The Constitution of Nepal completely prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender. However, women are still suffering from violence due to not having a son. Some are forced to give birth or have an abortion until they have a son. Many cases of such violence do not reach the legal process.

Such violence is still taking place, especially in the society of Far Western Province. Let's look at some representative cases of Kailali, which is considered to be the easiest by far:

In Kailali, two years ago, the case of her husband remarrying because she had a daughter was registered under domestic violence at the district police office. The woman had filed a complaint saying that after bringing her younger wife, she was subjected to violence and did not receive support or love from her family.

The husband forced the case to be returned by showing many temptations such as getting along with his younger wife and treating them both equally. A few days later her husband fled to India with his younger wife. The elder wife later tried to file a complaint again, but to no avail . She has experienced that society's perception of her has changed because she complained to her husband.

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Three years ago, a woman from Kailali filed a case in the name of her husband saying that she had to suffer violence after her son was not born and that her husband had brought her a stepchild. When I returned home in the evening, my mother-in-law did not let me enter the house, saying that she was suing to send my son to jail. She withdrew the case due to pressure from her family and having trouble living on her own. When Madda returned, her husband beat her and brought her home. A few days later, he lost contact with his younger wife. 

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A woman gave birth to nine daughters in the hope of Chara after her family and husband said that she must have a son. After not being able to have more children, the husband remarried. Only 3 daughters were born from the youngest wife. Later, as the tenth child, the same woman gave birth to a son. Now the health condition of that woman is critical. Uterine problems with the eyes do not see. 

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A woman gave birth to 7 daughters hoping for a son. There was brutal violence against him because he did not continue to support him. Before the age of 8, the husband started keeping the minor daughters. Daughters spend the money they get from working on alcohol. In the same vein, his daily routine of violence against his daughter and wife is . If a woman has a problem in her uterus, she is physically weak. Which is the result of not having a son .

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Another woman from Kailali gave birth to 7 children expecting a son. He is physically weak. As the problem of the uterus worsened, the wound became infected with worms in the body. which fall out through the genitals . Despite his condition, the organization provided financial support, but he was not treated. He doesn't even get to see where the amount of money comes as support. The main reason for the violence she suffered is not being able to give birth to a son. 

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Chief Minister Kamal Bahadur Shah declared Sudurpaschim as a 'literate province' on 13th of June, but these incidents of violence against women show the level of social awareness and education because they did not give birth to a son in Kailali, which is considered to be an educated and easy-going district of Sudurpaschim.  Two decades ago, the situation of discrimination against women here was similar.

Let's talk about 46-year-old Janaki (name changed) from Tikapur in Kailali. He got married at the age of 15 . The next year she gave birth to a daughter. Everyone was happy when the eldest daughter-in-law of the house gave birth to her first child. About four years later, she gave birth to another daughter as her second child, against the wishes of the family. After the birth of two daughters, the pressure to give birth to a son added to Janaki. 

After the birth of a daughter for the third time, the neighbors began to sympathize with Janaki and her husband. Janaki did not want to have more children. But because of her husband, family and society, she became pregnant for the fourth time in the hope of having a son. 

'Will it be a girl this time too?' Janaki had doubts . After finding out that the fourth pregnancy was also a girl during the examination, she endured mental pressure and decided not to give birth  She thought and husband's  It was agreed to have an abortion on advice. It was not known that safe abortions are available in government hospitals. She was forced to give birth to her daughter for the fourth time after she did not get the money to have an abortion at a private hospital.

Then all the blame came to Janaki . Everyone used to blame me as if I had committed a big crime. She used to tell her husband that she could not give birth to a son,' says Janaki. The matter is not limited to this. An attempt was also made to get her husband to marry her second time by assuring her that if she marries again, a son will be born.

Janaki did not experience physical violence because her son was not born. But mental violence continued to happen to her and her daughters. The family made a child marriage of the eldest daughter, who was studying in class 10, at the age of 15. "I didn't understand as much as I do now." My daughter was forced to get married when I didn't want to,' she said. According to the Hindu tradition, after the death of the parents, it is customary for the son to perform the kiriya .

Those who don't have sons, their brothers or if not even that, nearby villagers do the kiriya . In some places, even if the daughter did the work as a rebellion, the society has not been able to accept it openly . Due to this tradition, Janaki and her husband were forced to convert. No son . If we continue to be Hindus, who will do our kazkiriya?' Janaki says, 'Rather than give that pain to our daughters, we left Hinduism.' This problem is more severe in the rural areas of hilly districts. Although the story is the same, Doti's 42-year-old Pushpa's experience is different from Janaki's. After giving birth to three daughters in a row, she was physically and mentally abused daily by her husband and other family members.

I had to hear abuse from the neighbors too . The society blamed Pushpa for giving birth to a daughter. But when a son was born in the fourth time, the credit went to her husband . The villagers congratulated him by putting flowers on his son's husband. After this, the violence against Pushpa and the society's view of her changed to some extent . But there was pressure to have another son because one son was not enough. 

She had two unsafe abortions expecting a second son. That's why she has a wound in her uterus . She gave birth to a daughter again as her fifth child and got her sixth child, second son . 

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Like Janaki and Pushpa, 26-year-old Kamala of Kailali Kailari is also suffering because she has only one child. She got married at the age of 16 and gave birth to a daughter at the age of 19. There was no desire to have a second child after one. Due to her husband's insistence, she had two abortions in the hope of having a son. But before her son was born, her husband died in a car accident. Now Kamala lives separately. She dropped out of school due to marriage and joined school again and is studying herself and teaching her daughter as well. 

She is under pressure from her mother-in-law to get another marriage because she has no son. If you have a son, take care of him. That daughter gets married and goes to someone else's house. They say who will take care of you,' she said. Maiti Paksha is angry with Kamala after taking a stand to leave her daughter and not marry again.

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Janaki, Pushpa and Kamala are the only representative characters of this society. There are thousands of women like them, who are suffering violence for not having a son. Some are forced to give birth or have an abortion until a son is born. But such cases of violence are not found in the legal process.  It is not easy for women to go beyond the limits of violence from family members to reach the police and seek justice.

There are still many women suffering such pain and abuse and are suppressed within the society and family. In the last 6 years at Kailali-based Women's Rehabilitation Center (OREK), 6 cases of women who have been subjected to violence due to childlessness have been registered.  A

that only comes into contact with someone after suffering extreme violence. Geeta Choudhary, head of Orek Kailali and a women's rights activist, says that this kind of violence is more common in educated and wealthy families. She says, "Poor communities give birth to many children without being able to get abortions." In wealthy and educated families, women are often forced to have abortions.'

According to him, there is not only violence against women in such families, there is also extreme discrimination in the upbringing and education of daughters. There is a belief that daughters who have died due to violence are said to be like this, they should go back to their husband's house to reap the sorrows and joys and bring them back home with understanding. Chowdhury said that this is also the reason why women are not getting justice.

According to District Police Office Kailali, no complaints have been received regarding violence due to the child not being born. Office Inspector Lokraj Joshi says that even though many women in the society have suffered this violence, the incident has not come out. He believes that women do not come to the police because they do not know that this is also violence due to the lack of public awareness.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and international scientific organizations, the mother always has an X chromosome, while the X or Y chromosome from the father determines whether it will be a girl or a boy. But due to the lack of public awareness in the society, the woman is not blamed for the birth of a girl child. 

According to census 2078, the population of Sudurpaschim Province is 26 lakh 94 thousand 783. The literacy rate of the total population aged 5 years and above in the province is 76.2 percent. Male literacy rate is 85.4 percent and female literacy rate is 68.2 percent .  

The daughter of the Far West disappears in the womb

The husband is a branch officer in a government office. His wife works in an NGO. He is known as a social activist. This couple belongs to the know and understand section of the society. They have been married for 6 years . 

They were happy when their first child, a daughter, was born. When the wife became pregnant for the second time, they started going to the city market to test the fetus. On the one hand, there was fear of damage to the social reputation if the government employee found out that the fetus was checked. Despite this, they went to Nepalgunj to check the fetus. After not seeing that easily, last October, she went across the border to Lucknow, India, and it was discovered that she was a girl. And after having an abortion, he returned to Achham. 

This is not the first time that this couple has aborted after checking the fetus. Last Baisakh, she went to Lucknow, India to check her third pregnancy. After finding out that she was carrying a daughter again, she returned after having an abortion. It is very difficult to convince that it happens even when there is only one daughter. You have to live in this society. After having a daughter, it is not bad to want a son,' said the woman, 'we also need society.' He also wanted a son. The family also started pressing that they want a son . We have checked the embryo on the advice of (husband and wife).' Currently, this couple, who is working in Kailali, has had three abortions after the birth of their first child, a daughter. Husband works in a government office . The wife works in a health institution. The desire of both of them is to have a second child, a son.

"Families and society should not blame others for forcing them to have a son." It is our own wish that we could have another son after a daughter,' said the woman. The money has also been spent more than lakhs.

A couple from Kamalbazar municipality, where both husband and wife are illiterate, recently went to Palia city in India and had a pregnancy test. Earlier, they had two children, a daughter. Third child they want a son . Fearing that they will have a daughter again, they took out a loan of 80,000 from a savings group in the village and reached the city of Palia in India last May.

He returned after getting an abortion after it was discovered that he was a girl. If they don't have a son, they will die. I want a son. "I don't know how many times I will have to have an abortion until I have a son," said the woman.

Still, these representative characters are the only ones who illegally test the fetus at the request of a son. According to the data of Provincial Health Directorate Doti, the birth rate of sons has been seen to be higher than that of daughters in the Far West for a few years. According to the Directorate of Health Doti, the number of births of sons is consistently higher than that of daughters during the financial year 2078/79 to 2081/82. According to DN Giri, the statistics officer of the

directorate, 25 thousand 599 sons were born while 21 thousand 214 girls were born in the fiscal year 2078/79. Similarly, 18 thousand 776 daughters and 23 thousand 081 sons were born in 2079/80. Similarly, in 2080/81, 18 thousand 283 sons were born while 15 thousand 189 girls were born. According to the latest data, in 2081/82 (up to the end of Baisakh), 17 thousand 108 sons were born while 13 thousand 834 girls were born. According to the mentioned data, there is a trend of 120 to 123 sons being born every year when 100 daughters are born.

According to Giri, the statistics officer, the number of abortions has also increased in Far West. According to the data of the last fiscal year, the number of legal abortions in 9 districts of the Far West has exceeded 16,000.

Kailali, which is the largest in terms of geography and population among the seven hilly and two lowland districts of the Far West, has seen an abnormal decrease in the birth rate of girls in recent years. According to Ramesh Kunwar, Head of Health Office Kailali, about 907 girls were born less than the estimated number based on the natural birth ratio.

According to him, naturally, 105 sons are born when 100 daughters are born. According to the National Census 2078, the average sex ratio in Nepal is 96 boys for every 100 girls born. But in Kailali, this ratio has increased unnaturally and it seems that 121 sons were born for every 100 daughters. 

In Kailali, 5 thousand 893 girls and 7 thousand 133 boys were born in the district from July 2081 to May 2082. If the natural sex ratio at the time of birth is considered as the base, then about 6800 girls should be born in Kailali from July 2081 to Baisakh. Only 5893 were born, that is, 907 people were lost from the womb. He said, "It is not my argument that 907 girls were killed by abortion because they had a daughter in the womb." It is a matter of legal discovery that how many people have been killed by gender recognition. It must be found sooner or later.'

According to him, to a large extent, 'male child preference', i.e. the patriarchal thinking of giving priority to the son, seems to prevail. "Gender identification is legally a crime." Both the perpetrators are criminals . Killing female fetuses by identifying the gender is a stigma of the society. It is also a violation of human rights,' he said, 'on equality and women's existence  Attack is . As a result, there is a risk that gender imbalance, violence and social crisis will increase in the society in the future.

He said that the health office has also received complaints that doctors in private health institutions in Kailali are carrying out abortions by identifying fetuses. Complaints are coming that doctors working in the private sector and health institutions are killing fetuses by identifying gender. Evidence-finding and research work is also being done on this,' he said, 'due to the open border with India, most of them go to India to identify the gender and if they have a daughter, we are getting information about abortion.' What is the

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law 

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Article 38 of the Constitution of Nepal states that in Article 1, every woman shall have equal racial rights without gender discrimination, in Article 2, every woman shall have the right to safe maternity and reproductive health, and in Article 3, physical, mental, sexual, psychological or any other type of violence or exploitation shall not be allowed against women based on religious, social, cultural traditions, practices or any other basis. .  The constitution completely prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender. If someone commits such an act, he will be punished according to the law and the victim will be compensated according to the constitution. Under the fundamental rights, the right to live with dignity is given in Article 16, freedom in Article 17, equality in Article 18 and the right against exploitation in Article 29. But despite this, women are forced to suffer violence due to not having a son. They have neither been able to live independently nor can they make their own decisions about their bodies . Indra Prasad, the president of District Bar Association Kailali and advocate says that there is violence against women because of not having a son, but the superficial reason is shown to be something else . According to him, the reason why incidents of this nature are not reported to the police is because incidents of women and domestic violence are not registered.

He says, "The cases of violence against women because they don't have a son are reported to the police, but as women and domestic violence." The superficial reason is not the son but poverty, alcohol addiction is shown as not giving sexual satisfaction . There is violence, but it's just that it's not clearly stated that this is the issue.

According to Article 39 of the 7 of the Constitution under the rights of children, no child can be subjected to physical, mental or any other kind of torture at home, school or any other place and condition. However, Sapna Thapa, coordinator of Women's Rehabilitation Center Sudurpaschim Province, says that there is violence against mothers and daughters by family members in houses where sons are not born. According to him, such girls drop out of school midway and are forced to have child marriages.