Female labor force participation up in Madhes

Economic empowerment is a crucial condition for gender equality. While the employment situation of women in Madhes Province has been dire, their participation in the labor force has begun to increase of late.

Rampari Devi (45) never went to school and was married at a young age. After her marriage, she had to rely on others even to fetch goods from the weekly market for nearly 20 years. However, after the male members of the family left for foreign employment, the family’s responsibility fell on Devi’s shoulders. She now has to manage everything, from farming to market activities, alone.

Currently, Devi is cultivating vegetables on about six kattha (approximately 2,000 square meters) of land with her daughters-in-law. She sells the vegetables at the local market herself and her work has significantly contributed to her family’s income.

Until about 15 years ago, Rekhadevi Sah (50) from Dhirapur had not even thought of working in her own fields. Her days were spent doing household chores. But now, Sah has also started farming. “The times were different then. In our society, women were not allowed to go outside the house. When we were newly married, we were even forbidden from laughing or speaking loudly. Times have changed now. We have educated daughters-in-law. Women have also started working in agriculture, business and other sectors,” said Sah. “Madhesi villages are not the same as before. In the past, there was no practice of employing women as laborers in the village, but now both men and women work together.”

Different factors like employment, business property rights and per capita income are considered for economic empowerment. Although women in Madhes are at the bottom of economic empowerment compared to other provinces, they have slowly started to climb the ladder.

Dilkhush Paswan from Matihani in Mahottari had to struggle a lot to go out to work and earn just because she was from the Dalit community. “The biggest problem came from the family itself. If you went out to work or joined women’s groups, they would say you would get spoiled or engage in wrong activities. Some even said they wouldn’t give work if the group included a Dalit woman,” Paswan said, recalling her past. “But after much struggle, I have now been able to do small business in the village. I have also gained respect in the family.”

Paswan has started a small business and is also involved in farming.

Until 10 years ago, it was difficult for women in Madhes to receive equal wages for equal work. There was no practice of involving women in agriculture, animal husbandry or small businesses. However, after the men in the villages started going abroad for jobs, women also started to be accepted as workers. Now, there is equality in wages, says agricultural worker Sangita Sada. “Earlier, they used to give Rs 300 to men and Rs 250 to women for farm work. They would not give us the money, though. Men would go as our guardians and receive the money,” said Sada. “We are paid the same wages as male workers these days.”

Bedanand Jha, who was busy transplanting paddy in his farm, said the number of women is comparatively higher than men in farms these days. “Since most men have started going abroad, women have started taking charge of agriculture,” he said, adding: “If female workers don’t engage in work, agriculture becomes even more difficult.”

Bina Singh, Dhanusha district coordinator of WOREC Nepal, an organization working in the field of women rights, said most of the women in Madhes had to endure violence due to a lack of economic empowerment in the past. “Even today, there is no conducive environment for women and girls to work outside their homes in Madhes. Women, especially from Dalit, Muslim and under-privileged families, are trapped in economic dependence and poverty. But efforts have begun to slowly break all these barriers,” she said. “Now, the trend of educating daughters and involving them in work has started to increase.”

As per the 2021 census, 49 percent, or 3,048,849, of the total population of 6,114,600 in Madhes Province, are women. The literacy rate for women is 54.7 percent, while it is 72.5 percent for men. About 68.7 percent of the cottage enterprises are primarily operated by men and 31.3 percent by women.