This report presents the results of a survey of individual, institutional, legal and policy responses to experiences of violence against women and girls (VAWG) in Nepal. Through a detailed understanding of the experiences of 6 women who have suffered violence, we have reviewed how and where women seek care and support, and explored reasons for not seeking care. We have reviewed the mechanisms for institutional accountability, collaboration and co-ordination, and have engaged with multiple stakeholders to understand the barriers and opportunities for improving institutional responses. In addition, we have looked in detail at the legal and policy environments which, in theory, both protect and promote the rights of women and girls to live a life free of violence, and ensure they have a right to care and support when needed. The findings from the report make for sobering reading. It is well documented that women and girls in Nepal face multiple burdens of violence – physical, sexual, emotional and structural. Moreover, it is understood that these same women may face discrimination and suffer stigma, shame and social isolation if they seek care and support for the violence they suffer. What we have documented in this report are the accounts of six women who have suffered abuse (ranging from trafficking through accusations of witchcraft,to dowry-related violence) and who came into contact with service providers who were mandated to provide help to them.
While there were positive stories of institutional accountability, not all women received the help to which they were entitled. Thus, while the perpetrator of trafficking was finally sentenced to a lifetime in jail, the men who sexually assaulted one woman were fined by an ad-hoc village committee who promptly kept half the money for themselves. Our review of the legal and policy environment for addressing both the drivers of and responses to violence against women and girls in Nepal highlights that there are a wide variety of legal provisions designed to protect and promote women and girls against violence, discrimination and abuse.
However, as the two examples above illustrate, women’s experiences of the formal support systems are, at best, unpredictable – and sometimes were found to be obstructive and unhelpful too. The report is divided into three main sections – the first, introductory, chapter gives background information on what is known about the situation of violence against women and girls in Nepal,and describes the study methods. These include both quantitative reviews of reported cases of GBV (assessed through media reports as well as reviews of institutional record-keeping, mainly at national level), and qualitative interviews with the six women as well as with a number of key stakeholders at national and district levels. Interviews with policy makers focused on reviewing institutional perceptions of opportunities for improving responses to VAWG, while district level interviews focused more on understanding individual and institutional roles and responsibilities. The second chapter presents the key findings. Our review of both international commitments and national laws and policies to address VAWG finds that there is a generally protective and supportive environment to promote and protect the rights of girls and women. Through constitutional provisions,legal provisions,special laws and procedural provisions, these rights include the rights of all people to live a life free from violence. However, the mechanisms for implementation, monitoring and ongoing evaluation of these laws and policies are not well implemented. Although institutional accountability mechanisms do exist (see, for example, Table 2.2 which highlights which institutions are responsible for implementation of which law), they are poorly implemented.
#ViolenceAgainstWomenAndGirls #MultipleViolence
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Publisher:
UNWOMEM, UKaid, UNFPA
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(2013
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Type / Script:
Progress Report
in English
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Keywords:
GENDER, DISCRIMINATION, POPULATION DYNAMICS, GENDER EQUALITY, GENDER MAINSTREAMING, GENDER RESEARCH, GENDER STATISTICS, GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE, SEXUAL VIOLENCE, VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, FORCED PROSTITUTION, GENDER DISCRIMINATION, RAPE, RAPE VICTIMS, SEX CRIMES, SEXUAL HARASSMENT, HUMAN RIGHTS, INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS, HUMAN RIGHTS POLICY, HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS, HUMAN SECURITY, RIGHT TO PEACE
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Thematic Group:
UNFPA
:
Population studies
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Thesaurus:
14.02.01
- Discrimination
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Reference Link:
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