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The Research
Context:
More elope marriage and less arranged marriages marriage age decreased upto 12 yrs in
elope marriages
Change in rationale for marriage- earlier boys married to bring in labour force to the
family - could not go against parents to support wife in case of injusticenow boys
marrying for themselves, more supportive and fair to the wife.
Girls do not have the final say in when and whom to marry in arranged marriageshowever earlier girls were not informed by parents while girls are now informed about the
groom
Increase in age of childbearing and decrease in age difference between spouse-earlier the
age difference was up to 30 yrs.
Increasingly positive attitude about the value of girls education- only witches studygrandmother's generation why do girls need to go to school- mother's generation .,
daughters should also get education- present generation
Contd...
What we found: changing discriminatory
norms /practices
Contd....
What we found: persistent discriminatory norms/practices
Education not a quality strong enough to make a desirable wife- more priority
in culture and cultural standard of the family of the bride Sanskar more
important than education
Support systems from parental community ends after marriage A father gives the daughters hand saying if you kill her you will earn sin and if you take care of
her you will earn merit KII Hindu religious leader, age 59, Kathmandu .
they(parents) expect their to look after them when they are old. If they are sick they expect them
that we provide medicine to them......they expect very little from their daughters. They think that
the daughters will leave their home, so have no expectation as such.- a young boys observation of
difference in expectation and treatment.
Fathers duty for daughters- inculcate good values safeguard virginity, search
for an able groom, marry her off and take financial responsibility of marriage to
earn place in heaven
Contd.
What we found: persistent discriminatory norms
Norms and practices revolves around the notion of an ideal girl/women/
daughter-in-law/mother/wife
A good wife should adjust with all members of family, not quarrel, should not go out of house, wear
traditional clothes, dA good husband should be able to fulfil wifes wishes, take care of parents, has a job,
and can provide well for wife and children.o not talk to outsider male and be willing to do all kinds of
household work
income for household expenses. If she wants to do a job, we prefer that she does it after marriage Community
timeline , Salena.
Dropout rates start after grade seven for both girls and boys and becomes
higher after grade 10.
Restriction in mobility (only allowed to continue education if the commmunity school has that gradenot allowed to go out of community for higher education) , failure in class due to time poverty,
underinvestment in education, overburden of household work, stigma of
studying with students of younger age when failed resulting in drop outs
Drivers of change
Schools - as platforms
Peers as buffers
Inhibitors of change
Role of economics and migration- too poor to try new things- focus is always on
providing for basic life
Migration to India- migrants following what their family back home say without
question
Fear of negative outcomes and social backlash
Eg parents started delaying their daughters marriage and keeping them in school but girls eloped
from school. When girls pursue higher education they become too old to get married and hence
parents do not get a groom
Source: Fieldwork,2014