Violence Against Women: Nepal’s Situation Prof. Dr. Yubaraj Sangroula1. General Introduction: Nepal has an estimated population of 20 million of which 50.1% are female with about 39% of total literate population. The existing literacy rate of male and female population varies andthus are 54 and 25 percent respectively 1 . About 46% of the population lives in the Hills, 46%in the Terai and 8% in the Mountains. Approximately, 90% of the population dwells in ruralarea and are primarily dependent on subsistence agriculture. 70% of the total population livesin absolute poverty 2 .Nepal is a patriarchal society. Women and girls are manifestly subjected to discriminationand exploitation of various forms. The gender-based discrimination as such originates athome, and has been institutionalized as a culture. The law does not oblige the parents toprovide good care, maintenance and education of the girl children. For instance, Clause 10 of the Chapter on Partition of Property in the New Muluki Ain (New Code of the Country)obliges the father to take good care and maintenance of son and wife only but not the sameobligation to the daughters. Girl children are thus engaged in family labor from earlychildhood. A survey study conducted in 26 districts of Nepal discovered a higher rate of female child labor resulted out of discriminatory treatment within the family 3 and thus aredeprived of opportunity to education and development. This tendency has consequently beengiving rise to discrimination of many kinds in further stages of life. The discrimination ineducation is evident from the Census Report of 1991, which shows that only 38.33% of girls,aged between 6-14 years, have access to education compared to 61.66% of the boys 4 .Such discrimination has root cause on the defective value system of Nepalese society whichis being carried on as a socio-cultural legacy. The same defective value system also providesthe source for various other forms of violence against women and children. 2. Violence against Women: Generally, the violence against women is the result of unequal patriarchal power relationsdeeply rooted with social structure devised, reinforced and perpetuated by social-politicalinstitutions dominated by men and which thereby ensure that men, by virtue of their gender,have power and control over women and children 5 . The violence against women comprisesall those acts defined as an assault against womens personhood, mental or physical integrityor freedom of movement. 2.1 Types of Violence against Women: It is very hard to classify the types of violence against women. It is a widespreadphenomenon throughout the world, and has a closer connection with the socio-culturalcharacteristics of a particular society and thus may differ in various societies. However, there 1 1991 Census , Central Bureau of Statistics, Planing Commission, HMG/N) 2 IBID 3 Shyam Thapa, Devendra Chettri and Ram H. Aryal, Poverty, Literacy and Child Labor in Nepal, A District Level Analysis.Asia Pacific Population Journal, Vol. 11, No. 3. 1996. 4 HMG/N. Population Census 1991, Social Characteristics Table, Vol. 1. Part X. National Planing Commission Secretariat,Central Bureau of Statistics, Page, 82-83 5 Arju Rana-Deuba, Ph. D: Violence Against Women: Focus on Domestic Violence. Paper Presented in a Seminar organized by Sathi- An Organization Working Against Violence March 1997
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