How well does the indigenous rights movement represent the concerns of indigenous women?
The indigenous peoples’ movement in Nepal, India, and all of South Asia is getting stronger, but it is a male-dominated movement. Women still face a lot of discrimination within indigenous communities and organizations. But the international women’s movement does not represent indigenous women. International feminism paints a picture of women’s needs that does not reflect the needs of indigenous women. To make matters worse, when we try to participate in women’s rights activities, we are accused of weakening the indigenous rights movement. ST: To overcome our invisibility, indigenous women started to organize. We began with two organizations. Over time we grew to 13 organizations united under in a federation called the Nepal Women’s Federation. Because we are experiencing the same problems as indigenous women in India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, 18 months ago we created the South Asia Indigenous Women’s Network. CSQ: What are the priorities of the South Asia Indigenous Women’s Network?
