Elite NGO leaders as Vernacularizers of the Human Rights Concept of Violence Against Women: Critical Analysis from the Perspective of Women from Socially Excluded Groups Subha Ghale Master’s Thesis Master’s in Human Rights and Democratisation University of Sydney and University of Gadjah Madah June 2014 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS As women from marginalised communities are the focus of my dissertation, it was their voices and experiences that inspired this research. I have met many strong women from the margins whose voices are yet to be part of the mainstream discourse on women’s rights. My work is a humble effort to express solidarity with scholars and activists who have relentlessly struggled for the recognition of marginalised voices. The critical insights I received from my professors and colleagues at the University of Sydney and University of Gadjah Madah broadened and enriched my perspective on human rights. The Master’s in Human Rights and Democratisation enabled me to articulate my questions and deepen my knowledge on pressing issues. Although I encountered a serious health issue in the midst of writing my dissertation, I completed my dissertation without compromising the quality of my work thanks to the warm encouragement I received from the University of Sydney and University of Gadjah Madah teams. I would like to express my gratitude to Amalinda Savirani, at the University of Gadjah Mada for her supervision, and for motivating me to push my boundaries as a researcher. I am grateful for the support I received from Nur Azizah, Coordinator for Master of Human Rights and Democratisation students in Indonesia, Primi Suharmadhi Putri, and other staff at the University of Gadjah Madah for ensuring that I was able to complete my work without any hindrance. I am grateful to Dr. Elisabeth Valiente-Riedl, my dissertation coordinator at the University of Sydney, and Sohoon Persephoon Lee for the valuable support they gave me during that critical period. I am grateful to Sohoon and Dana, Dil, and Adam, my peers in the MHRD course, for taking the time and effort to review my work and for providing their input. I also benefited from the incisive criticisms of my sister Shradha and my dear friend Sharareh. ii Elite NGO leaders as Vernacularizers of the Human Rights Concept of Violence Against Women: Critical Analysis from the Perspective of Women from Socially Excluded Groups ABSTRACT The study critically examines how elite women leaders of NGOs have vernacularized the concept of Violence Against Women (VAW), one of the most prominent international human rights concepts in Nepal. The term “elite women” in this dissertation refers specifically to women who have disproportionate access to and control over power and resources in Nepal’s social and political realms in relation to other women. The central question is whether and how the concerns of women from socially excluded groups are being addressed by this elite-led process of vernacularization. Human rights ideas have significance only when they are translated to address the concerns of the most marginalised people. In Nepal, over two thirds of the population—the Indigenous Peoples, Madhesis, Dalits, and Muslims— constitute socially excluded groups. The analysis seeks to foreground the perspective of women from these socially excluded groups. The study uses the theoretical concepts of “vernacularization” (Merry) and “intersectionality” (Crenshaw) alongside the general concept of international human rights law for analysing the role of elite-led women NGOs from the perspective of marginalised women. To present a case study of elite-led vernacularization of VAW in Nepal, the research focuses on SAATHI, a well–established, well-funded and influential NGO working for women. By situating the leaders of SAATHI in Nepal’s social and political context, the study tries to reveal how their gender, caste, ethnicity and class has a bearing on how they translate the concept of VAW. The discourse produced by SAATHI’s reports are analysed in light of the major concerns of socially excluded women, particularly the need for recognition of diversity among Nepali women and the multiple forms of oppression they face. The findings of the study suggest that SAATHI’s discourse on VAW does not entirely resonate with the concerns and demands of women from socially excluded groups. The underlying assumption in the discourse is that the experiences of high caste Hindu women, the group in which the leaders of SAATHI belong, represent the experiences of all “Nepali women”. SAATHI adopts a “sameness of treatment approach” and makes recommendations for blanket policies which affect all groups of women in Nepal. Through this discourse, SAATHI perpetuates the trend of glossing over the differences of caste, ethnicity, class and religion among women. It creates an impression that such factors have little or no bearing on the degree and form of violence experienced by women. In this manner, the translation of VAW by the elite NGO leaders perpetuates a discourse that fails to include the experiences of socially excluded women, except when such experiences neatly overlap with those of high caste women. iii Elite NGO leaders as Vernacularizers of the Human Rights Concept of Violence Against Women: Critical Analysis from the Perspective of Women from Socially Excluded Groups ACRONYMS ANWO All Nepal Women’s Organisation BDPA Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action CA Constituent Assembly CBO Community Based Organisation CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women CERD Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination CFUG Community Forest User Group DEVAW Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women DFID Department for International Development DV Domestic Violence FPP Forest People’s Program FWLD Forum for Women Law and Development GAD Gender and Development GBV Gender Based Violence GECU Gender Empowerment and Coordination Unit IAFFE International Association for Feminist Economics ILO International Labour Organization I/NGO International Non-governmental Organization IPs Indigenous Peoples LAHURNIP Lawyers’ Association for Human Rights of Nepalese Indigenous Peoples NEFIN Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities NGO Nongovernmental Organization NIWF National Indigenous Women’s Federation NORAD Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation NSAP National Strategy and Action Plan OPMCM Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers RUWDUC Rural Women's Development and Unity Centre SAWF South Asian Women’s Fund iv Elite NGO leaders as Vernacularizers of the Human Rights Concept of Violence Against Women: Critical Analysis from the Perspective of Women from Socially Excluded Groups SE Socially Excluded SSNCC Social Services National Coordination Council SWC Social Welfare Council UN United Nations UNDAF United Nations Development Assistance Framework UNIFEM United Nations Development Fund for Women UNSCR United Nations Security Council Resolution USAID United States Agency for International Development VAW Violence Against Women WAD Woman and Development WID Women in Development WSCC Women Social Coordination Committee v Elite NGO leaders as Vernacularizers of the Human Rights Concept of Violence Against Women: Critical Analysis from the Perspective of Women from Socially Excluded Groups TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………………………………………………………. ii ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… iii ACRONYMS…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……… iv CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION…............................................................................................ 1 1.1 Background……………………..………………………………………………………………………………………. 1 1.2 Statement of the Problem………………..……………………………………………………………………… 4 1.3 Significance of the Research……………..……………………………………………………………………… 6 1.4 Research Goal and Research Questions………..………………………………………………………….. 7 1.5 Overview of the Research Methodology……………………………………….……………………..….. 7 1.6 Researcher’s Profile………………………………………………………………………….……………………… 7 1.7 Ethical Consideration………………………………………………………………………………………..…….. 8 1.8 Limitations………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 8 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………………………………………………………………… 10 2.1 Women’s Movement in Nepal: Structure and Dynamics………………………………………….. 12 2.1.1 The Partyless Panchayat Period (1960-1990) – Absolute Monarchy………………. 13 2.1.2 Post 1990 – Multi-Party Democracy with Constitutional Monarchy……………….. 17 2.1.3 Democracy after the Decade-long Armed-Conflict (2006 onwards)……………….. 19 2.2 VAW in Nepal and Advocacy by NGOs…………………………………………………………………….. 23 2.3 Vernacularizing VAW in Nepal……………………………………………….………………………………… 25 2.4 VAW, Intersectionality and International Human Rights………………………………………….. 26 2.5 Summary……………………………………………………………………………………………………..…………… 29 Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY……………………………………………………………………………………………. 30 Chapter 4: ANALYSIS OF SAATHI & ITS ELITE LEADERS AS VERNACULARIZERS OF VAW….. 33 4.1 PART I- LOCATING SAATHI LEADERS IN THE SOCIAL & POLITICAL CONTEXT OF NEPAL 33 4.1.1 SAATHI: A Brief Sketch………………………..………………………..…………………………..……… 33 4.1.2 The Leaders of SAATHI………………………..…………………………..………………………..……… 35 4.2 PART II- DISCOURSE ANALYSIS………………………..…………………..…….………………..…………… 39 vi Elite NGO leaders as Vernacularizers of the Human Rights Concept of Violence Against Women: Critical Analysis from the Perspective of Women from Socially Excluded Groups 4.2.1 Descriptive Representation of Women from Socially Excluded Groups………………… 40 4.2.2 Definition