Gita Gharti Magar

   
 Females of our country have faced the discrimination for ages now and still continue to exist in various forms. Any denial of equality, gender and opportunity on the basis of gender is gender discrimination. Nature doesn’t discriminate men from women. But women worldwide have been the victim of inequality not only in terms of social and political rights but also on grounds of employment opportunities. The male dominant society of Nepal makes its women habitual of this discrimination. As a result, most women fail to understand their own rights and freedom.

   

          There are many spheres of life where women are denied opportunities. Discrimination against females starts with their birth and continues through their lives. An unborn girl child is aborted with the help of sex determination techniques. A girl child who is born is seen as a burden on her parents or family and not given equal treatment as boys of the same family ever since birth. She is not given proper nutritious food in some cases. As she grows, she is either denied of right to education and in some cases it is limited to elementary level. Her health and well being is not given due attention and concern. She is married at an early age and this puts an end to any possibilities of growth and a good life in most cases. The discrimination doesn’t end here but continues with the expectations of giving birth to a boy. The vicious cycle of female discrimination starts here. Almost all women face some incidents of eve teasing, some are unfortunate to be assaulted sexually and raped.

     Law and property rights are also enforced inefficiently and inheritance is usually the sole right of sons and not the daughters. Even though laws are now enforced for the rights of women on parental property, not many people are aware of it and the social structure is such that daughters do not usually insist on their property rights. Society favors men and gives them higher authority and this makes women vulnerable to crimes like rapes, eve teasing, sexual abuse etc. Though the number of women officers is growing, yet the number is not comparable with men holding higher ranks.The discrimination against women is not only hampering the growth of women at social, economic and personal level but also significantly lower female-to-male ratios impact the growth in both agriculture and industrial sectors. Thus, gender discrimination also impedes the country’s growth.