ANTI – OPPRESSIVE PRACTICES:IN CONTEXT TO NEPAL

Prakriti Joshi10BSW 2nd year

• A situation in which people are governed in anunfair and cruel way and prevented from havingopportunities and freedom is oppression.

WHAT IS OPPRESSION?

• Exploitation

Exploitation

RACE CLASS GENDER

•Marginalization

•Powerlessness

•Cultural Dominance

•Violence

FORMS OF OPPRESSION:

Each of these five forms of oppression overlaps with the other. Each is related to and reinforced by the many ideological ‘–isms’ that exist in our society: racism, classism, homophobia and heterosexism, xenophobia and extreme forms of nationalism, ageism, and more.

ANTI – OPPRESSION:

• Anti-oppressive practice is a dynamic process based on the complex pattern of changing social relations.

•It’s driving force is in challenging inequalities, and it goes beyond the confinesof agency policy to challenge oppression in organizational culture and it’s impact on therapeutic practice.

• The concept of power and privilege is central to anti oppression noting that inherent in relations there are power imbalances based on age, class, gender, ethnicity,physical ability, race, sexual preference and income etc.

•Practicing anti-oppression work in real terms is not only confronting individual examples of bigotry, or confronting societal examples, it is also confronting ourselves and our own roles of power and oppression in our communities and the bigger picture.

•The strength of anti-oppressive practice is that it actually combines participation, partnership and empowerment, which offers the potential for the service user's voice to be heard and acted on.

•Have you ever heard the myth that homeless people are lazy and don’t want to work and that’s why they are homeless? Anti-oppressive thinking allows us to know some more solid, and less blaming ‘answers’ to why people experience things like homelessness, etc.

How can I use Anti-Oppression in my life?

How anti-oppression frameworks/ways of thinking play out is really up to the thinker (i.e. you!) I think if we really consider people’s experience in the world, instead of judging them for their situation, we can create a more understanding and loving world. We all want others to see us for who we really are, we all want to be accepted - anti-oppressive actions can be a way to do that for ourselves and others, and therefore can support in creating a more harmonious world.

OPPRESSIONS IN CONTEXT TO NEPAL:

• The people belonging to the Dalit community are living in a swamp of illiteracy, exploitation, marginalisation, absolute poverty and, above all, caste discrimination. Dalit women, however, are triply oppressed: (1)oppressed by the so-called high caste people, which equally affects both

male and female Dalits(2) oppressed by the design of the Hindu patriarchal system (3) oppressed by Dalit males.

• Dalit women are living a history of pain, agony, sorrow, misconduct, maltreatment and suffering. They are not only the victim of gender discrimination but also the victim of casteism.

THE CONDITION OF DALIT WOMEN:

Social Condition: Untouchability• The entire Dalit community is exploited and discriminated on the grounds of caste, but women, as noted earlier, are further victimised.

• When Dalit women fetch water from public water taps, wells, etc., they suffer from mental as well as physical assaults.

•Moreover, by traditional cultural practise, women usually are the member of the family that worships in the temple; but in Nepal, Dalitwomen are not allowed to enter the temples nor are they allowed to enter the house of upper caste people.

THE CONDITIONS OF DALIT WOMEN IN NEPAL:

Economic Condition: Exploitation• Dalits, due to their history of discrimination, exploitation and abuse more than 50 percent of the total population of the country lives below the absolute poverty line.

• Since women have no economic power in the family, it clearly indicates the economic condition of Dalit women. Who have to work hard as labourers to earn a living, but they receive very little in return.

Education Condition: Illiteracy• Among two million Dalit women, there are hardly 10 to 15 graduates and postgraduates. Ignorance, absolute poverty, caste and gender discrimination can be considered as the explanation for such statistics.

THE CONDITION OF DALIT WOMEN IN NEPAL:

Health Condition: Lowest Life Expectancy• A very backward Dalit caste-the Mushar of Terai -has a life span of 42 years against the national average of 55 years.

•As Dalits do not have easy access to clean drinking water in most places, they are compelled to drink polluted water and thus suffer from various gastrointestinal diseases.

Political Condition: Non-Representation•Dalits are about 20 percent of the total population, but Dalits are not represented in national-level politics. Presently, there are four nominated parliamentarians in the National Assembly, but there is none that have been elected to the Lower House of Parliament. If the representation of men is so negligible, then one can easily imagine the political participation of Dalitwomen.

THE CONDITION OF DALIT WOMEN IN NEPAL:

Sexual Exploitation: Trafficking•Because of poverty, ignorance and illiteracy, Dalit women and young girls are compelled to be involved in prostitution. One of the Dalit castes-Badi-is regarded as the prostitute caste.

ANTI – OPPRESSIVE PRACTICE:

(1)Various programmes should be launched to uplift the living conditions of two million Dalit women.

(2) Scholarships should be provided from primary to higher education to all Dalits.

(3) The reduce the practice of untouchability in all public places, like schools, water sources and teashops.

(4) Intercaste marriage between Dalits and non-Dalits should be promoted and protected.

(5) To help provide reserved seats for Dalit women in appropriate constitutional bodies, and these seats should be reserved for Dalitwomen in elections from the local to the national level.