Buddhist Bhutan Wrestles With 'Shocking' Abuse Study

By Vishal Arora
Religion News Service

NEW DELHI (RNS) The government commissioner charged with promoting "Gross National Happiness" in the tiny Buddhist nation of Bhutan said he was deeply dismayed by a recent study that found a majority of Bhutanese women think their husbands have the right to beat them.

Karma Tshiteem, head of Bhutan's Commission for Gross National Happiness, called the findings "surprising" and "shocking," and said such attitudes are "totally inconsistent" with Buddhist teachings.

The survey by Bhutan's National Statistics Bureau found that roughly 70 percent of women say they deserved beating if they neglect children, argue with their partners, refuse sex or burn dinner, reported the Business Bhutan newspaper.

The acceptance of domestic violence is highest (90 percent) among the women in Paro, a picturesque valley that's home to Bhutan's most revered monastery, Takshang. The capital city of Thimphu scores the lowest acceptance rate, about 50 percent, for wife beating.

"Any form of violence is totally contradictory to the teachings of the Buddha," Tshiteem said, noting that Ahimsa (non-violence) "is a central tenet in Buddhist philosophy."

Mahayana Buddhism is the state religion of Bhutan, where a vast majority of the 700,000 citizens are Buddhist.

Gross National Happiness, which seeks to create an "enlightened" society in which government fosters the well-being of people as well as other "sentient beings," was first envisioned by Bhutan's former King Jigme Singye Wangchuck in 1972.

The landlocked Himalayan nation -- about half the size of Indiana -- peacefully transitioned to democracy after the king abdicated power in 2006, but Buddhist principles continue to shape the country's government.

Bhutan's Gross National Happiness index -- as opposed to more traditional measures like a nation's economic activity -- is based on nine components of happiness: psychological well-being, ecology, health, education, culture, living standards, time use, community vitality and
good governance.

Because healthy family relationships are key to harmonious communities, "attitudes accepting such behavior, in these relationships or even outside, would be totally inconsistent" with Gross National Happiness, Tshiteem said.

Covering 15,000 households, the Bhutan Multiple Indicator Survey also found that more than one in four women believe HIV/AIDS is transmitted supernaturally; one in four children do not attend school and one in five children are involved in child labor.

Comments

[Sandrine Christophe]

06:43 PM on 02/26/2011

Having met some Bhutanese monks and having had the opportunity to speak with them, it would seem that in the Bhutanese monasteries, violence and humiliation are also used to get the students to learn - this is also against Buddhist teachings.
And I also know some Bhutanese women who have been sexually abused, even some by family members being part of the local clergy...
So all is not good with the Gross National Happiness...

[Vijay from India]

12:35 PM on 03/15/2011

@sandrine christophe - 'violence and humiliation, sexual abuse by local clergy' - seems more of catholic child abuse scandal than Bhutanese ones... where did you record or publish your so called 'opportunity to speak with bhutanese monks'??
May we know what secular standards you are using to find this Gross National Happiness equate with the rapes, bombings, violence of motor shelling, abuse of ladies by US army in Afghan and Iraq and prisoner ill-treatment during the gulf wars???
The world has much more grotesque crimes that have been committed in the name of christianity, communism than Bhutan's good ways of thinking about Gross National Happiness...
Does Obama's plans succeed immediately for the 'change'????

[Sandrine Christophe]

04:41 PM on 03/19/2011

@Vijay from India
I have the good luck to have many Bhutanese friends, and even got married to one ... This is where I got my information... and because I'm not Bhutanese, they find me more open about many things, and happen to trust me with this information, as they would not have shared with their fellow citizens.
And I have a lot of empathy for what they told me. I feel humbled for their trust as well as for the vulnerability they went through to tell me those things, as well as for the suffering they went through.
We live in a world full of human beings - Bhutanese or not - in this realm, no one is God or free from doing harm to others unfortunately. No one is perfect. And the idea of a perfect country, unfortunately does not exist... to my own dismay.
Your anger should be used for something better than attacking me... don't you think?

[perturbation]

04:28 PM on 02/13/2011

The subjugation of women is an evil that cuts across most cultures and eras.

[Genders]

10:02 PM on 02/12/2011

The Happiness indexes have bee corrupted by the corporatists to include things like low taxes, and leave out things like how the people feel. Try the world satisfaction index. Sad to see such submission.

[Ron Broxted]

02:43 PM on 02/12/2011

Bhutan - Asia's answer to Nebraska.

[StephenJK]

02:16 AM on 02/12/2011

Someone give that guy some botox injections. LOL J/K Even if he had the opportunity he would LHAO at the concept.

[metropixie]

10:39 PM on 03/04/2011

What are you, twelve?

[ChaCubed]

10:46 PM on 02/11/2011

From the article: "The government commissioner charged with promoting "Gross National Happiness" in the tiny Buddhist nation of Bhutan said he was deeply dismayed by a recent study that found a majority of Bhutanese women think their husbands have the right to beat them."

This is sad. It's heartening that the government is concerned.

[raker]

09:47 AM on 02/11/2011

This story does not surprise me. I visited Bhutan a few years ago. It's a beautiful place. But "gross national happiness" notwithstanding, I have never seen such downcast, sad-looking people in my life. People were kind, but a sense of existential pain hung in the air everywhere I went. Unfortunately, there's nothing new about women having lower status and being mistreated by men; it seems to happen in every culture to some extent.

[Vijay from India]

11:18 AM on 02/11/2011

@raker - 'i have never seen such downcast, sad-looking people in my life' - may I ask what happiness means to you - that you try to fit your yard-scale to other cultures?

do you mean to say - drink and drive, smoking weed, drug addicts lying over the streets, women in swimsuits and men carrying guns and bashing locals in the name of searching for 'weapons of mass destruction' and 'oil' is happiness.. you are in your own world... come to the real world...visit Bhutan with unbiased thoughts...

Your main problem is us plays its own INTERNATIONAL base ball match between its own 50 states!!! - the world ends for an american where the us border stops... chill out dude.. come out of your shell - look around - dont try to fit everyone to the single factory made size.. the world is not flat...

[NanaMex]

06:27 AM on 02/12/2011

Here Here!

[metropixie]

10:41 PM on 03/04/2011

Bingo!

[Stephen Schettini]

07:39 AM on 02/11/2011

Just because you subscribe to a belief system doesn't mean you embody it.

[eric14]

08:37 AM on 02/11/2011

You're winging it Stephen. Too laconic to be persuasive.

[toocoolfoschool1234]

06:40 AM on 02/12/2011

You're winging it eric14. Too condescending to be funny.

[zenju2]

06:20 AM on 02/11/2011

How often does everyday life of 'followers' contrast sharply with the purported ideals of organised religions and their PR! This is what happens when the teachings of the historical Buddha--rather logical and practical, based upon meditation and ethical behavior--are buried under the accretions of the biases, superstitions, and opinions of 'disciples' who seem to have never truly understood what their teacher actually had to say. It's far easier for most people to just 'believe' and perform ceremonies and rituals and burn a little incense, than to actually practice the cultivation of compassion, reason and ethical behaviour on the day-to-day. That's why I am NOT a Buddhist...though I study and strive to practice the Buddha's actual ideas. I suppose it's like being a student of Jesus if you take seriously Matthew 25: feed the hungry, clothe the naked, care for the sick, visit the imprisoned. In short, practice SOCIAL JUSTICE...not cheap feel-good 'religion,' ceremony, and obsessing over whatever.

[NanaMex]

06:28 AM on 02/12/2011

Very well said.

[Sandrine Christophe]

06:47 PM on 02/26/2011

but this can only happen if you are educated and question the order that you have known. Bhutan is a rural country... and the Buddhism that is practiced there is a mix between the Bon religion and the original teachings of the Buddha.
Just like christianity is a mix between christian and pagan beliefs...

[NYC123]

06:18 AM on 02/11/2011

There isn't a religion in the world that is founded on the principle of allowing the beating of one's wife. That is our own ignorance and it cuts across all religions -- to include atheist faiths! In fact, in my faith, Christians that beat their spouses -- are non-believers!

[Alexander Cardosa]

06:57 AM on 02/11/2011

How are non believers or Atheist a faith. Your spouting CHristian dogma that makes something as atheism the lack of a believe in a supernatural being as faith. Hurting women is common among male dominated society, males hurting males seems to go also with this type of society. Religion or the believe in higher powers makes it easier to use cognitive dissidence to justify what they do.

Atheist is not a faith and we are all born Atheist and we are all in some way Atheist since your own believes push out any other God like beings. The old testament as well as other works do tend to have writing in it that show the hurting of women to be justified just because most religion do not outright push this behavior does not mean they have no justification for it. Christianity also has this, just look it up I am sure if you don't cherry pick passages you will find it and if you don't don't forget that Jesus in the New Testament never said the old testament was void. That just been done by certain sects of Christianity to soften reality of what the passages say.

[NYC123]

07:23 AM on 02/11/2011

We all have a god; and Atheist have a god too -- by default is self. Atheist make-up their doctrines they journey through life. A unifying doctrine to the Atheist religion, "your adversary is the God of the Bible and His Son Jesus. Say that isn't true? :)) I haven't met an Atheist that doesn't hate the God of the Bible privately. That is one doctrine you all Atheist have in common.

And I want to point out -- "there are only two camps in the universe: 1) the God of the Bible camp - the Creator of all things in the heavens and on earth. And 2) the other camp; and they go by many names -- but are one camp, God's enemies!

[NYC123]

08:03 AM on 02/11/2011

A point you made about God and the history reflected in the Bible. God's word the Bible does not artificially depict imperfect man, doers of God's work, as super heroes and faultless. No, He showed their imperfections, like servants of today. Lovers of truth know the high appreciation God, and Jesus place on woman in marriage:

Husbands are commanded by God to be loving their wives as their own bodies. Refusing to do so is rebellion against the very arrangement of God and can undermine one’s relationship with God. Husbands, your family will flourish under your headship if you exercise it in a Christlike way. Christ was never harsh or abusive. On the contrary, he could say: “Learn from me, for I am mild-tempered and lowly in heart, and you will find refreshment for your souls.” (Matthew 11:29) Can your family say that of you? Christ treated his disciples as friends and put trust in them. (John 15:15) Do you grant your wife the same dignity? The Bible said of the “capable wife”: “In her the heart of her husband has put trust.” (Proverbs 31:10, 11) That means allowing her a measure of freedom and latitude, not hemming her in with unreasonable restrictions. Furthermore, Jesus encouraged his disciples to express their feelings and opinions. (Matthew 9:28; 16:13-15) And do likewise with your wife! By taking your wife’s feelings into account rather than ignoring them, you actually build her respect for your as head of the family.

[minusjason]

02:25 AM on 02/11/2011

How sad. A man who beats his wife is not a man at all.

[Vijay from India]

07:03 AM on 02/11/2011

where did the report mention of men beating women - it says, women accept punishment for not being socially responsible. It is not sad, but it shows the deep concern and responsibility that the Bhutanese govt. shows and the effort its willing to take to educate and inculcate mutual respect between all living things in its education system - irrespective of men, women, living or non living thing.

[aandcmom]

09:38 AM on 02/11/2011

It is extremely sad if a person hits or hurts another person, and even sadder if the person you hit or hurt is your wife or your child. Nobody accepts physical abuse unless it is a part of culture and family life. If you have not been socialized to accept physical abuse, your response would naturally be shock and protest. Women are not socially responsible out of fear of abuse, but out of a sense of connection to and compassion for others. Physical abuse destroys trust and good will. And I commend the Bhutanese government for recognizing something within their culture that needs to be attended to and changed.

[Spilyay]

01:33 AM on 02/11/2011

This is a country that rules its people with an iron fist. Zero tolerance for drugs. They have even outlawed tobacco and arrested a monk for selling it. Why shouldn't the women think that if they do something wrong they deserve strict punishment? This is what their government (not necessarily their husbands) has trained them to think.

I'd be interested to know if the men think it is OK if their employer beats them if they don't work hard enough or are caught taking a break. I'll bet that close to 70% of them think being beaten by your boss is OK, and statistically less in the more modern capital Thimphu than in Paro too.

[Vijay from India]

07:06 AM on 02/11/2011

@spilyay - 'This is a country that rules its people with an iron fist. Zero tolerance for drugs.' - wake up dude.. do you want govts. to encourage people driving after smoking weed???
'This is what their government (not necessaril­y their husbands) has trained them to think.' - you are correct in a wrong sense - as the govt. has succeeded in getting moral responsibility inculcated in women - who are the pillars of society and culture in any part of the world. So, Bhutanese are doing great - they have no need to be ashamed of anything.
Don't us and other western worlds cheat on their employees by laying off and outsourcing stuff?... just do not wash your hands as if nothing goes wrong in west - for your information - Bhutan is far more happier than the rest of world put together...

[Talossa]

11:58 PM on 02/10/2011

OK, I'll sit and wait for someone to blame it all on Western imperialism.

[Alexander Cardosa]

06:59 AM on 02/11/2011

Ok, I will blame the West for it, like it really maters if we did nor not do it, in the end been a women there sucks. But at least they are not stoning the women for almost every offense so they have a at least some culture.

[metropixie]

10:50 PM on 03/04/2011

You two should get a room...

[Titanshanks]

11:11 PM on 02/10/2011

There's a reaction against imperialism and right-wing nationalists which paints traditional cultures in rosy colors. Ancient cultures are often far less beautiful for the women.

[Talossa]

11:58 PM on 02/10/2011

Fanned and faved. Ibn Warraq's _Why I am Not a Muslim_ has a whole chapter on how the post-Enlightenment West has idealized its own dim understandings of foreign culture as a foil against which to compare its own shortcomings. He has a lot of sourcework behind his argument. He critiques exactly the phenomenon you describe.

[Titanshanks]

12:13 AM on 02/11/2011

Sounds pretty interesting--I might check it out. Thanks!

[Alexander Cardosa]

07:03 AM on 02/11/2011

Your a Muslim that spout of rhetoric is Muslim Apologetics a mile away.
The Muslim and most of other part of the world may have cars and cell phones (thought up and created by the west) but they are still back in the bronze age for most of everything else. To say the west has short coming is to say that humans are not perfect but if God was here we all be perfect, what a waste of drool.

We are animals with primitive brains still residing in our brains. Most of our brain is primitive as well as prone to mistakes and even mental disorders, when you put Religious Dogma as a mental disorder the amount of people with crazy thoughts is eye popping large.

[European1919]

02:00 AM on 02/11/2011

Tibet being a case in point. It is trendy in somecircles in the west to clamour for a return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet and assume his place at the head of this country again. This would a return of Tibet to sovereignty and an escape from China's claws. So far, so good.
BUT ... the "regime" of the Dalai Lamas is one of medieval serfdom with all the attendant ills.
So. Is it better that China rules with an iron fist or that the DL rules with an iron fist clad in the velvet glove of buddhist eternal love and happiness?

[mrkurtzhedead]

05:48 AM on 02/11/2011

Tibet's and the Dalai Lama's centuries-old iron grip on its people is a too-seldom told story. While Buddhism throughout history has been much less bloody than the Abrahamic religions, it has its share of darkness. Hitchens gives it a good summary of Tibet in "god is not great". Yes, the Chinese are as bad or worse.

[Vijay from India]

07:15 AM on 02/11/2011

no matter if DL ruled with iron grip or fanned with peacock feathers - it is for the tibetan people to decide and they are always voiced against the chinese occupation and support the DL. so, who are you to speak for the millions of tibetan voices for overthrow of their oppressing occupation?