Introduction

A democratic movement in April 2006 against the seizure of power by an autocratic monarch capped the end of a decade of what was popularly termed the ‘Maoist conflict.’ The Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the-then named Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-Maoist) and the government in 2006 laid the grounds for both the end of the conflict and the structuring of a ‘New Nepal’ through the holding of Constituent Assembly (CA) elections. As with many of the socially-excluded groups in Nepal, women have seen the ‘post-conflict’ transition in Nepal as a moment of opportunity for the transformation of social relationships. For women, this appeared all the more logical for two central reasons. One is that the largest party in the-then newly-elected CA (2008–12) was the CPN-Maoist, who had, throughout the conflict, made equality and justice for the socially marginalized a key issue and had highlighted the central role of women, and especially Maoist female combatants in their armed struggle. Secondly, the most representative elected body in Nepal's history, the CA, had a historically high 33 per cent representation of women with women in key positions in the CA. Thus, the possibility for a genuine re-shaping of gendered relationships appeared high.

Analysts have noted that transitions allow for a reassessment of gendered roles because of the political moment in which rules of the games are being questioned and redefined (Alvarez, 1990; Waylen, 2000). This can be seen as applicable in Nepal's case as well. For example, there were a host of commitments from the restored parliament in 2006 on women's rights including a new citizenship bill, which among other things gave citizenship rights for mothers as well as fathers and a resolution for 33 per cent reservation for women in all state bodies. The dual elections system for the CA, furthermore, provided a women's quota of 50 per cent of seats through the proportional representation (PR) system, although not in the First Past The Post (FPTP) system (Tamang, 2009, 76). This led to 197 out of 601 seats in the CA being occupied by women.