September 10, 2011

Aanchal Agrawal

Tunisia is leading the way on women's rights in the Middle East. (2011, September 10). In
guardian.co.uk. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/sep/10/tunisia-un-
human-rights-women.
Topics: The role of individual in society-the family, marriage, peer pressure; Freedom of speech action,
thought; Matters of conscience, faith, tolerance, equality, opportunity.
Questions:
Nov 2010: To what extent do women enjoy equal rights in your society?
Nov 2010: To what extent is there equality opportunity in your country?
Nov 2009(8004): To what extent is the institution of marriage under threat in your country?
June 2009: Asses your countrys record on human rights.
Summary:
Tunisia has become the first nation in the Middle East to withdraw all its specific reservation regarding
CEDAW (The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women). Where as
Saudi Arabia has been managing the most unashamed system of discrimination against women, even
though being a part of the CEDAW it reconciles its position by stating that it will not restrict to CEDAW
if they conflict with the norms of Islamic law. Consequently, the Saudis will choose the part of CEDAW
they like as the norms may be interpreted in any way. Thus, Tunisias serious exertion to meet
obligations under CEDAW will set an example for other nations to follow. (110 words)
Commentary:
Women do all the household chores from feeding kids, cleaning the house, washing dishes, to
doing laundry. Men neither do the dishes and nor do the laundry. Moreover, the most dissatisfying part is
that she is rewarded for none, else she get to hear complains from her husband, children and others for
slightest inaccuracy in her chores.
As the twenty-first century is progressing there has occurred noticeable progress on a global scale
on the issue related to womens right. Moreover, the step taken by Tunisian government is another leap
towards building an equality-based society for women in the Middle East. Furthermore, internationally
women have altered their roles in the past years. They have not only become scientists and astronauts but
also have become presidents and prime ministers of their nations.
Even though, Nepal being amongst the three countries with womens life expectancy shorter than
men, Nepal has given priority to womens right, it is continuously amending laws that violate womens
right and has ratified some treaties like CEDAW as well. The Nepalese government has been successful
in providing property rights, quota system in the political sector and incentives in the education sector for
women. However, the government has failed to fruitfully provide women with reproductive rights and
has partly failed to prevent girl trafficking, early-age marriage and the dowry system.
The government is prolifically providing women with property rights. It had begun with the
amendment of the inheritance law, which allowed daughters of parents without male offspring to inherit
property. Later the government guaranteed property rights to women by the Constitution. Thus, women
are now able to receive family benefits, bank loans, mortgages, and other forms of financial credits. This
indeed will help the women to uplift their living standard. Being able to own property provides women
with the opportunity to earn and become self-reliant, thus, they no longer need to rely on men only.
Furthermore, the government has adapted some policies to encourage participation of women in
the political sector. Not only in Nepal but also globally women are seen participating in politics. The
establishment of Ministry of Women in 1996 and the Womens commission in 2002 was undeniably
another step that looked forward to establish a equality based society in our nation. The attainment of
democracy brought about several changes in the law. Among them reservation of 33% in the Constitution
Assembly was made for women. Consequently, womens participation in the political sector will allow
them to attain their rights with ease. The lawmakers being women themselves will undoubtedly result
into favorable laws that provide women with rights they deserve.
Moreover, Nepal is significantly progressing in the field of education for women since the past
years. The literacy rate has been increasing and so has the number of schools for women at all levels.
Moreover, the implementation of the five-year plan is helping the government to focus on womens
education. The Nepalese government is putting forward substantial efforts to reduce gender disparity in
education. However, a distinct gap between the literacy rate of men and women exist. Furthermore, the
government is launching programs like alternative schooling, out-of-school program, incentives program
for women of our nation. Education is among womens fundamental rights; they should be encouraged to
participate in the government launched literacy based programs. Moreover, the women through education
should be informed about the basic rights they are entitled to and should be made aware that they should
inform the government if they are being violated. Consequently, receiving education is vital as it allows
women to be aware of their rights.
In addition, increment of the labor force participation rate of women is another program that the
government is conducting. Moreover, the Constitution guarantees equal pay for men and women workers
for similar jobs. The Nepalese government has taken several initiatives in order to enhance the status of
employment for women. The increment of participation of women as employees will definitely help them
to gain status and consequently, this will allow them to voice their opinions.
However, the government has botched to provide women reproductive rights. Nepalese women
do not enjoy a sound health status. Early marriage and pregnancy, low literacy, and inadequate family
planning services also undermine the health status of women. The failure on the governments part to
provide women reproductive rights have significantly caused the increase of sexually transmitted
diseases (STDs) and HIV/AIDS. Though, the Government has undertaken measures to enhance womens
health status, but due to failure of the government itself has led such policies to a dead end. The
preference of sons, early age marriage, lack of contraceptives damages the reproductive health of women.
Consequently, the government should give equal importance to all these issues and thus, the status of
women health in our nation will improve.
Even though the government is trying its best to prevent girl trafficking by enforcing laws like 20
years imprisonment for traffickers, it still hasnt been successful in its prevention. The numbers of girls
trafficked out of the country are about 10,000 to 15,000 yearly (Lost Daughters An ongoing tragedy in
Nepal, 2008, para. 23). In order to prevent girl trafficking the government looks forward to adopt law
enforcement measures, income generation schemes, and educational opportunities.
Moreover, early age marriage without the consent of women is another area where womens
rights is being violated. The government is yet to establish strict policies regarding early age marriage,
but there still exists laws that put the people who force early age marriage behind the bars. The
government is looking forward to implement poverty reduction measures, which will not only end early
age marriages but also end the dowry system. Furthermore, public awareness campaigns will help to
overcome the problems faced by early age marriage.
To reiterate, the Nepalese government should keep in mind the actions conducted by Tunisian
government and thus, look forward to prevent violation of womens rights by establishing strict rules and
regulation against those who violate womens right by either trafficking them or by conducting early age
marriage.

References:
Nepal womens Rights. Retrieved from: http://human-rights-in-nepal.blogspot.coma/2006/04/nepal-
womens-rights.html
Womens Rights. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women's_rights
CEDAW. Retrieved from: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/