Women of Madhesh also live in groups, save small amounts, and participate in programs organized by some organizations. This is what I experienced recently while interviewing women from Madhesh.

An organization that has been working in the social sector under the title of 'Security and Justice' is conducting a gender violence prevention program by selecting three municipalities in three districts of Madhesh province. After participating in the program, some women openly discussed the changes in themselves. 

A woman who is a mother of two minor children said that she has been giving up the hijab for three months. The woman representing a Dalit family said that she is continuing her studies in her family and relatives and hopes that the family members will also work for social change. The very outspoken woman had a strong desire to become financially independent and do something for the society. 

A well-educated young woman representing a backward community told that the veiling practice prevalent in the Terai is really becoming a sacred garment for women. She also admitted the bitter truth that she had to stay under the veil forever after getting married at the age of 20.

But now, after gradually reminding the family members that she has studied and wanted to go out and do something, she said that she got a big relief when her mother-in-law understood her feelings and agreed to go to the group for discussion. She also said that although she could not give up the veil immediately, now when she goes out and participates in the program, she takes off the veil.  While talking about sex in the

group, the women say that they do all the housework but that it is not worth much. They say, 'Men's appearance is good but ours are not.' Even women in Madhesh now want to teach their daughters to drive and send them abroad to study. I want to travel abroad. The women of Madhesh share this excitement in a fun meeting. 

In Simraungadh of Bara district, the women who participated in the session program on gender violence express the opinion that they have gained some awareness and knowledge. A woman used to come one day a week to participate in a program on gender violence, but her family had doubts and dissatisfaction about where she was going, what she was learning. But after she told her family what she had learned about equality between men and women, her husband came to the training place and learned about the training. He stopped being suspicious of his wife, saying that the

training did not teach anything about doing harm, but rather taught that men and women are equal in the current environment and should move forward together. Now he comes to the venue to drop off and pick up his wife!

After sitting in the session titled 'Sexual Transformational Social Values', women have experienced some change in themselves. This is also confirmed by the fact that a woman representative of the Dalit community resisted a woman who tried to harass her on the basis of caste after she sat in the session. The Dalit woman had gone to bathe in a pond.

A supposedly high caste woman was also taking a bath there. The supposedly upper caste woman told the Dalit woman not to touch the water, but the Dalit woman said, 'L! Let's cut your body and mine, if the color of the blood is different, then we will believe what you said.

She complained to the Dalit woman's mother-in-law saying, 'Your daughter-in-law is talking like this'! In this way, this incident has also taught us that some violence can be reduced if only we can speak when necessary. Why not be a small one - by forming a group, they will help women to spread awareness if they can run such sessions on sexual violence. 

But still the cycle of discrimination, harassment and abuse against women and marginalized communities in Madhesh continues. Madhesi women are in a situation where they have to be discriminated against, neglected and dependent on traditional harmful social customs such as suspicious death, rape, dowry. 

In fact, the social problems of Madhesh such as gender discrimination, child marriage, caste discrimination, dowry system, veil system, caste discrimination, witchcraft system are firmly rooted. There is also the complication that women who have to depend on the family have to live with various exploitations, insults and violence even within the house. On the other hand, there is also a situation where they cannot speak what they want.

Some women are still walking around considering superstition as a culture. In the name of witch, another innocent woman is being abused by women together. While talking about marriage in Madhesh, it is possible to find differences in dowry bargaining because of women's fair or dark skin color, even in this informal conversation in the community. 

If you look at the statistics of domestic violence cases, it is more in Madhesh. However, increasing the level of awareness reaching the issue can also be considered positive. Some incidents are suppressed internally. Women are still averse to rights in employment, business, and property. It is also a bitter reality that Dalit women have to live in a cycle of double discrimination and extreme poverty when they don't even have their own house and land.