will get less priority, despite the fact that women suffered the most during the conflict.”
Shrestha suggested that a representative from the Women’s Commission in the TRC ’s executive committee could make it more gender-friendly. “Otherwise, it is also going one of those cases where women victims do not come out fearing isolation and social stigma,” he said.
Prabina Bajracharya from the International Center for Transitional Justice said she is concerned about the safety of those filing war-era cases. The TRC ordinance says that protection, if sought, will be provided to those filing cases and acting as witnesses. Bajracharya, however, said that this provision alone will not be adequate as provisions for protection in other ordinances have not been implemented. “The same provision applies for trafficking, but none of those victims have received protection,” she explained.
Victims like Srijana also raised questions over state mechanisms that will measure her case and its compensation for the life that was taken away. Lama pointed out the inadequacies in the ordinance on inquiries of rape or other forms of gender-based violence.
“If the TRC moves ahead with the existing practices while investigating rape cases and other issues of violence against women, then I can say that it will be of no use,” Shrestha said. “More women need to be consulted while dealing with such sensitive issues. Investi-gations must be conducted privately where victims feel free to tell their stories.”
According to a report by the Women’s Rehabilitation Centre, 56 percent of cases of violence against women go unreported due fear of additional violence or social stigma.
Posted on: 2013-03-28 09:01
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