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Women Learn to Lead | ||||||
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| 3 | Gender Equality |
Laxmi Maharjan tried to stifle a sniff as she described how it was growing up as a girl in Lalipur district in Nepal. “When I was a child, I thought that to be born as a girl was bad luck,” she told the audience during a talk show, In the Spotlight, held at ADB headquarters during Women’s Week in March 2004. The talk show featured six women elected as local government representatives in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan.
Ms. Maharjan told of how discrimination against women began at home. Boys were given better food and clothing, while girls had to settle for leftovers. Boys were sent to school, and girls were not.
“I thought I didn’t have any fortune, which is why I was born a girl,” she said.
Gender discrimination remains a serious problem in their countries, where women make up the majority of the poor. Their respective governments have tried to address the problem by mandating that a percentage of local government seats be reserved for women, but legal limits are not the only barriers these women are up against. Bigger hurdles are
Women in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan are overcoming discrimination and numerous obstacles to become leaders in their communities
Nighat Afsar, for example, is a practicing lawyer in Pakistan but she said she still did not know what to do as district councilor when she was first elected.
At the start, women members of local councils often just sat during meetings, unable to participate, because they were not given instructions or ideas on what their role was supposed to be. But through training provided by ADB under a regional technical assistance grant for gender and governance, they learned of their roles and responsibilities, their powers, and the resources they can access.
“Now we are very aware of what we have to do, and we are doing a lot in our community,” said Ms. Afsar.
Another Pakistani district councilor, Farzana Rauf, from Jalipur district, had to deal not only with lack of awareness of what she was supposed to do, but also with men who were not receptive to her presence in the council.
“Not all of the men councilors were aware of the system,” she said. “They wanted to pass the budget without our approval. And when I took an interest in the budget, they were scared that we, the women, would be a hurdle for them.”
After training and workshops, though, they were able to resolve their problems.
The same is true in Bangladesh. Monjura Khanam, a member of the Union Parishad, said she spent the first four months of her term establishing a good working relationship with her male counterparts because she knew that they were not comfortable with her.
Even some older women, added Deepali Chakoraborty, also a member of the Union Parishad, did not support them. “They tell us that the Union is not a place for us,” she said.
For Bimala Basnet, a former member of the Women’s Forum in Nepal, the men— who likened the entry of women into the district/village council to a wild animal entering the community—were not the only problems.
Her family and friends were not supportive of her running for office. They tried to force her to resign after she was first elected.
To earn her family’s support and the community’s respect, she worked hard in her household while also attending to her responsibilities in the council.
“I had to prove myself in so many dimensions —as a wife, as a mother, as a woman in the household and community, and as a leader,” she said.
Despite all the difficulties they went through, these women persevered and are now all respected members of their community. Ms. Chakoraborty is involved in her community’s primary education, road maintenance, and dispute resolution.
Ms. Maharjan, who was thrown out of her house by her parents when she ran for office, campaigned for a citizenship certificate for women, and worked for a community census by registering deaths and marriages.
"I had to prove myself in so many dimensions"
Bimala Basnet,
former member,
Women’s Forum in Nepal
Ms. Basnet, whose term in office has already expired, is honored in her community as a nadis, or judge. She says women had been influenced to think that they cannot be leaders. “Women are not aware of their own potential. Now that there are good, respected leaders, other women want to be leaders like us.”
While a lot more remains to be done, they all feel that having women in government is an important step.
“I believe that if women participate in politics in the real sense, in decision making, there will be no discriminatory law at any level,” said Ms. Afsar. “I think empowering women is empowering a nation.”
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