FARMER SUICIDES: THE FATE OF THE WOMEN LEFT BEHIND
Farmer suicides are the convergence of multiple facets of rural distress in a single act of desperation, and helpless surrender. Each of the staggering numbers represents more than a life that ended tragically. It also signifies a widow who now struggles to survive in the same distress that killed the farmer.
A widow faces seven invisibilities as she navigates through the various crises after the farmer’s suicide. This is part of the findings of my research in Marathwada and Vidarbha regions of Maharashtra, which as a state has had over 69,000 farmer suicides since 1997 (National Crime Records Bureau
data). The first invisibility is tradition, which operationalises Zthe fears and insecurities of the widow, so that the control over her life shifts from her husband to that of the family and society. This transition of power takes place soon after the farmer’s suicide, and the widow experiences no change in her subservient position, except that she now reports to the other male members of the family.
The second is status, where a woman’s position in society and before the State is uncertain, without male approval. She faces difficulty navigating the outside world when men in government offices, banks, and even hospitals and schools demand to interact with male representatives of her family. The third invisibility is procedure, which is not inclusive of gender. The State is ‘man’ in India, and the woman citizen is a ‘difference.’ This challenge to male generalisation is navigated through channels of patriarchy. For instance, the State does not interact with the widow, even while processing compensation. A male member of the family or even a male neighbour speaks on the widow’s behalf, as she is considered ignorant of procedure and is excluded from it.
The fourth is opportunity, like education. Widows reveal that they were put to work as labour from the age of 13 or 14, while their brothers were at school. This affects the women’s employability and growth. The fifth invisibility is value, which naturalises a woman’s work as duty. For instance, besides working as farm labour through the day, a rural woman must tend to all household duties. Women work every minute of every day of their lives; the frailty of farm women is proof of the toll such work takes on their health.
The sixth invisibility is ownership because, despite laws, women do not inherit property traditionally. Whether urban or rural, for survival, the woman gives up her rights to male relatives. As this invisibility involves financial assets, it is cultivated from a young age among girls. Parents teach daughters that their real home is their husband’s home; houses are not planned with sections for daughters and sisters; and, name plates outside homes do not carry names of women.
The seventh invisibility is the vote. Widows often express their disappointment that no election verdict had changed their fate. Politics in India often promises representation for the poor, the farmers, and the labour. Women are all three; women are poor, women are farmers and women are labour. And yet, no one represents women in this democracy.