Coming Out of the Traditional Trap

Abstract

Samabikas Nepal is an organization based in the western part of Nepal that is doing social awareness-raising against the century old tradition of chhaupadi, a local practice of isolating women during menstruation. In this region women are discriminated against during their menstrual periods: they are not given good food and cannot participate in normal social activities as they are sent away from their homes for about a week. Samabikas has mobilized social, political and religious leaders, rights workers, teachers, students, young adolescent boys and girls, women's groups and their networks, and mothers' cooperatives to campaign against this practice. In three districts, women have started to abandon the chhaupadi practice. Samabikas has been continuously engaged in empowering women and young girls. In the course of the campaign, three parts of Achham district are already declared as chhaupadi-free areas. The chhaupadi huts have been dismantled and more women and girls have been enabled to share in power. Vigilance committees have become active and alert for rescuing women who are vulnerable to discrimination and gender-based violence. The campaign is gaining momentum and spreading in neighboring districts, but resentment remains. The government has issued a directive that prohibits any sort of practice that discriminates against women such as chhaupadi. However, its implementation remains weak and unmonitored. As a survivor myself, I have come a long way in the peaceful struggle against this tradition.