Gender and Development in South Asia - Essay Example

Gender and Development in South Asia Gender issues as well as development in the whole of Asia have become pertinent subjects and this is mainly because they have for the first time come to be given prominence. In a continent that is believed to be the home of the future largest economics in the world, namely India and China, gender issues have become among the most prominent aspects of development. Numerous developmental non-governmental organizations (NGO) have become involved in the region to ensure that the rights of individuals especially women and people from minority genders are protected against the rampant discrimination and are included in the development agenda. The result has been that there has developed stiff competition between the established hierarchy that dominate society and NGOs in a bid to make possible the inclusion of women in the process of development so that a truly modern and competitive world can be ushered in Asian countries. The intense competition with the established hierarchy has made it difficult for NGOs to have the impact that they desire in society but as an article that will be analyzed will show, there are some which have gained a measure of success. The gender issue, such as employment discrimination, in Asia not only involves women, but also members of the LGBT community, who have become victims of long established traditionalist or conservative values in their societies. The White Van Stories is a 2013 documentary made by Indian filmmaker Leena Manimekalai that seeks to show the suffering that families in Sri Lanka are having as a result of women from their families having been kidnapped during the violence that was the civil war. Manimekalai is a woman who has been a women’s rights activist for many years and she has become famous in India for standing up to the status quo and calling for more participation for women in the society. Through her experience, she managed to ensure that White Van Stories became successful in depicting the significant number of disappearances that took place in Sri Lanka during the war. Not only does it tell of the brutality suffered by women during such incidents, but it also shows the manner through which some of these individuals were kidnapped; never to be seen again by their families. It is also essential to note that it shows a clear depiction of the vulnerability of women not only in Sri Lankan society, but also in the rest of Asia where the progress of their becoming active and equal participants in society is still quite slow; making it seem like there is an undeclared war against women. Thus, the documentary is attempting to show the world the realities of the situation on the ground as well as make the Sri Lankan government take the responsibility to find those individuals who have disappeared. Anthony Fensom in his 2014 article Asia’s Shocking Gender Gap states that despite the region’s swift economic growth, in recent years, the gender issue has continued to lag behind. This is because women are still not allowed to get into the professions that have been for a long time dominated by men. The result is that these Asia economies end up losing billions of dollars annually because there is little gender balance within these economies. The ability of economies to develop at a much faster scale depends on the way through which gender balance has been achieved, with Fensom stating that while countries such as China have lagged behind in bringing about gender equality, the Philippines has made a lot of progress, ensuring that it is a leader in gender equity in the region. Fensom has a history of writing concerning gender issues and his grasp of the issues at hand can be seen in the article where he provides statistics as well as facts concerning the different aspects of life in Asia that has brought about lack of progress when it comes to allowing women to become active participants in the economy. From the data that has been included in the article, it is one that has been written with policymakers in mind because it is these individuals who develop the initiatives necessary to make gender equality possible. Rajan and Desai (2013) state that the human rights movement in Asia has been brought to a halt, in recent years, as a result of government inactivity in dealing with them. Among the human rights issues discussed in this book is gender and the manner through which despite the numerous feminist progressive movements in Asia, very little has been done to achieve gender equality in society. These authors have found that among the most affected individuals in the gender issue are women and members of the LGBT community in Asia who have ended up being discriminated against in most aspects of society. It is quite difficult for individuals from these groups to find employment, especially in the public sector as a result of their gender and sexual orientation and this has created a situation where they are not active participants in public life. Rajan and Desai are quite informative of the matter of human rights as well as its neglect in Asia and they recommend that governments take action to ensure that gender discrimination, especially in employment, is dealt with accordingly so that there can be more opportunities for minorities in Asia. Lamia Karim (2004), states that the rights of women in Bangladesh have continued to be violated through the collusion of the state and the Muslim clergy to ensure that women are relegated to the background. According to Karim, despite the establishment declaring that the state is essentially secular, most of the actions of the leadership have ensured that the various interpretations of Islamic teachings have become dominant in society and this has created a situation where the rights of women are continuously being violated in the name of Islam. It is essential to note that Islam has been used as a tool to ensure that women are kept away from significant portions of public life, allowing for the continued dominance of men over the society. Karim, in studies conducted on Bangladesh, shows that the country being under the leadership of a woman has not significantly changed the lot of women in the country because a significant number of them are still under the dominance of local mullahs and in the mercy of wealthy individuals who often use their money to bribe mullahs into making proclamations in their favor. The result is that women in Bangladesh have continued to suffer from such atrocities as rape, discrimination in the workplace, as well as the destruction of their homes because of the whims of wealthy men in their locality. Furthermore, as a result of the poverty that is rampant in a significant part of the country’s population, the situation of women has become worse and this has been because they are not empowered enough to defend their own interests. The study conducted by Karim show that despite women being leaders in Bangladesh, they often seek the support of Islamic parties in a bid to retain their power, and this is despite these parties being against those development projects that have been designed for the advancement of women. This study also shows that NGOs whose purpose is to support development projects that empower women have found stiff opposition from local clergy in Bangladesh and this opposition has ensured that the work of these NGOs has remained ineffective. Kyle Knight (2014) discusses the manner through which Sunil Pant, an LGBT rights activist in Nepal, managed to bring about the recognition of the members of this minority in the country. The manner through which metis, or men who had a female identity, were treated in Nepalese society is discussed, especially considering the increasing violence that has taken place against them over the years. Metis are among the most recognizable members of the LGBT community in Nepal and this has been mainly as a result of Nepalese laws not having criminalized homosexual relationships in the same way that other Asian countries such as India had done during the colonial period. Thus, Pant’s attempts to bring about the recognition of gay rights in Nepal was not so difficult because Nepalese law was quite open to these rights being recognized and this brought about a situation where the NGO that he led, namely the Blue Diamond Society (BDS) became the leading representative of minority rights in Nepal. This situation allowed for Pant’s fame on a global scale and he used this platform as a means of bringing about awareness concerning LGBT issues in Nepal; issues that were not well known in the international community until such a time that Pant brought them up. Knight states that the massive support that Pant received throughout Nepal ensured that he was able to make political statements concerning LGBT rights in the country to such an extent that members of this community came to gain wide acceptance within society. Knight shows the way through which the LGBT movement in Nepal was able to grow from the small scale activities of BDS in Kathmandu to the large scale movement that it became years later when a more favorable view of the metis had developed. Seira Tamang (2009) considers the feminist movement in Nepal and the divisions within the women in the country which have made it impossible to form a unified movement. Tamang shows that despite the massive potential that Nepalese women have to ensure that a strong feminist movement is developed in their country, they have not been able to do so as a result of the historical differences between them that have yet to be addressed. Nepal is a country that for a long time was divided along social and political lines and this ensured that there developed a system of strict hierarchy that has remained prevalent to this day. These divisions, based on caste, have ensured that women in the country remain divided and that they do not speak in one voice as they should. Women from different castes all have a different voice, with those who come from the less privileged classes preferring base their movements upon dealing with the historical injustices that were committed against them while those from more privileged classes end up taking advantage of their positions to advance faster within society. Thus, the feminist movement in Nepal has ended up not speaking in one voice because women from different castes have chosen to pursue those interests that their own castes are facing rather than creating a movement that unifies all of their interests. It is essential that Tamang notes that even development NGOs in the country have tended to base their activities on the different social classes that exist in society and this has continued to polarize the feminist movement as women from different castes seek to enhance themselves at the expense of others. Gender and sexuality are issues which have began to gain prominence in most Asian countries today and this has been as a result of the effects of globalization as well as the involvement of NGOs in the lives of individuals in these countries. Development has for the most part come to be tied the need to ensure gender balance in society, and a significant number of NGOs have taken up the task of helping in the advancement of women and other sexual minorities, such as the metis in Nepal, so that they can be included in and become active members of society. However, these efforts have at times been met with a lot of opposition, especially from the long established political and religious hierarchies whose members have chosen to take on an antagonistic view towards NGOs that seek to promote gender balance in society. As seen in Karim (2004), the local clergy of Bangladesh has been able to resist the efforts of NGOs through ensuring that it uses Islamic teachings to justify its opposition to women not being able to participate in societal activities. The history of Bangladesh shows that since its founding, the country has evolved from being an essentially secular state to one which has come to be dominated by a highly religious establishment based on Islam. Because a majority of the population is Muslim, governments have chosen to increase their popularity through invoking Islam and its teachings as a means of currying favor with the people. Thus, Islam has come to be closely associated with the state and this has ensured that the population increasingly comes under the influence of government sanctioned Islamic teachings. These teachings have for the most part declared that women have no place in active public life and that their place is in their own households; this despite the fact that there are two prominent women leaders in the country. The role of NGOs in the advancement of women has been undermined by local mullahs, who, working hand in hand with powerful leaders have ensured that there is an advancement of the patriarchal order in society. In Nepal, women were for centuries divided based on caste as well as wealth and this ensured that women from different castes were kept away from each other. Following the argument made by Tamang (2009), this separation created as situation where in the modern world, despite the formation of a secular state where the caste system is no longer as prominent as it used to be, the women of this country cannot come together to form a single agenda which will advance the feminist cause. NGOs for the most part tend to take on the problems that confront women from different castes separately and this ensures that women from these classes do not see beyond their immediate needs. Furthermore, there are instances where despite the good intentions behind the creation of development programs for women, most of them are often placed in the hands of those women from the higher castes of society rather than spreading out these leadership positions to women across all classes. In this way, the voice of women in Nepal has continued to be divided and has created a situation where it has become difficult for them to speak in one voice when it comes to feminist issues. The ability of women and other minorities to advance in Nepal has been hampered by the long established elite based on caste who have dominated the country for centuries. This dominance has made it an uphill task for minorities to attain a foothold in society but a level of success was seen recently through the elections of 2008 which saw an unprecedented number of women and individuals from other gender minorities get seats in parliament, essentially making a point against the establishment. The discussion above has sought to create an understanding of gender and development in Asian countries and the challenges that are faced by NGOs within them as they attempt to fulfill their mandate. In order to achieve it, there has been an analysis of the situations in Bangladesh and Nepal as examples of Asian nations that are still struggling with the place of gender in development. Among the studies analyzed was that of Karim which shows that the rights of women in Bangladesh have continued to be violated through the collusion of the state and the Muslim clergy to ensure that women are relegated to the background. Furthermore, the study by Knight has shown the manner through which Sunil Pant, an LGBT rights activist in Nepal has managed to bring about the recognition of the members of this minority in the country. In addition, a study by Tamang has looked at the feminist movement in Nepal and the divisions within the women in the country which have made it impossible to form a unified movement. Finally, it can be concluded that gender and sexuality are issues which have began to gain prominence in most Asian countries today and this is as a result of the involvement of NGOs in the lives of individuals in these countries. References Fensom, A. (2014). Asia’s Shocking Gender Gap. The Diplomat. Retrieved from http://thediplomat.com/2014/03/asias-shocking-gender-gap/ Karim, L. (2004). Democratizing Bangladesh: state, NGOs, and militant Islam. Cultural Dynamics, 16(2), 291-318. Manimekalai, L. (Director). (2013). White Van Stories. India. Night, K. (2014). The spark. Caravan: A Journal of Politics and Culture. Retrieved from http://www.caravanmagazine.in/reportage/spark Rajan, G. & Desai, J. (2013). Transnational Feminism and Global Advocacy in South Asia. London: Routledge. Tamang, S. (2009). The politics of conflict and difference or the difference of conflict in politics: the women's movement in Nepal. Feminist Review, 91, 61-80. Read More