In western Nepal, menstruating women are banished to sheds

In western Nepal menstruating women are banished from their homes as part of a centuries-old Hindu tradition. Despite campaigns to end this practice, many patriarchal families still believe women are unclean during their period.

-Deepak Adhikari May 16, 2017

Kathmandu (dpa) – On a cold February evening, 15-year-old Dambari Kunwar lit a small fire in the hearth to keep warm and served herself dinner in a narrow, unventilated stone-roofed hut in a tiny hamlet in Nepal's western region.

Exhausted from backbreaking work collecting fodder for cattle, she used water to put out the fire and went to sleep about two feet from the hearth.

A few hours later, still half asleep, she let out a shrill cry, prompting her mother and uncle to come to the hut. Dambari woke up to find she had suffered severe burns on her right hand, and that her upper arm and wrist were badly disfigured. The flame had reignited.

Burns due to cooking fires are common in Nepal. But Kunwar suffered her severe injuries because she was in a tiny room following a centuries-old Hindu practice called Chhaupadi.

The tradition banishes menstruating women to cowsheds or outhouses, forbidding them from touching other people, cattle, plants, vegetables and fruits.

The country's Supreme Court outlawed the practice in 2005, but it has persisted among the deeply patriarchal Hindu families in the country’s impoverished western region, where menstruating women are deemed unclean.

People there believe that if such women touch livestock or go near the family shrine, it will bring misfortune to the family.

Critics say it has led to the death of one young woman, on average, every year since 2007.

The menstruating women of Nar Bahadur Kunwar's family have been subjected to the practice because of a fear that their contact with the farmer's cows — considered sacred by Hindus — would cause disease for the livestock, says the 48-year-old head of the family of subsistence farmers.

Kunwar built a shed seven years ago so that his five daughters and 44-year-old wife could follow the monthly exile.

After his daughter's burn injuries, he plans to add a room to his mud-plastered house for the women to use, rather than the shed.

"I came to know that it is not a good practice," Kunwar says. "Accidents like that can happen again."

"But it's hard to end it because every family in our village practices this," he says.

But Dambari has received help. A charity called Joining Hands raised 100,000 Nepali rupees (973 dollars) for treatment and a bus trip to the capital Kathmandu.

Others have not been as lucky.

Late last year, a 15-year-old girl was found dead inside a windowless hut near her home in a remote village in western Nepal. She was alone and isolated and had lit a fire to keep herself warm against the harsh winter in the Himalayan foothills. She died from the smoke.

In November, a 21-year-old woman in the Achham district died in a similar situation.

Bhagwati Aryal, an Achham district government officer, says that after the deaths, families have realized the practice endangers the lives of women in the region.

"Women are forced to sleep on cold floors," she says. "Their young children are separated from them. The new mothers are also deprived of nutritious food during the practice."

A local campaign to control the practice has helped raise awareness of the issue and led to some sheds being demolished, she says.

Raj Sargam, the author of Nepali-language novel "Chhaughar," which fictionalizes the practice, says many women are under pressure from elderly family members or neighbours who force them out of their homes, despite resistance.

"Only the government has the power to abolish Chhaupadi," says the 32-year-old novelist, who recently participated in a drive to demolish the huts.

"It can do so by telling people that they won't receive government allowances if they don’t end the practice," Sargam says.

Pragya Lamsal, a social activist who has campaigned against the practice, says the role of local religious leaders is crucial. "The religious leaders can make people aware that menstruation is not a religious matter but a natural process," she says.

The tradition denies the women a life with dignity, she says. "The practice does not respect the norms that it is women who have the right to make decisions about this natural cycle," she says.

At Sushma Koirala Memorial Hospital, the only health centre in Nepal specializing in burn treatment, doctors performed reconstruction surgery on Dambari Kunwar by extracting flesh from her leg.

On a recent afternoon, the girl beamed as she limped around the hospital, which is tucked away in a valley on the outskirts of Kathmandu.

Her movements were wobbly, but she had gained a steely determination.

"I feel very sad when I think about it," she says. "We have to do it because our neighbours and the older people don't want us to stay at home if they know we have a period. But I would never go back to the hut."

Source: DPA International

Link: http://www.dpa-international.com/topic/western-nepal-menstruating-women-banished-sheds-170511-99-408557