Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the way in which states and communities negotiate marriage in Nepal through the lens of a government intervention into marriage and the subsequent reactions to the proposed policy.

Paper long abstract:

In 2009 the Nepali Government announced a policy aimed at encouraging men to marry widows by way of a cash incentive. This initiative sparked intense opposition in Nepal, particularly from the most prominent widow's organisation in Nepal, Women for Human Rights - Single Women Group (WHR), which embarked on a highly publicised protest campaign and filed a case to the Supreme Court, successfully blocking the policy. WHR argued that the Government's policy was effectively promoting the dowry system, thereby treating women as commodities and increasing their vulnerability to abuse by traffickers. Further, offering money for remarriage was demeaning to an already stigmatised group. Nevertheless, not all widowed women in Nepal were critical of the policy, particularly women belonging to low castes and ethnic groups, who welcomed the initiative. The state's proposed intervention into marriage and the subsequent reactions to the policy provide a lens through which to explore the way in which states and communities negotiate marriage in this context. Drawing on ethnographic research, this paper highlights that while marriage is central to the ideal life path for women in Nepal - defining her status in society and determining her life options - the experience of marriage, and widowhood, differs based on factors such as caste, ethnicity and religion. Nevertheless, despite variations in marriage norms and practices, constructions of marriage based on high-caste Hindu religious ideologies and assumptions about gender and sexuality dominate, heavily influencing policy and Nepal's legal code and, in turn, affecting women's lived experience of marriage.