Statelessness Working Paper Series No. 2015/02 not manage to bridge political and social inequalities, including an unequal access to citizenship and a disproportionate representation of women in governmental institutions. The civil war (1996-2006) created the momentum for the establishment of a stronger bargaining position for women, and brought about some of the necessary conditions to raise awareness and strengthen advocacy efforts for women’s rights. The political chaos and the fight over power between the Third Peoples Movement, Maoist, and the Government catalysed an attempt to break with rigid patriarchal structures. During the armed conflict, enforced disappearances, torture, killings and other human rights abuses26, which also targeted and affected women, drastically increased. The war nevertheless altered women’s position in society, since women became engaged outside their traditional roles and they took on new responsibilities in the private and public sphere. To give an example, the Maoist movement organized women to fight in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Not only did they mobilise girls, who counted for 39% of the recruits between November 2005 and September 2006, but they also encouraged young women to hold leadership positions within the PLA27. Nevertheless, the Maoist movement challenged the traditional status of women not as an objective in itself but rather as a tool to pursue higher military and political goals. A discriminatory and patriarchal mind-set of male elites persisted also within the PLA. In addition, the continuous bargaining process inherent in women’s identity creation can be shaped by internal dynamics. In 2011, the Supreme Court set a valuable precedent with the case of Sabina Damai and acknowledged that married or single mothers can transfer their citizenship to their offspring28. This landmark directive was a sign of hope for women’s equal and respectful treatment and has effects on the dynamics of identity formation and the precarious situation of the stateless women and girls in Nepal. The bargaining process can also be modified through external forces including the earthquakes of April and May 201529. A survey conducted by UN Women and UNFPA with Nepali women suggests that in the aftermath of the major earthquakes 74% of the women stated that men have been listening to them concerning household decisions, including income earning30. The facts have to be taken seriously and might be symptoms reflecting slight shifts in the bargaining power. Moreover, the earthquakes orphaned thousands of children and hundreds of children are still missing, putting them at risk of becoming stateless. Those internal and external factors continuously rearrange the bargaining process, which can lead to a long-term shift away from a deeply rooted patriarchal mind-set, and result in a change in existing cultural assumptions and institutional practices. 7. Conclusion – Prospects for individual impact and social struggle The legal provisions in the new Constitution did not strengthen or protect the societal, political and economic positioning of women, which signifies in itself no setback compared to the Interim Constitution but also no improvement in the struggle for gender equality and for a peaceful society in 26 During the violent conflict, an estimated 13,200 people were killed and approximately 1,300 persons were forcibly disappeared. In many instanes, the victims also endured physical and psychological torture, sexual abuse or were executed extra-judicially. Retrieved 22.06.2015 from http://www.trialch.org/fileadmin/user_upload/documents/CAJ/Nepal/NEPAL_REPORT_to_HRC_TRIAL.pdf 27 Manchanda, R. (2008). Women’s question in Nepal’s democratic post-conflict transition: towards a policy research agenda, in Peace Prints, South Asian Journal of Peacebuilding. 28 Supreme Court directive (Sabina Damai and Forum for Women Law and Development (FWLD) v. Government of Nepal, Writ no 06/0703 of 27 January 2011, decided on February 27, 2011). 29 At the end of May 2015, the Nepali government stated “the earthquakes had left 8,693 people dead and injured 22, 491. The number of houses damaged was 501906 and those partially damaged 272232. Further, the quakes also damaged nearly 30,000 public and private classrooms (about 8000 schools) across 49 districts, and destroyed 1023 health centers. The number of livestock lost until 31 May was 54,411.“ Retrieved 24.07.2015 from http://icnr2015.mof.gov.np/page/earthquake_2015#sthash.0ZjzUIBy.dpuf. 30 Gender Working Group Responsible to the Nepal Earthquake, Update No. 6. (26.10.2015) Retrieved 30.10.2015 from https://www.utexas.edu/courses/stross/ant393b_files/ARTICLES/identity.pdf 7