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| Norbu Wangchuk, Lecturer |
“As in Tibet, so also in Bhutan, women did not have an inferior place in a social system…Marriages were contracted by agreement between the parties…Polyandry attached no disgrace to the plurality of husbands. (However), birth of a son was preferred to a daughter. …Religious sanctions precluded the entry of a female into a dzong at certain hours.”1
Unlike women in many parts of the world, Bhutanese women do not suffer from gender discrimination. Women in Bhutan enjoy equal status with their male counterpart and have equal freedom under the laws of the country. Bhutan has also ratified the International Convention on elimination of all forms of discrimination against women.
Bhutanese women constitute 49.5% of the country’s 716,424 population2 and they play a significant role in the development of the country. Increasingly Bhutanese women are assuming prominence in the economic and social fabric of the Bhutanese society as teachers, farmers, entrepreneurs, doctors, engineers, decision makers, politicians and civil servants.
However there does exist a subdued gender bias that stem from socio-cultural perceptions. According to one study, some rural women still strongly believed that men are higher than women by nine “noble” human—births. Almost all rural women in the study said they prefer to be born male3. These perceptions validate male superiority and fail to recognize female capabilities.4
Women’s, limited mobility and the ‘double burden of family and economic responsibility’5 have also contributed to the gender bias that exists especially in the rural areas. As a result, the benefits of development and progress have, to some extent by-passed women especially in the rural areas.
“Although the benefits of development have been widely shared, we must recognize that there are still groups within our nation that have been largely by-passed by the broad-based process of social and economic progress. These groups are often disadvantaged by their remote locations and are particularly vulnerable to the uncertainties that are associated with the harsh environments in which they live.”6Girls did not participate nearly as much as the boys in early days of Bhutan’s modern education system. It was partly because of the family’s reluctance to send their daughters away to schools, which were located far away from the villages. Students had to walk for hours through forests and the rugged terrain to reach schools.
| FootNote 1 A history of
Bhutan, land of the Peaceful Dragon. |
This partly explains the dismally small percentage of women employed in the public sector. Women constitute only 16% of the employment in the public sector. During the Eighth Plan, girls’ enrolment at Primary and secondary school stood at 43.2% and women’s enrolment at the tertiary level was 22.6%. While the national literacy rate is 54%, the female literacy rate is estimated at little over 10%.1
Domestic violence against women is increasingly being recognized as a problem. The prime minister made a mention of it in his report to the recent National assembly session. As in most societies, there exists a culture of silence among women and their families in Bhutan, when it involves rape and domestic violence against women. Many Bhutanese women concede that marital violence occurs because of jealousy and the influence of alcohol2.
Despite the national policy to integrate women in the mainstream political life of the country, women’s representation is very low. In all the dzongkhags, male dominates the GYT3 and the DYT4.
DYT membership in some randomly selected Dzongkhag
| Dzongkhag | Male | Female |
| Tsirang | 50 | 0 |
| Lhuntsi | 26 | 0 |
| Trashi Yangtsi | 24 | 0 |
In 2001, only 14 of the 99 chimis, people’s representatives were women. Only 1 of the 6 Royal Advisory Councilors is a woman. No women have yet been promoted to grade 1 of the civil service. In grade 2 there is only 1 woman out of 27 men and in grade 3 there are 3 women out of 63 men.5
Low literacy and education among women explains the low
representation of women in political forums. Government has made efforts
to address this problem. The non-formal education is one such effort.
The non-formal education (NFE) first introduced by the National Women’s
Association of Bhutan in 1981 is gaining popularity amongst women. Aimed
at enhancing the literary skills, the NFE, now taken over by the Education
division has 90 centers all over the country. Women make up 70% of its
learners.
| |
FootNote 1 7th five year
plan |
Along with other health issues, indicators for women’s health have shown remarkable improvements particularly during the last 15 years. From 1984 to 2000, the infant mortality rate and the maternal mortality rate fell from 102.8 to 60.5 per 1,000 live births and from 7.7 to 2.5 per 1000 live births respectively. The under-5 mortality rate fell from 162 to 84 per 1,000 live births.1 An immediate goal is to reduce maternal mortality to less than 200 per 100,000 live births.
Sex education and Sexual awareness is a primary constraint. “Unfortunately, the majority of Bhutanese women experience motherhood very early in life, often in their teens… There is an obvious lack of information on sexuality….There is virtually no access or opportunity for the out of school population to learn about reproductive health until a female becomes pregnant and attends the Antenatal clinic.”2
In rural Bhutan women perform multiple roles and equally participate in almost every socio economic and cultural activity of the community. However, their involvement has been largely determined by their physical weakness, sexual vulnerability and social insecurities, which has greatly reduced their mobility and opportunities.
“Although the vast majority of our population have benefited in very tangible ways from the process of social and economic development, the benefits have not been shared equally.”3
The Government recognizes that while there is no gender discrimination, there nevertheless exists “gender gap” in development caused mainly due to the broad based development process.
Bhutan’s development policy therefore states that measures to promote women will be incorporated in all sectoral projects and programmes4. However, the government recognizes that gender mainstreaming is difficult because of lack of understanding of what the mainstreaming commitment fully entails and a continuing tendency by some officials to view women as an isolated ‘sector’.5
| FootNote 1 RGoB, Ministry
of Health, 2002 |