Women Forum for Women in Nepal (WOFOWON) is a  GAATW member in Kathmandu, Nepal. Vivian Cartagena from the GAATW Secretariat conducted this interview with the organisation’s Project Coordinator, Sarita Thapa, in June 2024 to better understand their work, history and context.

Vivian: Thank you, Sarita, for your time, and congratulations for recently joining WOFOWON. Could you tell me how WOFOWON was founded and what was the context at that time?

Sarita: First of all, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to you and GAATW for this opportunity to share information about our organisation and our experiences. Women forum for Women in Nepal (WOFOWON) is the first Non-Government Organization of Nepal which was established by 9 women workers working in entertainment sectors and registered in the Kathmandu District Administration Office dated on 19 March, 2008. The founding women have observed and experienced the many challenges that women face in this sector,      such as violence, stigma, exploitation, social taboo and discrimination within the workplace, lack of identity and respect, and lack of financial and social security. Because of that, they started to unite and established WOFOWON with the support from Women’s Rehabilitation Centre (WOREC), Nepal. 

In recent days, our organisation has been actively engaged in promoting and ensuring the rights of working women and advocating for violence-free, safe and dignified working place. Until date, 815 women workers are associated as active members. Similarly, 6 sub-national and a national worker’s network named “Pahichan Sanjal” was formed and has been engaged in advocacy campaigns. We are also facilitating the formation of sub-national networks in Lalitpur, Nepalgunj, Dang and Dhangadi. Through various activities and campaigns, the organisation is committed to raising a collective voice and empowering women workers to ensure their rights through forming networks and women’s groups.

Vivian: Could you tell us more about which types of work are included in the entertainment sector? For example, which groups of women workers have you been supporting?

Sarita: Currently we are conducting the program specifically from a women-centric perspective, ensuring equality, dignity, and safety in the workplace, including recognition and respect for the work of women workers in the entertainment and hospitality sector (dance bar, Dohori, Cabin restaurants, Khajaghar, and spa/massage centres). In addition, our organisation has been advocating for the establishment of constitutional and legal rights to bring about societal changes and ensure the recognition of women workers in the society and also facilitate the organised environment where women workers are empowered and develop leadership, fostering a coordinated and collaborative approach with stakeholders, thereby progressively advancing women’s rights through empowerment campaigns and accountability mechanisms.

Vivian:  What are the main issues that you work on? Have you been able to identify the main challenges that WOFOWON is facing, for example, with the women who are working in the entertainment sector?

S: Nepal is signatory to the Beijing Declaration of 1995 and the ILO Convention C100 and C111. There are also many other conventions and instruments that Nepal has ratified. However, women workers still experience deprivation and do not enjoy equal benefits provided by the State. This shows that the conditions are really unjust for the workers in the entertainment and hospitality sectors. The women in these sectors are perceived negatively; they don’t have social or legal recognition. In most cases, they receive minimum wages, don’t have leave days or access to health facilities, have no overtime payment, and have no job security. Consequently, they are vulnerable to various forms of violence, exploitation and discrimination. These are the main challenges that we face.

In order to address these issues, our organisation has aligned with two important rights movements. One is the women’s human rights movement, and the other, the labour rights movement. We work with them because the two movements are interconnected and mutually reinforce the dignity, equality, and fair treatment of women workers. Both movements seek to protect individuals from exploitation and abuse. Our organisation is facilitating workers’ networks and centres to build institutional capacity for them, to empower them to advocate with the government and other related stakeholders for the equality of work and workers in this sector. 

Also, we are advocating for evidence-based labour rights, lobbying to establish a Labor Desk or Hearing desk to the local government. Labourers are experiencing exploitation and abuse in silence. If their labour rights are recognised, they can report violations to the local government. There isn’t any local policy related to the issues of the entertainment and hospitality sectors, so we are collecting policy recommendations from CSOs, trade unions, worker’s networks and related stakeholders, to develop local policies together with the local government. 

Vivian: That’s very interesting! And regarding the issue of discrimination, how do you take into account the perspectives and learnings of women you are working with? The recognition of their rights is still missing and you mentioned earlier that it is not only because of authorities, but also because society usually mistreats or discriminates against them. How do you work to fight against this discrimination?

S: I would like to emphasise that our organisation is working to create an enabling environment for the women workers by collaborating with local, regional, national, and international networks and organisations, aiming to conduct dialogue and cultural campaigns about positive changes in societal perceptions toward women workers. In sum, WOFOWON has been facilitating campaigns on promoting collective leadership development and empowerment of women workers, based on a human rights approach, and by enabling their participation in decision-making processes. We have regularly provided necessary support based on evidence and truth, emphasising collaboration and ensuring support grounded in truth and facts.

Vivian: And do women workers also participate actively in the organisation of these campaigns?

S: Yes, because the social change campaign is also for women who are working in the entertainment and hospitality sector. They coordinate and promote this cultural and social campaign by themselves. Currently, we are organising 100 episodes of a cultural campaign where cultural groups from women workers are recording and publishing folk songs, duet songs and other different types of songs to create awareness and sensitise the general public. These initiatives are critical in bringing positive change in people’s perceptions toward women workers.  

Vivian: In the case of women workers, have you identified any challenges in relation to migration or exploitation? Do you work only with Nepalese women, or with migrant women in Nepal who are working in this sector?

S: Yes, Vivian. Most of the women workers are coming from rural areas in search of work, they don’t have a place to stay nor sufficient budget to invest for food and accommodation. So, without any other option, they tolerate discrimination and exploitation in their workplace, even when minimum wage, ID card, contract papers or leave facilities aren’t provisioned by the state. Since there is no effective policy implementation, there is also no strong monitoring mechanism from the government and other relevant stakeholders. As a result, women workers are continuing to face exploitation and sexual harassment in their work.

At the time, we are mainly working with Nepalese women workers in the entertainment and hospitality sector, but we will not leave behind the other women workers of this sector who have migrated from any other country of this world.

Vivian: True. The lack of guarantee of their labour rights places them in hard and exploitative situations. GAATW as an alliance strongly advocates for labour rights of women, what does it mean for WOFOWON to be part of this alliance? 

S: While GAATW works on anti- trafficking issues, they also advocate for labour rights of women, and as an organisation we acknowledge that there are many seen and unseen instances of trafficking in the entertainment and hospitality sectors as well. They usually come from remote areas, have low levels of education, and come from poor families and/or minority communities. They are being trafficked from their original place to the main city to work in these sectors. By being a member of GAATW and associating with like-minded organisations in Nepal, we hope to tackle the trafficking issue and ensure labour rights in the entertainment and hospitality sectors.

V: Thank you for that information, Sarita! I don’t have any more questions, but if you have something you’d like to add about the work that WOFOWON is currently doing, or any future plans you have for the organisation, please go ahead.

S: Yes, I would like to let our GAATW colleagues know that we are making our annual plan for the month of July, and that we would like to share this plan with GAATW as well. As part of our plan, we have already shared our recommendations with the government, mentioning our issues and what needs to be done in these sectors. Let's hope that in the coming years, we can collaborate with international organisations to create an enabling environment for the women workers in the entertainment and hospitality sectors.

Vivian: On behalf of GAATW, we would love to support any advocacy efforts that may be jointly done with WOFOWON, thank you!

S: Yes, we think that we can do it better together. I’d like to share a quotation here: “The voice is louder when we unite, and when we unite, we are stronger and can fight together. And together, everything is possible.’’ This alliance can help amplify our advocacy on the issues that we are raising.

V: Thank you very much, Sarita, for your time. It has been a pleasure to learn more about WOFOWON.