The mother of two is all geared for the upcoming local government elections. She is up against three male contestants.
But Tshering Wangmo, 32, who is running for the post of gup in Guma gewog, Punakha, recalls having a rough ride right from the moment she stepped into the election process. At one time, she almost gave up her candidature.
“From the start, I’ve constantly been reminded of being a woman,” Tshering Wangmo said. “Many feel women aren’t fit to become leaders. Some said it to my face.”
She said her opponents were using the gender card to campaign against her. “But there’s nothing a woman can’t do,” she said.
But Tshering Wangmo is one of the lucky ones. There are those, who could not stand the heat.
Dechen Choden, who could not make it from the nomination round, while attempting for a gup’s post in Talo gewog, said being a female proved to be a major drawback.
“I have no evidence to show, but so much negative campaigning went on,” said Dechen. “People were made to believe women have no place in decision making positions.”
Dechen predicts it will be an arduous journey for women candidates in this election process. “Everyone says there’s equal opportunity for men and women, but the ground reality is different,” she said.
Although further breakups are not available, of the 2,194 candidates contesting for various local government posts, names of female candidates sparsely punctuate a long list of male contestants.
And going by what they have to say, appears like the handful of female candidates remaining are not having an easy time.
In Punakha, Tshering Wangmo said her friends in other gewogs suffered, owing to so-called traditional requirements.
“As per the tradition, gups play a major role during occasions like dromchoe and ride horses,” she said. “Many believe women gups can’t, at any rate, perform such rituals.” In Tsirang, gup candidate Leki Dema said there were elections rules that did not favour women.
“For one, we were asked to travel alone while campaigning,” the 27-year old said. “This would deter many women from participating in future, because it’s about one’s safety.”
Almost 800 women had registered for the functional literacy tests election commission conducted, but about 50 percent had not turned up for the tests. Even lesser had decided not to participate in the elections.
Observers, following the elections closely, attributed this to failure of concerned agencies to address the practical side of issues women faced, despite having the policies in place.
“While there could be other reasons, it’s definitely not easy for women to step outside their homes to assume a public role,” one said. “They have to consider family and household responsibilities they shoulder.”
Against all these, government’s national plan of action for gender reveals a target of achieving five percent female gup, another five percent mangmi and seven percent tshogpa representation in the local government by 2013.
Until 2006, female representation comprised of one percent gup, 2.5 percent mangmi and 4.2 percent tshogpa.
Some said having more women at the tshogpa level was obvious since nobody wanted the post. Gup and mangmi posts, on the other hand, came with attractive incentives and women were expected to encounter fiercer competition.
While National Commission for Women and Children officials are well aware achieving the set target would be difficult, they said initiatives that enabled women to come into public sphere were well underway.
“This is the first local government elections of its sort, so people will be skeptical to join,” one official from the commission said, adding however to study the behavioral pattern of elections, including women participation, it was an international norm to study at least three elections.
But some observers asked whether numbers, in terms of female representation, really mattered.
While some argued that, in a democracy, it was about making the voices heard, which was determined by the right number, or the majority; others said it was about representation in the right forum, which need not necessarily be gender driven.
Parliament member Tashi Wangmo said women’s physical representation was pushed mostly as a western ideology; but, in Bhutan, where it was essential for a society to coexist, it was more important for genders to complement each other and take care of issues.
“But yes women always have to be mindful of who’ll take over other responsibilities they have when they step out to take up public roles,” she said. “Unless men are willing, it’s not going to be easy for them.”
By Kesang Dema
http://www.kuenselonline.com/2010/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=19643
Women can stand in any positions they want to...
But Tshering Wangmo, 32, who is running for the post of gup in Guma gewog, Punakha, recalls having a rough ride right from the moment she stepped into the election process. At one time, she almost gave up her candidature.
“From the start, I’ve constantly been reminded of being a woman,” Tshering Wangmo said. “Many feel women aren’t fit to become leaders. Some said it to my face.”
She said her opponents were using the gender card to campaign against her. “But there’s nothing a woman can’t do,” she said.
But Tshering Wangmo is one of the lucky ones. There are those, who could not stand the heat.
Dechen Choden, who could not make it from the nomination round, while attempting for a gup’s post in Talo gewog, said being a female proved to be a major drawback.
“I have no evidence to show, but so much negative campaigning went on,” said Dechen. “People were made to believe women have no place in decision making positions.”
Dechen predicts it will be an arduous journey for women candidates in this election process. “Everyone says there’s equal opportunity for men and women, but the ground reality is different,” she said.
Although further breakups are not available, of the 2,194 candidates contesting for various local government posts, names of female candidates sparsely punctuate a long list of male contestants.
And going by what they have to say, appears like the handful of female candidates remaining are not having an easy time.
In Punakha, Tshering Wangmo said her friends in other gewogs suffered, owing to so-called traditional requirements.
“As per the tradition, gups play a major role during occasions like dromchoe and ride horses,” she said. “Many believe women gups can’t, at any rate, perform such rituals.” In Tsirang, gup candidate Leki Dema said there were elections rules that did not favour women.
“For one, we were asked to travel alone while campaigning,” the 27-year old said. “This would deter many women from participating in future, because it’s about one’s safety.”
Almost 800 women had registered for the functional literacy tests election commission conducted, but about 50 percent had not turned up for the tests. Even lesser had decided not to participate in the elections.
Observers, following the elections closely, attributed this to failure of concerned agencies to address the practical side of issues women faced, despite having the policies in place.
“While there could be other reasons, it’s definitely not easy for women to step outside their homes to assume a public role,” one said. “They have to consider family and household responsibilities they shoulder.”
Against all these, government’s national plan of action for gender reveals a target of achieving five percent female gup, another five percent mangmi and seven percent tshogpa representation in the local government by 2013.
Until 2006, female representation comprised of one percent gup, 2.5 percent mangmi and 4.2 percent tshogpa.
Some said having more women at the tshogpa level was obvious since nobody wanted the post. Gup and mangmi posts, on the other hand, came with attractive incentives and women were expected to encounter fiercer competition.
While National Commission for Women and Children officials are well aware achieving the set target would be difficult, they said initiatives that enabled women to come into public sphere were well underway.
“This is the first local government elections of its sort, so people will be skeptical to join,” one official from the commission said, adding however to study the behavioral pattern of elections, including women participation, it was an international norm to study at least three elections.
But some observers asked whether numbers, in terms of female representation, really mattered.
While some argued that, in a democracy, it was about making the voices heard, which was determined by the right number, or the majority; others said it was about representation in the right forum, which need not necessarily be gender driven.
Parliament member Tashi Wangmo said women’s physical representation was pushed mostly as a western ideology; but, in Bhutan, where it was essential for a society to coexist, it was more important for genders to complement each other and take care of issues.
“But yes women always have to be mindful of who’ll take over other responsibilities they have when they step out to take up public roles,” she said. “Unless men are willing, it’s not going to be easy for them.”
By Kesang Dema
http://www.kuenselonline.com/2010/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=19643
Women can stand in any positions they want to...
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