********** An alternative justice system Fed up with the real courts, women appear before a virtual jury to talk about abuse NAVIN SINGH KHADKA If it hadn?t been for the Maoist insurgency, the problem of violence against women in Nepal would have been a national issue. But worried by the prevalence of abuse, activists and women?s groups are trying to spread awareness even though it is overshadowed by the conflict. They are convinced that talking openly about abuse, as they did in at a unique ?Women?s Court? in Kathmandu recently, is the first step in empowering women and ensuring legal reform. The ?court? sessions lasted three days at the Royal Nepal Academy with dozens of women narrating the pain and agony of violence they had to undergo at the hands of family members and others. Their experience left the audience and jury stunned. Most of the women were victims of trafficking, some had suffered domestic violence and a few had been physically tortured by soldiers or rebels in the conflict. ?My husband suspects I am having an affair at an age when I have grandchildren,? related Alainchi Bika from Sindhupalchok. ?He beats me up every day and wants me to leave him. Where do I go at this age?? Such marital abuse is not new in Nepal, what is new is that Bika stood in front of hundreds of people and publicly related her suffering. A while later, Anandi Rai got up and narrated her suffering from the same stage, proving the point that not all abuse is physical. ?It has been more than 10 years since I was rescued from a brothel in India but people still treat me like an outcast,? she said softly. Astika Thapa from Nuwakot was not able to speak clearly when she stood on the stage. All she could say was, ?I have been severely beaten on my head and I can?t remember things,? she said, flustered. The Women?s Court was organised by a consortium of women?s groups working on reducing violence against women, who felt that most Nepali women are now willing to share their experiences as a means of unburdening themselves and also to build up solidarity. Aside from individual experience, the organisers concluded that the root causes of the violence are faulty laws. ?The Women?s Court clearly showed that all discriminatory laws including constitutional provisions are the main reasons for violence against women and need to be annulled,? Indira Phunyal, coordinator of Alliance Against Trafficking in Women and Children in Nepal told us. Women victims of abuse agreed to speak out in the Women?s Court because they were frustrated with the way things were going in the real court system. ?In most cases, the courts were of no help and the women wanted an alternative justice system,? Phunyal added. Like in a real court, the Women?s Court also had a jury and in its summation it stated: ?The cases presented show a clear case to question our legal system and serious revisions from the gender perspective.? The organisers said that even where the laws were correct, legal loopholes allowed perpetrators of violence to get away. The jury even went into the nitty-gritties like the fines that perpetrators of violence are required to pay. At present, the compensation paid by traffickers or abusers goes to the state coffers, but the jury ruled such punitive damages should henceforth go to the victim. Even though this was a virtual court and the jury?s rulings are not legally binding, Phunyal maintains that the court set a social and political precedence. Ironically, the court saw almost no participation from the government even though they had been invited. ?This just proves the lack of seriousness on the part of the government on women?s issues,? said activist Meena Poudel. This is the second time a Women?s Court has been organised in Nepal in the past 10 years and Poudel says it proved there has been no letup in the prevalence of abuse. http://www.nepalnews.com/ntimes/issue230/nation_3.htm