Life for a lower-class Nepalese girl is difficult enough, but when tragedy occurs what is challenging at the best of times can become desperately impossible. With few options to gain support, vulnerable women are often exploited and end up running for their lives. Binsa’s story is one such as this.
Raised from a young age by her widowed father, Binsa and her elder sister were accustomed to hardship and sacrifice.
“My mother died when I was very young and my father, in his grief, became an alcoholic. Due to his drinking, he was unable to keep a job.”
For the girls, it was as though they lost both parents, not just their mother. Their father’s grief-stricken alcoholic state meant that he could not function well enough to care for his daughters or maintain any employment. As his depression increased so did the desperation of their situation.
“Our situation was desperate. We couldn’t afford to feed ourselves.”
Binsa’s elder sister took on the role of family provider, leaving her studies and finding work to care for their father and Binsa.
Life was hard, the girls’ futures looked bleak, and they lacked the love and care of parents to guide, protect and provide for them. So, when Binsa, now 18, met a handsome young man who worked in the local hospital, she was quick to fall in love.
“We fell in love fast and decided to get married.”
Binsa and her husband settled in with his family as is customary in Nepal and at first, she found them to be kind and accepting of her.
Nepal is not a highly industrious country, so it is not uncommon for its men to go abroad for long periods of time to work and send money home to support the family they leave behind. But when her husband went away things at home took a savage turn.
His family’s attitude toward her changed completely in his absence.
“It was as though they hated me.”
Beatings and mental abuse became her daily life. She was refused food and ostracized within the home. Binsa fell into deep depression. Traumatised by her situation she felt she had no alternative but to flee.
“I ran to the bus station and didn’t know what to do or where to go from there.”
Thankfully Binsa had run to one of the Bus parks where we have our surveillance Booth stationed. Prompted by the obvious stress of this young solo traveler, two ASSN/EDM counsellors approached Binsa and asked why she was crying.
Our Booth staff are indigenous Nepali locals who are best placed to work with the cultural aspects that impact Nepal’s most vulnerable.
Our counsellors were able to connect with Binsa’s in-laws and work with them to help educate them on their responsibilities. Conversation and support helped them to change their mindset that had seen their daughter-in-law as a burden and helped them to see her with fresh eyes as a woman who was worthy of love, to be treated well and cared for.
With the help of our partners, we were also able to trace Binsa’s husband who, upon hearing of her situation, requested that she stay and be cared for in our shelter until he could get back home to ensure she was safe and protected.
There are so many contributing factors that make the daughters of Nepal some of the most vulnerable in the world. We work to challenge the limitations of old customs and see women elevated, their voices heard, and their lives valued.
Binsa is another success story that showcases the power of interception and collaboration to bring about change and restoration.
“I am very thankful for their intervention. I don’t know what would have happened if they didn’t find me.” Binsa
Picture and name changed for privacy reasons
