Alani Letang

Alani.letang@yahoo.com
February 2, 2016
(734)277-7742
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When a group of Nat women from a village in Peepli Khera, India, were banned from working,
they risked being shunned by their society for a chance to work, The New York Times reported.

The Nat people are a community of Hindus in Northern India, The New York Times reported.

The Nat community of Peepli Khera lies at the edge of the north Indian city of Meerut, home to
more than one million people. But it is far from the modern world, The New York Times
reported.

Why would they need to work? They still have husbands. Its not just insulting to them, its
insulting to the whole village, The New York Times reported on a five-month investigation
conducted in Northern India by Ellen Barry, on the women work force.

When the male leaders of the Nat caste, a council that makes decisions for the village, of Peepli
Khera, India banned the women from working, the women continued to go to work, The New
York Times reported.

The women decided they would simply leave for work in the morning. Except, when they did,
their neighbors were standing there, telling them to stop, The New York Times reported.

According to the Indian Constitution, their law, guarantees equality to any person before the
law and the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.

It shall be the duty of every citizen of India to abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals
and institutions. N/D

In the patriarchal social order of the Nat community, strict caste rules and centuries of
traditions, that guarantee means very little to them, The New York Times reported.

In India, womens participation in the labor forces stands at around 27 percent, lower than any
other country in the G-20, except Saudi Arabia, The New York Times reported.

The Group of Twenty (G20) Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors was established in
1999 to bring together industrialized and developing economies to discuss key issues in the
global economy, The Telegraph reported.

In addition, The Telegraph reported, The G20 is made up of the finance ministers and central
bank governors of 19 countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany,
India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey,
the United Kingdom, the United States of America.

The World Bank reported from 2005 to 2015, womens participation in the workforce declined
27 percent from 37 percent.

The New York Times reported that the decline is largely because of women dropping out of the
work force.

In addition, there are social factors and village rules that play a role in keeping women from
going to work in India which has led to this reduction in womens employment, International
Labor Organization reported

Roshan, the Nat chief in Peepli Khera, and the other men on the village council decided that
females working outside the community hurts the reputation of the village The New York Times
reported.

After the village council agreed on this, they banned the women from working outside the
village, and if a woman were to disobey there would be consequences, such as shunning, The
New York Times reported.

The Nat women have been able to tolerate the punishments set forth by the village leaders,
unfortunately, the rejection from society have left some women with sad moments, The New
York Times reported.

Geeta, a Nat woman, who refused to stop working at a meat factory outside of the village, The
New York Times reported, was punished, ostracized and became an outcast or one who has been
rejected by her society.

Geeta offered her mother a glass of water. She refused. Geeta offered her tea. She refused.
Geeta invited her in. She refused.

Neighbors and relatives do not want to be seen with an outcast for fear they would be declared an
outcast as well, The New York Times reported.

These women who continued to work outside the village, sought out the help of lawyers and
went to the courthouse for protection of their legal rights, The New York Times reported.

The Nat women have the opportunity to bring home earnings adding to their husbands pay,
however these two incomes mean something different, The New York Times reported, in the
village of Peepli Khera, those wages earned by men, is the money that is earned with respect.