"Anbeshi" Status and Dimension of Violence Against Women, Reality Revealed 2013

"Anbeshi"
Status and Dimension of

Violence against Women,
Reality Revealed
2013
WOREC
Balkumari, Lalitpur
i
"Anbeshi"
Status and Dimension of Violence
against Women, Reality Revealed
A year book on Violence Against

Women 2013
Written By : Shiba Satyal Banskota

Advisor: Dr. Renu Rajbhandari
Edited by : Dr. Binayak Rajbhandari
Data Analysis: Prabina Tandukar
Layout design: Ramesh Bhandari
Layout design support: Bunu Chaudhary, Dilmaya Bhandari
Cover Page
ii design: Prismark Advertising and Marketing
Publication year: 2013

© WOREC Nepal
All materials and data published in this book may be used with
due acknowledgement.
MISEREOR, Germany had provided financial support to publish

this book
ISBN: 978-9937-8640-5-3
Published by: WOREC Nepal

P.O.Box 13233 Kathmandu Nepal
Phone: 977-01-2123124, 5006373, 5006474
Fax: 977-01-5006373
Email: ics@worecnepal.org
Website: www.worecnepal.org
Table of contents
Foreword x
Executive summary 1
Chapter 1 introduction 10
1.1 Background 11
1.2 Limitations of the study 25
1.3 Methodology of the study 26
Chapter 2 evidence and analysis 27

2.1 Vaw and five development regions 28
2.2 Types of violence against women 30
2.3 Age profile and gbv 34
2.4 Education and vaw 36
2.5 Marital status and vaw survivors 39
2.6 Ethnicity of survivor 41
2.7 Relationship between the survivors and perpetrators 43
2.8 Occupation of the survivors 45
2.9 Impacts of violence on survivor 47
Chapter 3 domestic violence 51

3.1 Domestic violence 52
3.2 Forms of domestic violence 54
3.3 Types of domestic violence 55
3.4 Domestic violence and type of perpetrators 56
3.5 Marital status of the survivor 58
A Year Book on Violence against Women 2013

3.6 Domestic violence and age of the survivors 58
3.7 Domestic violence and educational level of the survivors 59
3.8 Domestic violence and ethnicity of survivors 60
3.9 Domestic violence and occupation of survivors 61
3.10 Impacts of domestic violence on the survivors 62
Chapter 4 social violence 67

4.1 Women and social violence 68
4.2 Forms of social violence 70
4.3 Social violence and types of perpetrators 71
4.4 Marital status of the survivors 72
4.5 Social violence and the age of the survivors 73
4.6 Social violence and educational level of the survivor 74
4.7 Social violence and ethnicity of the survivor 75
4.8 Social violence and occupation of the survivors 76
4.9 Social violence and impact on the survivors 76
Chapter 5 rape 79
5.1 Rape 80
5.2 Rape and types of perpetrators 85
5.3 Rape and marital status 86
5.4 Rape and age of the survivor 86
5.5 Educational status of the rape survivor 88
5.6 Rape and ethnicity of the survivors 90
5.7 Occupation of the rape survivor 91
5.8 Impacts of rape on the survivor 92

Chapter 6 sexual violence 96
6.1 Sexual violence 97
6.2 Sexual violence and age of the survivor 100
6.3 Sexual violence and types of perpetrators 100
6.5 Educational status of the survivor 102
6.6 Ethnicity of the of the survivors 103
6.7 Occupation of the survivors 103
6.8 Impacts of sexual violence on the survivors 103
Chapter 7 murder 107

7.1 Murder 108
7.2 Murder and the age group 110
7.3 Murder and the types of perpetrators 111
7.4 Marital status and murder 112
7.5 Murder and the educational level of the women 113
7.6 Murder and ethnicity 114
7.8 Occupation of the murdered women 115
Chapter 8 human trafficking/ transportation 119

8.1 Human trafficking/transportation 120
8.2 Trafficking/transportation and age of women survivor 123
8.3 Relationship of the survivor with the perpetrator 124
8.5 Educational level of the survivor 125
8.6 Ethnicity of the survivor 126

8.7 Occupation of the trafficked women 127
8.8 Impact on the survivor 128
Chapter 9 background of the perpetrators 130

9.1 Background of the perpetrators 131
9.2 The age of the perpetrators 131
9.3 The sexual category of the perpetrator 132
9.4 Educational level of the perpetrator 134
9.5 Marital status of the perpetrator 136
9.6 Occupation of the perpetrator 138
Chapter 10 support to the survivors 141

10.1 Medical examination of the survivor 142
10.2 Details of the support/provisions 143
Chapter 11 media coverage and follow-up 147

11.1 Media coverage of vaw 148
Chapter 12 conclusions and recommendations 152

12.1 Conclusions 153
12.2 Recommendations 156
Annex 1 terms and definitions 163

List of Charts
Chart 1 Cases of VAW from five Development Regions 28

Chart 2 Types of VAW 31
Chart 3 Age Profile and GBV 34

Chart 4 Educational Status of Survivors 37
Chart 5 Educational Level and VAW 37
Chart 6 Marital Status and VAW Survivors 40
Chart 7 Ethnicity of the Survivors 42
Chart 8 Relationship between the survivors and perpetrators 43
Chart 9 Occupation of the survivors 46
Chart 10 Types of impact on VAW survivors 49
Chart 11 Types of Domestic Violence 56
Chart 12 Types of perpetrators of Domestic Violence 57
Chart 13 Marital Status of the Survivor of DV 58
Chart 14 Age of the Survivors of Domestic Violence 59
Chart 15 Educational Status of Survivors of DV 60
Chart 16 Educational Level of the Survivors 60
Chart 17 Ethnicity of the survivors 61
Chart 18 Domestic violence and Occupation of survivors 62
Chart: 19 Impact on the survivors 64
Chart 20 Forms of Social Violence 71
Chart 21 Social Violence and Types of Perpetrators 72
Chart 22 Marital Status of the survivors 73
Chart 23 Social Violence and the Age of the Survivors 73

Chart 24 Status of Education and Social Violence 74
Chart 25 Social Violence and Educational level of the Survivors 75
Chart 26 Social Violence and Ethnicity of the survivors 75
Chart 27 Social Violence and Occupation of the survivors 76
Chart 28 Social Violence and Impact on the Survivors 77
Chart 29 Rape and types of perpetrators 86
Chart 30 Rape and Marital status 87
Chart 31 Rape and age of the survivor 87
Chart 32 Educational Status of the Rape Survivor 89
Chart 33 Educational Level of the Rape Survivors 90
Chart 34 Rape and Ethnicity of the Survivors 91
Chart 35 Occupation of the Rape Survivor 91
Chart 36 Rape and Impact on the Survivors 92
Chart 37 Age of the survivor 100
Chart 38 Social Violence and types of perpetrators 101
Chart 39 Marital Status of the Survivor 101
Chart 40 Educational Status of the survivor 102
Chart 41 Educational Level of the Survivor 102
Chart 42 Sexual Violence and Ethnicity of the Survivor 103
Chart 43 Sexual Violence and Occupation of the Survivor 104
Chart 44 Impact of Sexual Violence on the Survivor 104
Chart 45 Age and Murder 111
Chart 46 Murder and the types of perpetrators 112
Chart 47 Murder and Marital Status 113
Chart 48 Murder and Educational Status 113
Chart 49 Murder and Educational Level 114
Chart 50 Murder and Ethnicity 114

Chart 51 Occupation of the murdered women 115
Chart 52 Age of the Survivor 124
Chart 53 Relationship of the survivors with the perpetrators 125
Chart 54 Marital Status of the survivor 125
Chart 55 Educational Status of the survivor 126
Chart 56 Educational Level of the Survivor 126
Chart 57 Ethnicity of the Survivor 127
Chart 58 Occupation and Trafficking 127
Chart 59 Impact on the Survivor 128
Chart 60 Age of the perpetrator 132
Chart 61 Sexual category of the perpetrator 134
Chart 63 Educational level of the perpetrator 135
Chart 64 Marital Status of the perpetrator 137
Chart 65 Occupation of the perpetrator 139
Chart 66 Medical Examination of the survivor 143
Chart 67 Details of support/provisions 144
Chart 67 Details of the support/provisions 146
Chart 68 Cases of VAW from five Development Regions 148
Chart 69 Types of VAW 149
Chart 70 Forms of Domestic Violence 149
Chart 71 Forms of Social Violence 150
Chart 72 Age Profile of the Survivor of VAW 150
Chart 73 Marital Status and VAW 151
Chart 74 Types of Perpetrators and VAW 151

FOREWORD
Violence against women (VAW) is a serious problem, but it has been receiving
limited public attention. Gender-based violence including domestic and
sexual violence, dowry, trafficking, rape, murder, discriminatory laws and
especially the lack of access to justice when women suffer violence are all the
factors that seriously affect the human rights of women in general, and the
women from dalit, marginalized, indigenous and ethnic minority group in
particular, in Nepal.
Violence against women has reached its pervasive stage in Nepal. Decade long
conflict in the country followed by protracted transitional period leading to
very fragile law and order situation, established culture of impunity, long and
tedious court procedures and dominant patriarchal structure of governance
are few established causes leading to this. The statistics show that VAW still
prevails at homes, workplaces and public spaces.
WOREC has been publishing "Anbeshi"- an analytical year book on VAW since
2008. It has contributed in understanding the ground reality on VAW among
different stakeholders including the government. Media has become more
sensitive and supportive to highlight this issue. Moreover, it is important that
the database generated and publication of annual analytical report "Anbeshi"
is contributing for evidence based lobby and advocacy. The Constituent
Assembly Election II was held in 19th November 2013; and Nepali people
are optimistic for new constitution of Nepal. WOREC believes that the
recommendations of Anbeshi will ensure reflection of the issues in the new
constitution of Nepal. It is also anticipated that the findings of the report will
be useful to human rights and civil society orgnisations, NGOs and INGOs,
students, researchers and academician.
I would like to thank all documenters and case documentation unit of WOREC
for their regular and hard work. I would like to thank Ms. Prabina Tandukar
who was involved in the process of data entry and systematic compilation of
the vast amount of field inputs and data that the documenters from all over
Nepal made available. I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to Ms.
Shiba Satyal Banskota for her hard work in writing this report. Last but not the
least I would like to thank Dr. Binayak P. Rajbhandari for editing the language
and Mr. Ramesh Bhandari for designing the book.
Babu Ram Gautam

Executive Director
Executive Summary
Introduction
Violence against women (VAW) has received a growing
global attention in recent months following severe incidents
of rape in India. Similarly, the highly publicized cases of rape,
murder and disappearance of women in Nepal have rightly
sparked off protests against the ever increasing issue of VAW.
The extensive and sustained public protests that followed
indicate that VAW has been an invisible agenda of decision
makers so far. While VAW is not a new issue, this renewed
awareness has provoked a worldwide conversation about
ways of creating a world where women and girls can live
without fear of violence.
WOREC Nepal has attempted to shed light on the issue

with the regular periodical of ‘Anbeshi’ which is devoted to
Violence against Women (VAW) in Nepal. The organization
has been publishing Anbeshi since 2008 to bring attention to
the ever-increasing cases of VAW in Nepal. As a year book of
WOREC Nepal, it attempts to bring together cases collected 1
and compiled from different sources, including WOREC’s
own documentation from all its districts; cases reported in
the media; cases documented by other NGOs; and cases that
came to Women’s Development Offices throughout Nepal.
Similarly, the broader objective is to explore and identify
intersections and locations of different power structures.
As VAW is sustained by silence, WOREC Nepal attempts to
make the voices of women heard and puts every effort into
enabling women to speak out against gender-based violence
and supports them by counseling them in the safe-houses.
The organization also acts as a pressure group for the effective
implementation of national laws on violence .Unless these
laws get properly implemented they will fail to provide
AA
Year Book
Year onon
Book Violence against
Violence Women
against 2013
Women 2013
adequate safeguards against gender-based violence and
breed impunity. Through its effort the organization has been
trying to address/break the culture of silence around gender
based violence.
The previous issues of Anbeshi have highlighted that one

of the major challenges for developing effective solutions to
violence against women has been the absence of data and
evidence regarding the nature and implications of the
problems of VAW at the national level. Although laws are
introduced and conventions signed, stark gaps and delays in
legal process remain as a huge barrier for survivors to access
justice. Another factor which was indicated was that despite
progress on laws, attitudes are a significant b arrier to change.
By ratifying different Convention and providing equality

clause in the Constitution, the State has recognized the existence
of discrimination and inequality and the requirement to enact
different measures. Thus, WOREC Nepal has been trying to
use the state obligation under convention as an advocacy tool
2 to achieve the principles of equality and justice to women
survivors of violence. Therefore, the objective of Anbeshi is to
map out the scenario of Violence against Women in Nepal to
make evident the hidden problems and the associated factors
of VAW and urge for a concerted action at all level. The need
for advocacy against VAW is the urgency at the moment due
to the ever-increasing cases of VAW. As such, Governments
should introduce a combination of measures including the
implementation and enforcement of non discriminatory
laws, public awareness with safe and secure environment
for women and girls. It is expected that the analysis will be
useful in identifying key areas and different facets of VAW
to effectively formulate measures to address its various
components to ensure justice to survivors and constant check

for its occurrence.
This year’s report also presents compelling evidence of the

pervasiveness of VAW in Nepal and insists for its recognition
as an extremely high priority issues at the local, national and
international level. This publication specifically focuses on the
1703 cases collected from July 2012 to June 2013 by WOREC
Nepal. Likewise, analysis of 587 cases collected from different
media publications is presented.
As before, the publication again provides a host of evidence

to show that women suffer from various forms of violence
and suggests that a collective effort is needed at various
levels. The extent of violence is difficult to ascertain due to
different overriding concerns but mostly the analysis points
out that it lies in the historically unequal power relations
and discrimination against women in its various forms and
manifestations. Although the data collected for this accounts
to 1703.This figure represent only a small proportion of the
cases of VAW that women face in reality. This year there were
1703 cases of VAW collected from various sources but such 3
figures understate the problem and do not provide the overall
extent of the problem.
It is high time that the State shows its responsibility to prevent

violence against women and ensures safety and security. The
present need is to focus on ensuring women’s human rights
and accountability to women and girls in an effective way to
ensure justice from their own perspectives.
1. VAW and Five Development Regions

As mentioned earlier, this publication analyses 1703 cases
collected from July 2012 to June 2013 by WOREC Nepal
by the Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs). The
highest percentage of VAW was reported from the Eastern

development region accounting for 58%, followed by
the Central development region with 15%, Mid western
development region with 12%, Far Western development
region with 10% and Western with 5% of the total cases.
Similarly, according to the media 154 (26.2%) of the cases

of VAW for this year are from Eastern development region,
61(10.4%) from Mid western development, 95(16.2%) from
Western development region, 39(6.6%) from Far Western
development region Central Development region 226(38.5%)
and 12(2%) from unknown region.
2. Types of VAW
a. Domestic Violence
Domestic Violence accounted for 61% (1040) of the total
cases (1703) of violence. Husbands accounted for 79%
of all perpetrators followed by family members (21%).
While domestic violence does not leave any age group
untouched, it appears to be concentrated on women in
the age group 26-35 accounting for 40%. Similarly, literate
4
women account for 81% of cases domestic violence.
b. Social Violence
The second most frequent type of violence was social
violence. A total of 297 cases or 17% of the total VAW
was under this category. 74% of social violence was
perpetrated by neighbors, 16% by family members and 10
% was reported by husband. Literate women accounted
for 67% and illiterate 33% of cases of social violence.
c. Rape
There were a total of 224 (11%) of cases of rape. This data
included 155 cases of rape, 20 cases of gang rape, 35 cases
of attempted rape and 14 cases of marital rape. In most of
the cases, the perpetrators were the neighbors or people

women knew the most (50%) consisting of 113 cases. The
data again contradicts the general supposition that rape is
mostly committed by strangers.
The most affected were below 16 years of age accounting

for 46%. Rape among literate group is higher (84%) than
among illiterate group (16%) and looking specifically we
find that 30% women raped had primary education.
d. Sexual Violence
Sexual violence accounted for 52 cases (3%) of the total
cases of VAW. 58% of sexual violence was committed
by friends /intimate friends, 19% were neighbors, 15%
were strangers/no relation and 8% were family members.
Sexual violence among literate group is higher than
among illiterate group .The data for this year shows that
the literate group consisted of 92% while illiterate group
consisted of 8%. The most affected are in the 16-25 age
group accounting for 72%, followed by the 26-35 age
group accounting for 16%.
5
e. Murder
A total of 29 cases of murder were collected and analyzed.
Similarly, there were 21 cases of attempted murder. The
perpetrators were mostly husbands accounting for 54%,
family members 24%, neighbors 10%, unidentified 10%
and 2% strangers/no relation. The data for this year shows
that 83% of murdered women were literate whereas 17 %
were illiterate. The highest percentage of murder is found
among women in the age groups 26-35 accounting to 46%
followed by age group 17-25 accounting to 38% , 36 to 35
accounting to 12% and below 16 and above 56 years of age
accounting to 2 % each.

f. Trafficking
There were 14 cases of human trafficking/transportation
on women. 50% of the traffickers are unidentified.21% of
women were trafficked by people who were unrelated to
them (strangers, people recently introduced or agents),
18% by neighbors, 7% by husbands and 4% by intimate
friends. 93% of the trafficked women were literate and
7% were illiterate. The age group 17-25 was at high risk of
trafficking accounting for 43%, followed by age group 26-
35 accounting for 29%, below 16 years accounting for 21%
and 36-45 age group accounting for 7% of the total cases.
g. Suicide and Others

This year there were 9 cases of suicide and 17 cases under
‘others’ which were reported from different regions. The
category ‘others’ include cases of abduction, abandonment
etc. However, it is important to note that though they are
less frequent in number than other forms of VAW, these
issues should not be ignored.
6 3. Age Groups and VAW

VAW did not leave any age group untouched. VAW appeared
to be concentrated mostly among women in the age group 17-
25. Almost 36 % were in this age group.34 % were in the 26-35
age group, followed by 13 % in 36-45 age group, 8 % in the age
group below 16, 5% in the age group 46-55 and 3% in the age
group above 56.
4. Education and VAW

Literate women (80%) constitute the highest category of VAW
survivors and illiterate constitute (20%). Among the literate
women 28 % could just read and write, 25% had secondary
education, 15%had taken adult literacy classes, 14% had
primary education, 14 % had higher secondary education and

4% had education above higher secondary.
5. Marital Status and VAW

The highest percentage of all reported cases of violence is
found among married women accounting for 78.9%. The
group of unmarried women is next (15.6%), followed by
separated women (2.3%) and widow (2.1%). As mentioned
earlier married women accounted for 93% percent of domestic
violence and the husbands are found to be the most frequent
perpetrators. This is one of the reasons of married women
being the highest risk groups of VAW.
6. Occupation and VAW

The majority of women reported agriculture as their occupation
(35.3%), followed by household work (23.1%). Likewise,
(9.2%) reported themselves as students (8.7%) were involved
in labour work, (5.3%) were involved in business,(1.9) were
housemaids, (1.7%) worked in entertainment sector (0.9%)
were teachers, (0.8%) reported they did not work, (0.8%)
worked in non government service,(0.8%) were tailors,(0.4%)
were involved in foreign employment,(0.4%) in social 7
work,(0.2%) in government service ,(0.1%) reported were
army/police and (0.5% ) are put under ‘others’ and consist of
categories that are unidentified and different from categories
that are identified.
7. Impacts of VAW
Four different types of impacts were identified for this study:
social, economic, physical, and mental. The mental impact
(60%) on women is the highest under all categories of VAW,
followed by physical impact (19%), social impact (16%), and
economic impact (5%).
8. Ethnicity and VAW

The highest numbers of cases were reported by the Hill Janjati

(19%) and Chhetri (19%) each. Similarly, (15%) of cases were
reported by Terai Janjati, (11%) was reported by Brahmin,
(11%) by Terai non-Dalit , another (11%) by Hill Dalits, (9%)
by Terai Dalit , (2%) by Indigenous group ,(2%) by Muslim
groups and (1 %) by others.
9. Relationship between the survivors and perpetrators

Husbands (51%), neighbors (21%) and family members (17%)
were the major sources of violence. Likewise, (3%) were
strangers, (3%) intimate friend/boyfriends, (2%) friends and
(1%) were unidentified.
Thus, VAW can be discussed as any act of gender-based

violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual
or psychological harm or suffering to women, including
threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of
liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.1 VAW
manifests at every level of society, from interpersonal and
familial relationships, through communities including State
and beyond to the international level in its various forms.
8 Women are denied autonomy and subjected to the inhuman
punishments for transgressing the norms.
Attempt has been made to understand the different dimensions

of VAW through the available data. As acknowledged before
VAW needs thorough and deep understanding of the socially
and culturally constructed categories of differences and
discriminations. Analysis based on race, gender, ethnicity,
religion, class, sexual orientation and disability can shed
light on systematic inequality and help to raise further
questions on the power structures, social processes and
1 1993 United Nation Declaration on the Elimination of Violence

against Women.

social representations and ideologies that perpetuate these
inequalities.
Unequal power relations and related social norms are the

root cause of VAW manifesting differently in different socio-
cultural and political contexts. Legal reforms are important
but are insufficient to prevent VAW. It must be complemented
by transformational changes at all levels. Hence, change
in social norms (beliefs, attitudes and behaviors) through
engagement of the different norm setters can be a step
further for significant social change, including the change in
power relations between women and men. It has been seen
that devaluing woman, undermining her autonomy and
silencing her protests are some of the manifestations of VAW.
Nevertheless, women’s diversity and experiences should be
recognized to offer a broader picture of VAW that takes into
consideration different aspects of class and other factors of
power and powerlessness.
It is clear from the above discussion that multiple and

intersecting factors contribute to VAW and as such, a multi- 9
faceted approach is required. Likewise a conducive and
enabling environment should be created to address the
‘culture of silence’ around violence and issues regarding
impunity.

Chapter 1
Introduction
Chapter 1
Introduction
1.1 Background
VAW is related to women’s position in the multiple systems
of inequality and has a tendency to increase as these systems
intersect, creating layers of discrimination and exclusion for
different groups of women. Yakin Ertürk, the former UN
Rapporteur on VAW, has used the concept of ‘intersectionality’
stating that VAW takes toll upon women’s power to act
upon the oppressive conditions of their existence.2 Further,
the impunity enjoyed by the perpetuators of violence
maintains parallel and multiple structures of power, forms
of discrimination and exacerbates women’s vulnerability to
violence.
The literature on the causes of violence against women

indentifies strong social norms, gender stereotypes and
discrimination against women as main factors. (Heise, 2011; 11
Hagemann-White, 2010)3 VAW in general has been discussed
2 Ertürk, Yakin, 2005. “Integration of the human rights of women
and the gender perspective: Violence against women: Report of
the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and
consequences”.
3 Heise, L. L. (2011). What Works to Prevent Partner Violence? An
Evidence Overview. STRIVE Research Consortium, London School.
Hagemann-White, C. et al. (2010). Factors at play in the perpetration
of VAW, VAC and SOV, A multilevel interactive model, Annex to:
European Commission, Feasibility study to assess the possibilities,
opportunities and needs to standardize national legislation on
violence against women, violence against children and sexual
orientation violence, Publications Office of the European Union
(2010).

as the outcome of gender inequality and discrimination in a
society. However, the cause and the consequence of violence
vary depending on the specificity of the case and context but
in general it is exercised on the less powerful by those with
power. The common denominator however is the female
subordination (Momsen, 1991) although there are differences
due class, race, ethnicity, religion, age etc. Greig, A. et al.
(2012) highlight that dominant social construction (i.e. beliefs
relating to and interpretations) of male sexual entitlement and
masculinity perpetuating VAW is not identical, or universally
shared within communities or across whole societies or
beyond.4
Previously some interpretations have led to confusion in

the discussion of VAW where people have associated the
risk factors of VAW as the root cause of violence. It should
be clarified, for example, alcohol consumption can be a
risk factor, but not a root cause of VAW. This is just a small
12 example to stress that VAW should be contextualized to offer
a broader analysis.
Many gaps still remain in our understanding of VAW as it

is a complex issue which manifests in different forms and
4 Greig, A. and Edström, J. (2012) Mobilising Men in Practice:

Challenging Sexual and Gender-based Violence in Institutional
Settings, Brighton: Institute of Development Studies; International
Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) (2010) Men are changing:
Case study evidence on work with men and boys to promote gender
equality and positive masculinities, London: IPPF, available at:
http://www.ippf.org/NR/rdonlyres/36B8FD71-BB77-45D6-8424-
B887323D6ED7/0/MenAreChanging.pdf

dimensions which are ever-changing and fluid. Catherine
MacKinnon‘s5 insight is helpful and suggests that women in
different social positions may experience sexism differently
but it should not entail that they have nothing in common, as
they suffer from sexism, while simultaneously it is important
to be attentive to the complexity of women’s diverse lives.
Similarly, the balance of both connections and differences
is contained within the practice of intersectionality, which
should not be the basis for dissolving the category woman
but should emphasize and build feminist solidarity
accommodated through a structural analysis of gender to
explore the racialized and otherwise particularized modes of
sexist oppression. (Haslanger,2002)6
Gita Sen writes: The structures that govern gender systems

have basic commonalities and similarities across different
societies, although how they manifest through beliefs, norms,
organizations, behaviors and practices can vary. Sen, 2007)7
Thus, with the acknowledgement of a variety of differences 13
across different society and groups we have to be attentive to
different forms and natures of VAW as well as be informed of
5 MacKinnon, Catherine. 1999. Toward a Feminist Theory of the State.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
6 Haslanger, Sally. 2002. ―On Being Objective and Being Objectified.‖
In A Mind of One’s Own: Feminist Essays on Reason and Objectivity,
ed. Louis M. Antony and Charlotte Witt, 85–125.
Boulder: Westview Press
7 Gita Sen and Piroska Östlin,Unequal, Unfair, Ineffective and
Inefficient Gender Inequity in Health: Why it exists and how we
can change it Final Report to the WHO Commission on Social
Determinants of Health September 2007 ,Women and Gender
Equity Knowledge Network.

strategy based on commonalities.
It should also be remembered that families, communities and

social, legal and civic institutions shape, reinforce, define and
uphold restrictive gender norms.
In Nepal VAW is widespread and women are exposed to acts

of violence in the family, community, by the State and beyond.
Women experience different forms and types of violence
over their life course and the perpetrators are mostly their
own partners, family members, employers or any unknown
person. More specifically VAW includes incest, rape, sexual
harassment, forced prostitution, sexual abuse, trafficking
among others and violates women’s human right. The past
experience has shown that although women from all walks
of life are affected the most vulnerable are women who are
socially and economically disadvantaged.
14 Nepal’s HDI value for 2011 positions the country at 157 out of
187 countries and ranks Nepal at 113 out of 146 countries in
the 2011 Gender Inequality Index.8 The structural inequality
in its various forms makes women and girls exceptionally
vulnerable to juridical and social discrimination in Nepal.
Prevailing economic and socio-cultural discriminations have
impacted the lives of women in Nepal. Some of these changes
have been positive; however, some have further strengthened
subordination and discrimination against women. Patriarchal
norms deny women the right over their own bodies, sexuality
and the right to make decisions over their own labor.
Woman’s biological and reproductive roles mostly define her
8 UNDP ,Human Development Report 2011

identity and domestic violence, incest and marital rape are
still considered as “private” matter in many instances. Thus,
women’s economic and social rights are often constrained by
economic dependence and societal attitudes that assert her
subordinate status in society.
Some customary practices, traditions and religious beliefs

are still tolerated denying women their fundamental rights.
Forced and early marriage is still a common practice despite
the legal age for marriage being 18 years and above and dowry
practice is still prevalent in many regions. Other harmful
practices include Deuki (a girl offered to god and not allowed
to marry), Chhaupadi (the practice of keeping a menstruating
girl/woman in a small shed away from the main house which
is common in western Nepal) and accusations of witchcraft.
Some forms of violence specifically impact children, such as

violence against girls in school by male teachers or colleague
which can include rape, sexual harassment etc. leading to their 15
withdrawal from school due to stigma, pregnancy or health
complications. The debilitating long-term effect of emotional
and physical trauma is often underestimated. The survivors
feel insecure, threatened, afraid and unprotected and are
at risk of further violence and retaliation. Law enforcement
officers are mostly insensitive to their needs for immediate
care, dignity and respect, which further delays assistance.
As mentioned previously practice of “victim blaming” leads
to “culture of silence”. In fact, most incidents go unreported
which then result in further emotional damage, including
shame, self-hate and depression.

The armed conflict that lasted for almost a decade has left
Nepal in a state of major political turmoil and confusion.
Maoist insurgency formally ended as a result of signing the
Comprehensive Peace Accord on 21 November 2006. Yet,
the climate of persistent political instability and ineffective
government and leadership has severely limited the recovery
process and drafting of a new constitution. The reintegration
process for women ex-combatant has been challenging and
their transformed identities have created further difficulties
upon their return to their communities. In many cases they
have relocated themselves to a different place instead of
returning to their own communities due to stigma and
pressure to return to traditional gender conventions. With
limited financial opportunities and lack of community or
family support they have become prone to human trafficking
and commercial sex work.9
Although there have been some amendments and introduction

16 of new laws women continue to experience deep-seated
inequality through de jure laws regarding citizenship,
property, inheritance, education, employment, marriage and
family relations and court proceedings etc. This has been a
common practice inspite of the Interim Constitution stating
“women’s rights” as a fundamental right, pledging non-
discrimination on the basis of gender,10 and criminalizing
9 Colekessian and Barr, “Reintegrating Female Ex-Combatants: Good

Practices and Lessons Learned in Disarmament, Demobilization
and Reintegration of Women and Girls,” p. 4,2009.
10 Nepal, Interim Constitution of Nepal, 2063 (2007) Art. 20:1

VAW11, emphasizing on reproductive health rights to women12,
and granting women equal access to ancestral property.13
Efforts at the international level to end discrimination

against women:
Gender equality must be the cornerstone of every society
which aspires to social justice and human rights. However, in
reality women have been subjected to inequalities in law and
in practice. As mentioned earlier, this situation is both caused
and exacerbated by the existence of discrimination in the
family, in the community and elsewhere and is perpetuated
by stereotypes , traditional cultural ,religious practices and
beliefs which are detrimental to women.
In this regard in the struggle for recognition and acceptance of

the human rights of women some historical achievements are
worth noting which are as follows:
The first national women’s rights convention was the Seneca 17

Falls Convention, which took place in Seneca Falls, New
York, in July 1848.The Convention was pivotal in stressing on
the equal treatment of women, the recognition of women as
equals of men and women’s right to vote. It laid the foundation
of women’s movement by focusing on several resolutions
including that a man should not withhold a woman’s rights,
take her property or refuse to allow her to vote. It was pivotal
in the sense that it did not only discuss social and civil
condition and rights of women, but also their political rights,


particularly the right to vote. This became the beginning of
the women’s rights movement which gave rise to a new phase
in the history of feminism. Women demanded equality in all
areas of civil, political, economic, and private life.
Later as VAW was accepted as a violation of the most

fundamental human rights the international community
started putting its efforts towards ending it.
As a result, the United Nations’ commitment to the

advancement of women started with the signing of the United
Nations Charter in 1945 .Its Preamble declared faith “in
fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the
human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of
nations large and small…” 14 Similarly, in 1946 the Commission
on the Status of Women was established to support the
advancement of women which focused on legal measures to
protect the human rights of women and awareness-raising on
18 the status of women throughout the world.
Similarly, as women’s equality was still a challenge additional

means for protecting the human rights of women were seen as
necessary. Thus, to guarantee the protection of women’s rights
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women was adopted. The Convention was adopted
by the General Assembly in 1979 to reinforce the provisions
of existing international instruments designed to combat the
continuing discrimination against women. CEDAW is an
international bill of rights for women and sets legally-binding
principles and standards for realizing women’s rights.
14 http://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/preamble.shtml

The Convention stresses on the elimination of the legal
bases for discrimination by revising existing laws and civil,
penal and labour codes and also requires the State to protect
women’s rights effectively. Similarly, laws against family
violence and abuse, rape, sexual assault and other gender-
based violence should ensure adequate protection to all
women, and respect their integrity and dignity. Appropriate
protective and support services should be provided for the
survivors.
Likewise, the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing,

1995 and Platform for Action focused on equality between
men and women as a matter of human rights .It aimed at
increasing women’s full and equal share in economic, social,
cultural and political decision-making. Acknowledging
the voices of all women everywhere and taking note of the
diversity of women and their roles and circumstances, it
urged for a recognization of human rights of women to be an
integral part of all human rights and fundamental freedoms. 19
Efforts at the national level to end violence against women

and the Gaps and Challenges
Nepal is party to various international human rights
instruments including the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights(1966),the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights(1966), the Second
Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights(1989), the Convention Against Torture
and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment( 1984) the Convention on the Elimination of all
forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)(1979)

without reservation and the Convention on the Rights of the
child (CRC) 1989.
Ratifying these conventions, the Government is committed

to guaranteeing rights to women and girls and condones
VAW as a form of discrimination that seriously inhibits
women’s ability to enjoy rights and freedoms. As a part of
its response for the prevention of VAW, the Government had
declared 2010 as the Year to End Gender Based Violence.
Similarly, Nepal has endorsed International Conference on
Population & Development (ICPD) (1994) Program of Action
(PoA), Beijing Platform for Action (1995) and Millennium
Development Goals (MDG) (2000). In this regard, inspite of
these commitments, it is necessary to constantly question the
challenges depriving women to live a life of dignity free from
violence.
Right to equality and women’s right are constitutionally

20 guaranteed in the Interim Constitution in article 13 and 20
respectively. All citizens are equal before the law, gender
based discrimination is punishable and every person has the
right to live a life of dignity and freedom. It is also stated that
the son and daughter will have equal rights to their ancestral
property and no discrimination will be made against any
citizen in the application of general laws on the basis of
religion, race, sex, caste, tribe, origin, language or ideological
conviction or any of these.
Several provisions related to criminal law have been amended

in the Country Code. For example, criminalization of abortion
on the basis of identification of sex, conditions or legalization

of abortion, criminalization of sexual harassment, extending
the definition of “rape”etc. Other examples are as follows:
o In Sapana Pradhan Malla for FWLD V. HMG/Nepal

(2002) the Supreme Court, recognizing the right to equal
protection of law against gender-based violence and
discrimination irrespective of the character of the victim,
overturned the Chapter on Rape of Country Code 1963
that constituted a very nominal punishment in the case of
rape on prostitute.
o The Supreme Court of Nepal has ruled the issue of rape

regarding women raping men in the same way as men
raping women since Nepal’s legal system defines rape as
a violation that can be committed against women by men
only. The ruling was a response to a writ filed by lawyer
Shyam Krishna Maskey.
o Marital rape was criminalized after Meera Dhungana versus

Government of Nepal writ petition was filed challenging
21
the previous definition of rape. Sapana Pradhan Malla
has appealed to the Supreme Court regarding increase in
the time limits for the registration of the rape case. The
advocate plead that a 35-day limitation period on bringing
complaints of rape to police is discriminatory, and in
violation of human rights obligations.
o The issue on the punishment for marital rape was raised

by Jeet Kumari Pungani stating it to be discriminatory. The
Supreme Court thereafter made efforts for the eradication
of the discriminatory punishment provision between
marital rape and other forms of rape.
o Jyoti Poudel vs. Government of Nepal urged for more

effective action to deliver justice to survivors and to
improve investigation and prosecution process and make
them more accessible.
Similarly, Domestic Violence (Offence and Punishment) Act,

2066 (2009) has been enacted to protect the right of every
person to live a secure and dignified life and to prevent
and control violence occurring within the family. The law
was a positive step against domestic abuse, but unfortunately
the social acceptance of violence against women is still wide
spread. The law broadened the definition of domestic violence
to include not only physical abuse but also mental, emotional,
and sexual violence. In spite of this, domestic abuse is still a
dreadful reality for many women.
Likewise, the formulation of Children’s Act, 2068 (2012)
incorporates the rights of children. Additionally, the
Domestic Violence (Control and Punishment) Act, 2009 also
stresses on safeguarding for protecting rights of the children.
22 Likewise, Section 3 of Human Trafficking (Control) Act, 2007
criminalizes sale and trafficking of human being as mentioned
earlier and that covers trafficking of children.
Laws on rape have been improved time and again. However,
there are still flaws and loop-hopes and existing law against
rape is discriminatory as the definition of rape in the Nepali
law is narrow and needs to be broadened. The existing
provisions under the law give a message that raping certain
age and group of women is less punishable than other.
According to present law, if a person rapes a girl child of less
than 10 years the sentence is 10 to 15 years in custody, 14 to 16
years is 8 to 12 years in custody, 16 to 20 years is 5 to 8 years in
custody and the provision of punishment for raping a woman

above 20 years age is 5 to 7 years in custody.
Similarly, the statutory limitation of 35 days for filing a

complaint under the act limits reporting of cases of rape. It
makes it difficult for survivors to seek justice which is further
challenged by the lengthy and complicated court proceedings
which fosters culture of impunity. It should be noted that
perpetrators of rape during the conflict period already enjoy
impunity due to the 35-day state of limitation on reporting
this crime. Likewise, the penalties for rape, especially for
marital rape are not proportionate to the gravity of the crime
as the maximum penalty for marital rape is 6 months.15
Other challenges encountered are the process of dropping

of the case and the release of the accused through mediation
practice. Many cases are settled outside the formal justice
system, with survivors pressured into negotiations by offering
meager monetary compensations while the perpetrators
remain unpunished. While mediation has a very useful role 23
in resolving some community level problems, it must not
be used to condone criminal offenses as SV. Crime should
never go unpunished and it is the responsibility of the State
to ensure that criminals are punished and not absolved of
their crimes under the umbrella of community mediations.
Similarly,survivors of violence including rape or other
forms of sexual violence lack access to relief despite the
constitutionally guaranteed right to compensation.
For some cases, even police have attempted to broker mediation

with the relatives of the victim, offering compensation in lieu
15 Rape, Muluki Ain (General Code)

of a remedy. Thus at many instances families have often
accepted compensations and remain silent in the absence
of any other prospect of justice. This sort of mediation often
takes place in cases of sexual violence, domestic violence,
witchcraft-related violence etc.
Other specific forms of sexual violence such as the crimes

of sexual slavery, enforced pregnancy, forced prostitution,
forced sterilization, forced nudity, mutilation of genitals
and breasts, forced circumcision and other sexual assaults
not involving penetration have not been criminalized in
Nepali law.16
Trafficking of children and women has been another pressing

issue in Nepal.
Women and children are trafficked for commercial sexual

exploitation and other exploitative intents like domestic
24 servitude, begging, criminal activities, forced marriages, the
circus/ garment / carpet factory work, and organ transplants.
Likewise, unsafe foreign labor migration has resulted in
various forms of exploitation. Nepal has amended and enacted
legislation regarding Human Trafficking.For example, Human
Trafficking and Transportation (Control) Act, 2064(2008) was
formulated to provide protection against Human Trafficking
and Transportation. The law deems punishable the selling/
purchase of a person, forcing someone into prostitution,
extracting human organ etc. It is considered “Trafficking”
16 Written information for the adoption of the List of Issues by the

Human Rights Committee with regard to Nepal’s Second Periodic
Report (CCPR/C/NPL/2), TRIAL, April 2013.

when someone is taken from their residence by any means
such as enticement, inducement, misinformation, forgery,
tricks, coercion, abduction, hostage, allurement, influence,
threat, abuse of power and by means of inducement, fear,
threat or coercion and take them anywhere within Nepal
or abroad for the purpose of prostitution and exploitation.
However, there is still a need for a comprehensive policy on
protection to include rescue, repatriation, rehabilitation, and
reintegration of survivor as well as the need to empower them.
1.2 Limitations of the Study

The study compiles the articulation of cases of violence at
the community level from various districts as analyzed and
reported by the Women Human Right Defenders. The cases
are collected based on the information gathered through
their own investigation in the field, gathered from the safe
houses, cases reported in the paralegal services, or cases that
required medical support. The cases also include those that
were collected from the national newspapers. The cases were 25
analyzed from a feminist and human right perspective and
complied to make the ‘voices’ of the women survivors heard.
The effort has been to report the cases of violence from all
5 development regions of Nepal. However, the book will
never be able to give the real picture of the violence suffered
by the women. Obviously many of the atrocities do not even
get reported or are purposely hidden by those in power.
However, it is expected that this documentation will provide
some glimpses of the violence suffered by the women in
Nepal.

1.3 Methodology of the Study
The methods used are both qualitative and quantitative. The
investigators are the trained researchers from WOREC Nepal
who have the knowledge and experience to analyze data,
both primary and secondary from feminist and human rights
perspectives. The software used for analysis is SPSS version
11.5.The data incorporates the cases collected from various
media sources as well.
26

Chapter 2
Evidence and
Analysis
Chapter 2
Evidence and Analysis
2.1 VAW and five Development Regions

A total of 1703 cases were collected by WOREC Nepal for the
purpose of analysis of VAW this year (July 2011-June 2012). Of
the total cases collected 993(58%) were from Eastern, 257(15%)
from Central, 199(12%) from Mid-Western, 171(10%) from
Far Western and 83(5%) from Western Development region.
(Chart 1.)
28
Chart 1 Cases of VAW from five Development Regions
The percentage of reporting is highest from the Eastern

Development Region not only because there is prevalence
of VAW in that particular region but also due to a number
of other contributing factors such as, prevalence of support
system network that encourages reporting, better exposure
of women, knowledge of human right issues and their access

to education and other facilities which encourages them
to seek justice. The Eastern and Central regions have better
communication and support systems, wider access of media,
which continuously highlight cases of VAW.
The Government has established safe houses in 15 districts

and 4 districts in the Eastern region comprise them.
Additionally, WOREC Nepal has been active in this region
for the past 19 years. Since the involvement of WOREC in this
region, there has been an effective networking of women’s
group at the community level. There has also been increase in
understanding of issues like women’s human right, women’
right, violence etc.
Similarly, there are safe houses in Biratnagar, Udaypur, and

Dhanusa since the past 11 years which has been supporting
women survivors of violence and providing them necessary
counseling services. Presence of effective networks of Women
Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) has been an important 29
medium in encouraging women in Eastern Development
region to report cases of violence. Their advocacy has helped
the survivors to report cases of violence to the police or
WOREC Nepal. Other factors include, as stated in previous
reports, women’s comparatively better position, many
developmental efforts focusing on women etc. Since almost
all progressive movements gained momentum in the eastern
region people are definitely more aware of their rights. They
have raised voice against the strong feudalistic tradition and
peasantry and women in this region are now beginning to
question patriarchy.

The Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) in the same
region were also in a better position to advocate against the
violation of women’s rights. The cases reported from Central
and Eastern development regions are much more than
cases reported from Western, Mid-Western and Far-Western
regions. However, the numbers should in no way undermine
the problems of gender based violence. Underreporting
occurs due to numerous factors like the State’s failure to focus
on development of these regions which keeps perpetuating
traditional behavior and norms, slow and ineffective support
mechanisms because of which women fear speaking about
the atrocities faced. Other factors include the remoteness,
inappropriate access to media, absence of support networks
and provision of safe houses etc.
2.2 Types of Violence against women

Violence against Women exists in various forms and types and
the research has analyzed them by grouping them under
30 different categories. (Chart 2.) A wide range of sexually violent
acts can take place in different circumstances. For example,
following types have been frequent: Rape within marriage/
or intimate relationships; rape by strangers; s y s t e m a t i c
rape during conflict; unwanted sexual advances or sexual
harassment, including demanding sex in return for favours;
sexual abuse of disabled (mentally/physically)people; sexual
abuse of children; early marriage or cohabitation, denial
of the right to use contraception , forced abortion; violent acts
against the sexual integrity of women, and inspections for
virginity; forced prostitution and trafficking of people for
the purpose of sexual exploitation, etc.

Chart 2 Types of VAW
Out of the total 1703 cases collected by WOREC Nepal,

Domestic Violence accounts for a total of 1040 cases (61%). This
means that domestic violence is the single biggest category
of VAW, followed by social violence (17%), rape cases (11%)
and attempted rape (2%). Accordingly, sexual violence (3%),
murder (2%), attempted murder (1%), trafficking (1%) and 31
suicide (1%) were reported. Others, (1%) of reported cases
included abduction, abandonment etc.
Husband murders wife and daughter

Devi was from a poor family. She has studied till grade
four and had eloped with a boy when she was just 14 years
old. Four years into their marriage, the couple had a good
relationship and had a daughter. However, as soon as the
husband got accepted in the Nepal Army he married another
woman and stopped caring for Devi and her daughter. He
started frequently accusing and physically assaulting Devi
but she continued staying with her husband and the second

wife despite the situation.
One day in the evening after talking to his second wife the
husband started beating Devi again and evicted her from the
house. She went to WOREC Nepal for help. Three days later,
after discussion with the local police, the husband provided
written statement to take in Devi and his daughter and
ensured that they would be cared for. However, the situation
soon started to deteriorate. One day, Devi suspecting her
husband poisoning her food, took the food to the local police
station. The police called the husband again that evening to
warn him. After that the husband told Devi that he would
take her away with him to Baitadi. Devi informed her relatives
that he was taking her and according to the relatives Devi and
her daughter were taken away that very night.
Four days later the local newspaper informed that bodies of a

young girl and a woman had been found two kilometers from
32 the local town. Hearing this news the relatives of the first
wife informed WOREC Nepal. On suspicion, the relatives
sent pictures of the wife and daughter to the Baitadi police
for matching. The police informed that the pictures and the
bodies found matched. The bodies were then confirmed by the
relatives. Examination of the bodies revealed that the wife had
been wrapped in plastic and burnt while only the head and
bone pieces of the daughter were found.
Two days later the husband was arrested by the police.

According to the police, the husband confessed that he alone
had murdered the two without any help. At present, the
investigation is ongoing and the husband is in prison.

Analysis and Findings
There is a great difficulty associated with accurately assessing
the incidence of VAW. This is due to a combination of
factors including the intimate nature of the behaviors and
the difficulty many victims have in speaking about it. As
mentioned earlier domestic violence accounts for an alarming
61%; and according to Chart 8, husbands (79%) and family
(21%) account for all perpetrators of domestic violence. The
figures for this year also show similar findings as the previous
issues of Anbeshi.
Domestic violence includes various forms of abuses. Common

abuses include are physical abuse (for example, beating,
slapping, hair pulling, kicking, burning, beating with a stick,
or using a knife etc.) and mental torture (threats, verbal
abuse, and neglect) by husbands or other relatives and may
be connected to early marriage, dowry-related violence ,
polygamy etc.
33
The acts of DV whether against women or children is perceived
as discipline, essential for maintaining the rule of authority
within the family. Due to this factor DV goes unreported as
a ‘family affair’/ ‘private matter’ which hinder intervention
in this regard. Even in cases where intervention is required,
preference is given to friends and relatives by the family
so that the issues get settled within these circles. Husbands
and family members are the major sources of violence in a
domestic setting. VAW occurs along a continuum ranging
from harassment and bullying to rape and murder. In most of
the cases, survivors do not have availability and accessibility
of support services and gender sensitive legal instruments

and procedures for accessing justice.
The findings again contradict the myth that women are safe
in their own houses with their own husbands and families.
While all men enjoy to some measure the advantages of
patriarchy and structures of power, all women suffer to some
degree the constraints of the same structures. As mentioned
earlier, violence while occurring largely within relationships
at home can also occur in workplace, educational environment
and social sphere. Research into the varying forms of violence
suggests that a culture of violence is now starting to permeate
many facets of our culture and society and thus the analysis
of violence should consider various structures, processes and
ideologies that continue to sustain violence in its different
manifestations.
2.3 Age Profile and GBV

GBV is prevalent is all age groups and does not leave any age
34 group untouched. For the analysis, age has been divided into
Chart 3 Age Profile and GBV

6 categories. It appears to be concentrated (36%) on women
between the ages 17-25 followed by the 26-35 (34%), 36-45
(13%), below 16 (8%), 46-55 (5%) and above 56 (3%). (See
Chart 3.)
Analysis
The data for this year again shows a shocking reality that
women in all age suffer some form of violence. It is a shameful
and disgraceful scenario that very young girls (below 16 years
of age) who do not even know that they are sexually exploited
are fallen prey to the perpetrators. The constitutional mandate
of equal legal status is yet to be realized and the laws have
not been translated into practice due to the underlying social
practices, prejudices, cultural norms which are based on
patriarchal values, etc. Women and girls continue to be doubly
disadvantaged because of the added burden of patriarchal
institutions that work against them from a very young
age and throughout their lives. These institutions impede
women’s ability to enjoy public life and limit their choices to 35
negotiate according to their own interests and needs. Violence
appears in many forms across the life course of women
arising as a result of son preference (resulting in prenatal sex
selection), early marriage, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse,
discrimination related to health and well-being. Physical,
mental and emotional problems limits their access to social,
economic and political factors and restrains their ability to
participate which again perpetuates violence, discrimination
and unequal power relations. Since they are socialized to
learn the values, attitudes, behavior considered appropriate
for them from early childhood they find it difficult to revolt
against them.

Likewise, women in the age group 17-25 and 26-35 suffer
violence to a great extent. This data hints that it is a major
problem among these age groups which needs further
investigation. Inspite of majority of survivors of sexual
violence and their family members not reporting the incident
due to fear of stigmatization, the number is quite high. As
these age-groups are reproductively and economically active,
any deficiencies in their expected roles and duties can lead
to violence. Some reasons include but are not limited to: not
being able to provide their family a male heir, not being able
to meet family expectations etc. This confirms that women are
not safe even in their homes and with their husbands whom
they trust the most. They are at risk of abuse and violence in
the public spaces as well and are more prone to retaliation
and ostracism when they try to claim their basic rights.
2.4 Education and VAW

The relationship between violence against women and
36 education is provided in the Chart 4 and 5. According to
statistics, literate women (80%) constitute the highest category
of VAW survivors. This figure is similar to the figure in
Anbeshi (2012) where literate were (78%) and illiterate (22%).
These are significantly different than Anbeshi 2010 in which
we saw an even split between literate and illiterate groups
and Anbeshi 2011 in which literate women constituted (40%)
of VAW survivors. (Anbeshi, 2010; 2011; 2012).
Among the literate women, 28% could just read and write,25%
had secondary education,15% had taken Adult Literacy
Classes, 14% had primary education, 14 % had higher
secondary education and 4% had education beyond higher
secondary.

Chart 4 Educational Status of Survivors
37
Chart 5 Educational Level and VAW
Analysis and Findings:

The above charts show that when we look at the proportion
of literate versus illiterate then the violence inflicted is more
on literate than on illiterate. The explanation of this should be
done carefully and not lead to misinterpretations as the data
shows that even literacy cannot reduce violence. It is common

to say that education or literacy will improve the status of
a girl child but it should be remembered that mere literacy
without any transformational changes at the societal level
cannot decrease violence.
When women are literate and aware of their rights, they speak
against injustices they face and are more prone to violence.
They seek legal and other help which is unacceptable in
a male dominated society that tries to relegate women and
punishes them for having the courage to speak up against
violence. Similarly, literate women encourage other women
to break the silence against violence which further leads to act
of retaliation from their perpetrators. However, it is important
to note that only 5% of women with education beyond
higher secondary have reported violence against them. This
could mean that these women may be in a better position to
work out strategies to deal with their problems and resort to
various other mechanisms to protect themselves. Educational
38 attainment corresponding to higher levels open up access to
earning and decreases economic dependence on husbands,
fathers and brothers which further increases confidence and
self-esteem and enhanced ability to deal with violence.
On the other hand illiterate women although victimized may

not want to speak up and feel that it is impossible for them to
get legal recourse to access justice. The socialization process
enforces submissive nature since early childhood which gets
reinforced after marriage as the women are made to believe
that they should continue to be compliant to their husbands.
Other reasons are the values that regard women as mere
objects to satisfy the desire of men; the idealized visions of

how women and men should behave; social pressure and the
“policing mechanisms” that act to reinforce them.
Survivors lack access to comprehensive services through

One-Stop Centre at the community level with integrated
mechanism for reporting and providing immediate support.
Thus, in the absence of limited institutional mechanisms to
address violence and a deliberate culture of silence around
issues of sexuality and abuse, some women prefers to keep
silent and thus there is low reporting.
Women human rights defenders have been working to draw

more attention to tackle the problems faced by different
women and to stimulate action. Although, social and cultural
forces are pretty strong in shaping the lives of women, it is
expected that these small attempts will motivate changes by
breaking the culture of silence.
2.5 Marital Status and VAW Survivors 39

The highest percentage of all reported cases of violence is
found among married women accounting for 79% (Chart
6). The group of unmarried women is next (16%), followed
by single/separated women (2.3%), widow (2.1%), divorced
(0.5%), living together (0.4%) and unidentified(0.2%) (Chart
6).
The findings again contradict the myth that women are safe
in their own house with their own husbands and families but
in reality suffer from violence through their use of power and
control. Precise information on the extent of domestic violence
is not easy to obtain because of extensive underreporting.

Chart 6 Marital Status and VAW Survivors
Married women are most frequently victimized by husbands

and family members with whom they share relationships of
trust and intimacy and they keep themselves silent on these
issues.
40 It reflects the extent to which women’s rights are threatened

and are sustained by certain socio-cultural practices and
socialization process. The data shows that violence on
unmarried women are comparatively high suggesting that
the phenomenon knows no boundaries, as it affects all
categories of women and young girls. Intimate partners
and especially sexual violence are on the rise thus further
strengthening the fact that violence are perpetrated against
women and young girls by people they know, love and trust
– boyfriends, husbands, other relatives, friends, neighbors,
school mates, and colleagues in work places etc.
Due to certain rigid beliefs and practices, violence against

women and other abusive practices are condoned and
reinforced under the pretext that they are private affairs,
suggesting the existence of an underlying normalization of
such violence. While VAW is the most severe form of gender
inequality that exists today, other common harmful traditional
practices against women in our communities are also
troublesome. Traditional harmful practices and superstitions
lead to VAW. For example, ritualistic widowhood practices,
nutritional taboos, domestic servitude, witch- allegation, are
few of the many forms that can be categorized as forms of
denial of rights for women and girls.
Early marriage is still prevalent in the rural communities in

Nepal although the legal age as 20 years. Age for consensual
sexual activity is defined by the State is 16 and below this the
age is considered rape. The tendency of girls getting married
early makes them vulnerable to violence and sexual abuse as
they are socialized to be submissive to their husbands sexually
and please them in whatever possible way. 41
The trend of living together is increasing in Nepal; it is gaining
momentum in urban areas as compared to rural. The couples
staying together do not speak openly about their relationship
and thus the violence they face. Even if they are willing to
report, there is no legal recourse that supports them. Thus,
not being legally, socially and religiously acceptable, ‘living-
in’ couples are more at risk of violence as women hesitate to
speak openly about them.
2.6 Ethnicity of Survivor

The highest number of cases are reported by the Hill Janjati
(19%), and Chhetri (19%), followed by Terai Janjati (15%).

Similarly, 11% was reported by Brahmin, 11% by Terai non-
Dalit and 11% by Hill Dalit each, 9% by Terai Dalit , 2% by
Indigenous, 2% by Muslim groups and 1% by others (Chart
7).
Chart 7 Ethnicity of the Survivors
42 Analysis
The above data has been collected from WOREC Nepal’s
working area and thus the presence of a higher proportion
of a certain group is more likely. The norms and practices
regarding women’s sexuality vary by community and region.
Women are more vocal about sexuality and reporting violence
in some group whereas in others this could be a taboo.
Similarly, awareness as well as access to support network
play an important role in reporting. At other instance, lower
reporting could be due to the poor socio-economic conditions
and lack of political voice within certain groups. There may
be language barrier, lack of awareness, lack of access to
support networks etc. that leads to low reporting. Women in

certain caste groups are oppressed in multiple ways due to
their inferior status and position in the caste hierarchy as well
as their secondary status in the patriarchal society and do not
feel confident enough to speak up or report the atrocities they
face due to fear and reprisal.
2.7 Relationship between the survivors and

perpetrators
Husbands (51%), neighbors (21%) and family members (17%)
were the major sources of violence. Likewise, (3%) were
intimate friend/boy friend, (3%) were strangers, (2%) were
friends and (1%) were teachers (Chart 8).
43
Chart 8 Relationship between the survivors and perpetrators
The above chart again reconfirms the previous findings

that although women often fear being attacked or hurt by
a stranger, they are at greatest risk of violence from people
they know. It can be a one-time event or a pattern of physical,
sexual, or psychological harm. Many women stay in an abusive

relationship because they do not see a way out. This includes
fear of the abuser, thinking the abuser will harm their children,
hoping the abuser will change, embarrassment, shame and
self-blame, lack of knowledge of the support mechanism and
lack of proximity to those services. Other associated factors
include ideologies associated with marriage as well as the
economic hardships they are likely to face. Similarly, if they
dare to move out they are left with no support which makes
them vulnerable to abuse and rape.
One of the important reasons of violence on women by

the people they know is because women are taught to be
submissive and polite to people they are familiar with and are
socialized to respect them. Women are made to believe that it
is their fault if something goes wrong and should keep quiet
to preserve their family honor.
As noted earlier, the prevalence of early marriage places

44 women at risk of violence. Young girls are expected to assume
responsibilities and handle situations for which they are
physically and psychologically unfit and not fulfilling these
expectations lead to violence from husbands and family
members. Family members, especially the in-laws try to
maintain their authority over women which often results in
conflict and use of power and force against women. Mostly
women resisting gender norms are attacked and in some
cases even when there is no such resistance their rights are
violated. Poverty and economic instability have also added
extra burden on women leading to violence of various forms.
The above chart also shows that women are at risk of

violence from neighbors and other people they are familiar
with. Neighbours know about family matters to some extent
depending upon the level of interaction. They observe the
surrounding and can take advantage of the vulnerability
of women and girls. Sometimes a healthy relationship with
the neighbors can be deceiving and women fall easy prey to
violence against them.
Women from marginalized groups are more often at risk as
they have less power in the social hierarchy and are not in
a position to raise their voice. Most have meager economic
means and work outside to earn their living and are vulnerable
to attacks.
2.8 Occupation of the survivors
Chart 9. shows a majority of women report agriculture

as their occupation (35.3%), followed by household work
(23.1%),students(9.2%) labor (8.7%),business(5.3%),housemaid
(1.9%), entertainment sector (1.7%), teacher (0.9%), no 45
work (0.8%), non government service (0.8%),tailors (0.8%),
others(0.5%), foreign employment(0.4%),social work (0.4%),
government service (0.2%) and army/police (0.1%) of the total
cases.
The data on VAW shows the majority of women affected by

VAW to be working in the agricultural sector. Nepal is an
agrarian economy and since most rural women are involved
in agriculture this category is expected to be high. However,
even though involved in agriculture, women do not have
control or ownership over land and other resources.
Women are vulnerable to violence in private as well as public

Chart 9 Occupation of the survivors
sphere and are severely exploited and paid low wages than
men and their working conditions are poor. Whatever,
occupation they choose they are challenged in multiple ways.
When they start working outside, there is no guarantee that
46 they are safe and are constantly threatened and harassed.
On the other hand, their workload does not decrease as
they are over burdened with household work and gendered
expectations at home. They do not have control over their
own earning and labor and are often abused when unable to
fulfill the demand.
Few women stated they do nothing, when in fact they were

responsible for working long hours doing household chores.
The definition of work that has been internalized is only the
one that brings income. Some women were hesitant to discuss
their work as it is menial work and they feel embarrassed to
report it as work. Similarly, women working as sex-workers

would not report it as work.
Women Human Right Defenders (WHRDs) and others
working on women’s issues and advocacy were also targeted
as they challenged local cultural, religious or social norms
that discriminated against women and girls. In many
instances protesting against discriminatory practices had led
to inhumane treatment and even murder.
The above chart shows that whatever occupations women

choose, they are trapped in it and are easily exploited and
violence is common. As previously discussed, women are not
safe in their own houses and working outside to make a living
is a major challenge in this patriarchal world. The mindset
of the people, the ideology and environment do not favor
women and their lives get constantly tossed and turned.
There is an urgent need for transformational change at all

levels. Women’s work should be recognized as work, valued
and supported by proper legal provisions to ensure the 47
rights of women workers. Further, discriminatory practices
of unequal wages for men and women must be questioned
and challenged and women should be legally entitled to the
benefits of their labor.
2.9 Impacts of Violence on Survivor

It is a difficult job to discuss the impacts of violence on the
survivor because there are multiple impacts which overlap
with each other. First, it is important to discuss what we
understand by VAW to know its impacts.
Defining VAW is a complex matter, thus we can start with

the definition provided in Article 1 of the UN Commission
on the Status of Women Declaration, which has also been
endorsed by the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action
which states Violence against women (VAW) as “… Any act
of gender violence that results or is likely to result in physical,
sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women including
threats of such acts, coercion, or arbitrary deprivation of
liberty, whether occurring in public or private life”. It can have
detrimental consequences on women’s lives which include
loss of personal freedom/confidence, diminished capacity to
participate and an increased risk of mental and psychological
health problems.
Four different types of impacts were identified for this study:

social, economic, physical, and mental. The mental impact
(60 %) on women is the highest under all categories of VAW,
followed by physical impact (19%), social impact (16%), and
economic impact (5%). (Chart 10)The impacts have been
48 categorized based on the information provided by the women
and the analysis of their case study. It is important to note that
mental impact is present in physical, social and sexual and all
forms of violence. However, due to its invisible nature in most
instances it has been neglected which has further worsened
the situation of the women survivors of violence.
Analysis
Mental impact is predominant in survivors of violence.
However, it has not received so much attention as other
visible impacts of violence. The impact of violence can have
detrimental consequences in a woman’s life and her family.
It violates women’s fundamental human rights mental or

Chart 10 Types of impact on VAW survivors
physical/bodily integrity and her personhood.
The previous data has revealed that it cuts across women

and girls of all class, caste, age and ethnicity and most of the
perpetrators are members of the family. Thus, it becomes a
more complex problem to deal with. Women are hesitant to 49
report domestic violence as they fear they will not be believed.
Similarly, in case of sexual violence, rape or trafficking,
breaking the silence becomes difficult as women mentioned
they are unsure whether to report the incident or keep quiet.
They fear being stigmatized in the community or not believed
or blamed as being responsible for the incident. Similarly,
fear of retaliation and the memory of the rage and violence
demonstrated during the incident leave a deep seated
emotional trauma which constantly haunts them. When
women are abused and treated inhumanely, the damage to
their self-esteem results in lifelong emotional injury.

Thus, it can be stated that women experience all forms of
impacts concurrently and one can lead to the other. This aspect
is important in formulating effective support mechanisms that
takes into consideration the necessity of integrated support
system, which provides safe shelter, psycho-social counseling,
medical services as well as legal and other necessary support
to the survivor.
50

Chapter 3
Domestic Violence
Chapter 3
Domestic Violence
3.1 Domestic Violence

“Domestic Violence” is any form of physical, mental, sexual
and economic abuse which occurs when a family member
uses violent and/or abusive behavior to control another family
member within the family. As evidenced by previous reports,
women are at high risk of domestic violence within the family
regard-less of their age.
Domestic Violence can include but is not limited to physical,

verbal, emotional, economic or sexual abuse. Domestic
violence cuts across all sections of the community. A frequent
perception of domestic violence against women should not
be limited to physical harm perpetrated on adult women
in a marital relationship but should now move beyond to
capture diverse experiences of women. It is mostly assumed
52 that women primarily live in nuclear families or joint
family. However, the trend has shifted to a variety of living
arrangements. Thus, it becomes important to acknowledge
the multiple possibilities and experiences of different women.
Home becomes the most unsafe space for women especially
when it comes to domestic violence. It becomes imperative
to investigate the reasons for women who choose to continue
living under threat of domestic violence.
Previous researches have pointed that patriarchal

constructions and social practices are legitimized by various
social institutions which regard male authority as superior.
In this context discussion on domestic violence should

delve deeper into the specific nature and basis of women’s
subordination in society as well as the historical development
of patriarchy and its legitimatization. To arrive at a more
holistic picture of women’s lives, we should analyze women’s
experiences of DV as they intersect with other discourses as
well. The research so far has hinted that women’s gender is a
significant source of subordination but it is far from the only
or perhaps even the most significant identity marker that
shapes women’s experiences of violence.
Women do resist violence whether intimate, institutional,

and structural in their everyday lives in many ways that are
often invisible. Yet they speak the need for collective action to
challenge the discrimination based on caste, class, ethnicity
and other everyday forms of violence which individual
women encounter on a day-to-day basis.
Attempted rape on a 14 year old girl by her father.

I am from a poor family. Over the years, I have repeatedly 53
seen my father physically and verbally abuse my mother.
My mother convinced my father to go abroad for work as
she thought this would ensure our (me and the other three
siblings) well being and safety. My mother managed to send
us to school with the money that my father used to send. Three
years later, my father came back and asked my mother about
how the money had been used. He again started to physically
and verbal abuse my mother. One day out of desperation, she
ingested poison. She was taken to the hospital but died soon.
My father married again after one year to a 16 year old girl.

Before the marriage, he used to forcefully tell me to touch his

private parts. He used to threaten me by saying he would kill
me if I told anyone about these incidents. I resisted when my
father tried to have sexual intercourse and was physically
assaulted. After one and half years, I told my step mother
about these incidents. However, when she asked my father
about these incidents, she was beaten and evicted from the
house. My father started sexually abusing me again. One
day, I escaped from home taking my younger brother and
sister with me. I went to my relative’s house and told them
everything. With the help from WOREC Nepal, my case was
filed by the relatives but the father was released the next day.
When I was taken to the safe house of WOREC Nepal, I was

severely depressed. With regular psycho-social counseling,
my condition has improved significantly.
3.2 Forms of Domestic Violence

Domestic Violence (Offence and Punishment) Act, 2066 (2009)
54 has defined the forms of DV as follows:
Physical harm: means an act of committing or causing bodily

harm or injury holding as a captive, inflicting physical pain
or any other act connected therewith and incidental thereto
except the act of breaking the limbs of body (Angabhanga).
Mental harm: means any act of threatening the Victim of

physical torture, showing terror, reprimanding him/her,
accusing him/her of false blame, forcefully evicting him/her
from the house or otherwise causing injury or harm to the
Victim emotionally and this expression also includes any
discrimination carried out on the basis of thought, religion or

culture and customs and traditions.
Sexual harm: means sexual misbehavior, humiliation,

discouragement or harm in self respect of any person; or any
other act that hampers safe sexual health.
Economic harm: means deprivation from using jointly or
privately owned properly or deprivation of or access to
employment opportunities, economic resources or means.
Accurate information on the extent of domestic violence
is difficult to obtain due to extensive underreporting, the
data does point towards the abundance of cases of domestic
violence in Nepal. Thus, the impetus by the women advocacy
groups to address domestic violence, not only as a private
matter, but as something needing legal and psychological
attention should be supported and continued.
The dominant class, men in particular, have differential access
to material and symbolic resources and women are devalued
as secondary and inferior. Although there is a law against
domestic violence in Nepal, it is still unclear on the definition 55
of couples living together, issue of divorce and has no
guarantee on the confidentiality of the survivors. The Act has
defined mental harm, but it is unclear on the issue of proving
mental harm on women. The investigation procedure and the
evidence collection methods are premature and women have
difficulty proving their case.
3.3 Types of Domestic Violence

The data shows that physical abuse accounted for 55% of
domestic violence, followed by mental torture (16%), violence
through polygamy (15%),verbal abuse (8%),eviction from
home (5%) and threatened (1%).(Chart:11)

Chart 11 Types of Domestic Violence
Physically assaulting a woman with a knife

Lalita (name changed) is the third wife of her husband. She
is physically assaulted on a daily basis by her husband. She
has four children. However, she still doesn’t have a marriage
certificate or a nationality certificate. Lalita gets beaten if
56 she asks her husband about the certificates. One night while
sleeping with her children, her husband came in suddenly and
demanded that the cows be moved out of the house. When
she questioned him, he forcefully took her to the neighbor’s
house and physically assaulted her with a knife above the eyes.
She hasn’t received treatment yet due to her poor financial
condition.
3.4 Domestic Violence and type of Perpetrators

Husbands account for 79% of the perpetrators of domestic
violence and family members account for 21%. This result
again confirms the previous findings that women are unsafe
in their own homes and with the people they share their
intimacy and spend most of their time with. (Chart: 12)

Chart 12 Types of perpetrators of Domestic Violence
Husband beats wife to death

Domestic Violence was common with Jyoti (named changed).
Soon after marriage the couple argued frequently and the
husband used to physically assault the wife almost every day.
One day, after a heated argument, the wife was beaten brutally 57
and became unconscious. She was later taken to a nearby
hospital by the husband saying that she had ingested some
kind of pesticide. However, the case is further complicated
as people suspect it is the husband who fed her the pesticide
after beating her severely. The doctors at the hospital said
she needed to be taken to a higher center for further care
immediately. However, the husband remained indifferent to
the doctor’s advice. His wife died within a few hours.
The next day, the husband and the other family members were
taken in by the local Lahaan police. The victim is survived by
one son and two daughters. The elder daughter who is five

years of age recalls how her mother was beaten by her father
with a stick. According to the neighbors, the husband had
locked the door form inside and beat his wife.
3.5 Marital status of the survivor

The highest percentage of all reported cases of domestic
violence is found among married women compared to
separated, unmarried, window or divorced. Married women
accounted for 93%, separated 3%, unmarried 2% and widow
2% for cases of DV. (Chart 13)
58
Chart 13 Marital Status of the Survivor of DV
3.6 Domestic violence and age of the survivors

Domestic violence appears to be concentrated on women in
the age group 26-35 accounting for 40%. Likewise, women
in the age group 17-25, 36-45, 46-55, 56-66 and below 16
accounted for 3.8%, 14%, 4%, 3% and 1% respectively. Chart
14

Chart 14 Age of the Survivors of Domestic Violence
3.7 Domestic violence and educational level of the

survivors
Chart 15 shows that literate women account for 81% of
domestic violence whereas illiterate women account for 19%. 59
The reasons for higher reporting in case of literate women
could be linked to more awareness of rights and similarly less
tolerance for injustice. It can also point to the fact that more
women and girls are attending schools and literacy classes
and are becoming literate. (Chart 15).
Similarly, looking at the educational level of the survivors, we

find that, of the total percentage of literate women survivors
of DV, (30%) can only read and write, (25%) have attended
secondary level education, (16%) have attended higher
secondary level, (13%) have taken adult literacy classes,
(12%) have primary level education and (4%) have education
beyond higher secondary level.

Chart 15 Educational Status of Survivors of DV
60
Chart 16 Educational Level of the Survivors
3.8 Domestic violence and Ethnicity of survivors

Irrespective of ethnicity, domestic violence stands out as the
most reported form of VAW reiterating the fact that home is
the most unsafe space for Nepali women. The highest number
of cases of DV are reported by Chhetri (22%) followed by Hill

Janjati(19%),Terai Janjati (14%), Hill Dalit (11%), Brahmin(11%),
Terai non-Dalit (11%),Terai dalit(7%),Indigenous (3%)and
Muslim and others accounting for 1% each.(Chart 17).
Chart 17 Ethnicity of the survivors
61
3.9 Domestic violence and Occupation of survivors
Women engaged in agriculture (43%) reported the most
number of cases of domestic violence which is not surprising
as Nepal is predominantly an agrarian economy.
Agriculture is followed by women who do household
work(28%),labor(9%), business (7%), students(5%),housem
aids(2.2%),teachers(1.3%), Government /Non Government-
service(1.2%), Tailoring/knitting(0.7%),others(0.6%),foreign
employment(0.5%), no work(0.5%),informal sector service
(0.5%), social work (0.2%) and army/police(0.1%) (Chart 18)

62
Chart 18 Domestic violence and Occupation of survivors
3.10 Impacts of Domestic Violence on the survivors

The impact of domestic violence on a women’s health is
severe. In addition to the immediate injuries from the assault,
women suffer psychological disorders. There are various
determinants of domestic violence at individual level, societal
and community levels. Prevalence of DV also depends on
the willingness of respondents to talk openly about their
experiences as it is a very sensitive issue. The collected data
shows that 30% of DV survivors reported mental impact, 22%
reported physical impact, 12% reported social impact and 20

% reported economic impact and 16% reported all types of
impact.(Chart:19)
The fact that women are often emotionally involved with,

and economically dependent on those who victimize them
has major implications on the dynamics of abuse and the
approaches to dealing with it .17
According to the same report, the factors associated with a

woman’s risk of DV can be individual factors (young age,
heavy drinking, depression, personality disorders, poor
academic achievement, etc.), relationship factors (marital
conflict, marital instability, male dominance, economic
stress, etc.), community factors (weak community sanctions
against domestic violence, poverty, low social capital), and
societal factors (gender norms, and social norms supportive
of violence There are other socioeconomic conditions as well
like husband’s lower education, economic pressure as well as
women’s willingness to report domestic violence. 63
It should be noted that there is prevalence of mental impact in

all forms of DV.
Analysis
As evidenced, mental impact accounted for 30% of domestic violence.
Similarly, 22% of DV survivors suffered physical impact. Likewise,
92.5% of DV survivors were married women. It is perpetrated
by someone close to the survivor, usually her husband or
17 WHO. Geneva: World report on violence and health. Available

from: http://www.who.int/entity/violence_injury_prevention/
violence/world_report/en/introduction.pdf.

Chart: 19 Impact on the survivors
family members and happens in intimate settings which are

presumed by society to be sites of support and care and private
matter. It is a recurring form of violence and the perpetrator
uses it to control and coerce the survivor. The impact of DV
can be profound with emotional and psychological effects on
the survivor, who is often blamed for the violence.
64 The triggering factors for DV can be anything from minor

acts and reasons where abusers feel that they have the right
to control their partner. Women are also socialized to be
submissive to the husbands and elders which forbids them to
bring out problems to outside world.
The data shows that 81% of the survivors of DV are literate

women indicating that literacy alone cannot curb DV. There
can be various interpretations of higher reporting from
literate women like more awareness of rights including legal
rights, less tolerance for injustice, knowledge on working
out strategies to deal with their problems, etc. Literacy also
opens up access to earning decreases economic dependence

on husbands, fathers and brothers. On the other hand low
reporting from illiterate women makes evident the still
prevalent practice of not prioritizing girl’s education. Illiterate
women become more hesitant to access justice and feel that
it is impossible for them to get legal recourse as even literate
women’s voices are unheard by the concerned authorities.
Less reporting can be due to unawareness of rights or safe,
secure and friendly environment to come forward to raise
voices against injustice.
The data also shows that women who are involved in

agriculture and household activities suffer most from DV
as compared to women who do otherwise. Thus, creating
possibilities for women to become economically independent
can reduce DV to some extent.VAW continues as they do not
have control over their own bodies and their own labor.
There is a popular perception that domestic violence may be
more prevalent in certain ethnic groups and less prevalent
in other groups. Such beliefs are not supported by this 65
research. While there may be a correlation between violence
in some communities, the research suggests that there is not
necessarily a causal link.
Thus, it can be concluded in this section, that there is no single
factor to explain violence against women as it consists of multiple
factors with many different overlapping causes. Nevertheless,
some of these factors are undoubtedly influenced and made
worse by various forms of patriarchy; and several of these
factors transcend them. DV is a consequence of patriarchy,
and a systematic attempt to maintain male dominance in the
home and in society. However, DV needs to be analyzed in its
specificity as there are ‘multiple patriarchies’ to the various

other discourses surrounding it.
The report again challenges the perception that home is a

safe haven for women by showing that women are more at
risk of violence in intimate relationships than anywhere else.
Nonetheless, it should be emphasized here that the State has
a duty to exercise due diligence to prevent, prosecute and
punish perpetrators of VAW as it has a far deeper impact
than the immediate harm caused. It can have a devastating
consequence for women who experience it as well as a
traumatic effect on her dependent /children who witness
them. VAW is violation of fundamental human rights that
must be eliminated through political will and by legal and
civil action in all communities.
66

Chapter 4
Social Violence
Chapter 4
Social Violence
4.1 Women and Social Violence

Social violence can be understood as violence that takes place
due to social factors and has various underlying causes and
factors associated with it. It includes discriminatory practices
based on caste, acid spraying, labor exploitation, allegations of
witchcraft, threats, verbal abuse, and character assassination
and feeding of urine and feces.
Analysis of social violence should include the historical,

cultural, political, economic, and other related contexts and
factors into account. Gender seems to be one of the important
factors responsible for social violence which cannot be
ignored or trivialized. It becomes invisible in the sense that
it is naturalized and accepted as a normal part of everyday
68 life in society. It gets reinforced as a practice to maintain
domination over women. It includes some of the traditional
practices that are harmful to women which are usually
carried out as a part of the social, religious, cultural economic
and political practice. Even though violence against women
has no boundaries, it is normally seen that specific groups
of women are particularly affected. For example when we
look into the practice of witch-allegation in which women
are violently tortured and driven from their communities,
we find that in the name of witch allegation many widows
are subjected to property-related violence, including violent
evictions and loss of inheritance; and subjected to sexual
abuse and harassment by relatives. Force and violence is

employed against them to take possession of their land and to
keep them under economic subjugation, sexual exploitation,
gender domination and control.
Women alleged of witch-craft are severely beaten, assaulted

and fed human excreta and eventually ostracized from the
society. Social violence in the name of witch craft has many
adverse impacts on the individuals and their families.18
Thus, as discussed before, there are various factors that

contribute to violence against women. Those discussed
include, but are not limited to lack of access to justice, denial
of social, economic, rights due to superstitious cultural beliefs,
inadequate laws and policies, institutional practices, and
political ideologies etc. As discussed before the mental impact
of violence has been reported to be severe on the survivor as
well as on her children.
A 58 year elderly woman residing in Dang district who had 69

been accused of practicing witchcraft was constantly being
18 Supreme Court of Nepal has ordered the government to take
effective action against the issue. On 28 Jestha, 2067, the Court has
ordered for the effective implementation of the Act. It stresses on
the control and punishment of the practice of witch-allegation. In
the case of the witchcraft allegation, Advocate Resma Thapa v.
Council of Ministers, 10 Aug. 2004, the Supreme Court has issued
a directive order to government of Nepal to enact adequate laws
and appropriate preventive and promotional measures. The
government has denounced the act as embarrassing , degrading
and humiliating. Abusing women in the name of witchcraft is now
considered a serious crime, which is punishable with jail sentence,
under the State Cases Act.

tortured physically and mentally and treated inhumanely by
the locals. “When two of my neighbors feel ill, my neighborhood
accused me of practicing witchcraft on them. The same night
that I was accused, around 10 local young males came to
my house. They started calling me a witch and beat me and
dragged me to the two sick neighbor’s house. The young males
beat me with Sisno and water and forced me to lick the feet of
the two sick individuals. They forced me to accept that I was a
witch, but I did not. They threatened me that they would cut
me with a kukhuri if I didn’t meet their demand. I had bruises
all over my body for a long time.
The next day I was forcefully made to sign a paper stating

that I was practicing witchcraft and then I was evicted from
my village. A few days’ later WOREC Nepal and Women
Human Rights defenders helped me. I stayed in WOREC safe
house in Dang for almost three months. Through support
from WOREC, my case is ongoing in the district court.”
70
4.2 Forms of Social Violence
Social violence can take various forms. 47% women suffered
physical violence, 34% suffered mental torture, 17% were
alleged as witch and 3% suffered due to child-marriage. Thus,
the data reveals that physical violence is the most prevalent
form of social violence and is often inflicted by the Jhnakris
(witch-doctors); for example; when the women is not able
to conceive, she is believed to be under some kind of spell.
People’s belief in witchcraft is quite strong still in some
parts of Nepal. This is fairly typical but the research shows
that it mostly affects those people who do not comply with
certain social norms or otherwise. Most of the social violence

occur when the woman speaks her mind against injustice or
supposedly becomes “smarter” and “wiser” than the men
folks.
The mental impact of social violence can be very severe

as survivors of social violence endure emotional and
psychological trauma through harassment, terror, threats,
intimidation, humiliation, degradation, exploitation and
physical/sexual injury, even maiming and disability, all
having chronic health consequences, even death in some
instances. Constant stigmatization and ostracism is also
prevalent. Survivors of sexual violence are not only ostracized
by their families and communities but left to struggle alone
with the brutal impact (Chart 20).
71
Chart 20 Forms of Social Violence
4.3 Social Violence and Types of Perpetrators

As mentioned before social violence is not an isolated event
but follows many instances of physical, sexual and/or verbal
abuse and is mostly linked to gender based factors such as,

sense of supremacy; traditional opinions on the role of each
family member; issues regarding land ownership, etc.
74% of social violence was perpetrated by neighbors, 16% by

family members and 10% by husbands. (Chart 21)
72
Chart 21 Social Violence and Types of Perpetrators
4.4 Marital Status of the survivors

The highest percentage of all reported cases of social violence
is found among married women accounting for 78%. The
group of unmarried women is next (15%), followed by widow
(4%),separated(1%),divorced(1%)and living together(1%)
(Chart 22).Mostly social violence among married women was
associated with dowry demands, character assassinations,
witch allegation etc.

Chart 22 Marital Status of the survivors
4.5 Social Violence and the Age of the survivors

Social violence touches all the age groups. However, it appears
to be concentrated on women in the age group 17-25 and 26-
35 accounting for 30% each. The second most affected are in
the 36-45 age group accounting for 18% followed by the 46-55
age group accounting for 11%. Likewise, women in the age
group above 55 account for 7% of cases of social violence and
below 16 years of age account for 4%. (Chart 23) 73
Chart 23 Social Violence and the Age of the Survivors

4.6 Social Violence and Educational level of the
Survivor
The majority of survivors were literate accounting for 67% and
illiterate accounting for 33 %.( Chart 24)Among the literate
women, women who can just read and write suffered more
than women with primary, secondary, higher secondary and
beyond Higher secondary education.(Chart:25)
The finding confirms that women’s literacy alone is not

adequate for reducing violence against women. It is clear from
the data on education that there is a general trend of higher
rate of violence among women with some education. On the
one hand, it shows that women are at least receiving a basic
level of education in the present context. While on the other
hand there is still no change in terms of mindset of people who
engage in violent acts. Higher education does play a crucial
role in enabling changes in the society. However, it will only
be effective if it is accompanied by ideological changes.
74
Chart 24 Status of Education and Social Violence

Chart 25 Social Violence and Educational level of the
Survivors
4.7 Social Violence and Ethnicity of the survivor

Chart 26 shows that the highest numbers of survivor of social
violence are from Terai Janjati (19%) followed by Hill Janjati
(17%), Terai Dalit(16%), Terai-non Dalit (15%),Brahmin(11%),
Chettri (11%),Hill Dalit (5%), Indigenous (3%) Muslim (3%)
and others (0.3%). 75
Chart 26 Social Violence and Ethnicity of the survivors

4.8 Social Violence and Occupation of the survivors
Women involved in agriculture (36%) are found to be most
affected by social violence. Similarly of those affected,
29% were involved in household work, 8% in labor,8% in
entertainment sector,6% involved in business ,5% were
students, 2% were housemaids,2% were involved in social
work, 1% were involved in tailoring/knitting,1% not involved
in any work, 0.4% in nongovernmental service and 0.4% in
foreign employment (Chart 27).
The data also found that women who were affected by social
violence were mostly women from economically deprived
section of the society.
76
Chart 27 Social Violence and Occupation of the survivors
4.9 Social Violence and Impact on the survivors

Chart 28 shows the impact of social violence. However, it
should be underscored that just following the data could be
misleading as the impacts overlap to a great extent. Adding
to the previous findings, social violence has huge impact on

the life of women, often depriving her of economic means and
leaving her mentally disturbed and physically disabled.
Women experiencing social violence reported mental impact

to be the highest (36%),followed physical impact (30%), social
impact (20%) and economic impact (14%).
Chart 28 Social Violence and Impact on the Survivors

77
Analysis
• According to the data, women survivors of social
violence were tortured brutally. Witch-allegation, dowry
related cases, caste based discrimination were common
triggers of social violence.Women accused of practicing
witchcraft were physically and mentally traumatized and
eventually ostracized from the community. The belief in
the community was that, as witches, they could make
people/ livestock unwell or even destroy them. Most of the
victimized were widows, elderly with low economic status
and women from marginalized communities. Witch-
doctors or the Jhankris tortured them to a point they could
not endure and to escape from this experience the accused

women were forced to state that they were witches. Of
the collected cases of violence by WOREC Nepal and the
media, 50 cases were of witch-allegation. It should not be
forgotten that mental torture was common in all the forms
of torture. The perpetrators of social violence were mostly
people who were better off, the so called “powerful”
people who had control and ownership of resources.
• As far as educational level was concerned, women with

higher level of education suffered less as compared to
women with basic education. This confirms that the
perpetrators took advantage of their lack of education
and were convinced that they will not report the case
or attempt to seek justice. Women with higher level of
education were found to be involved in better paying jobs
which accorded them status and power to some extent.
However, women with only basic level of education were
involved in agriculture or household work which provided
them meager income. Thus, prevalence of increased level
of social violence on the women with lower economic
78 status confirms that economic empowerment is one of the
important aspects of women’s empowerment in the long
run.
• As mentioned earlier, women involved in agriculture

were mostly affected by social violence. Similarly women
who dared to engage themselves in their own business
and independent labor work were also affected. It can
further be stated that the patriarchal society still cannot
tolerate women showing their autonomy and claiming
their economic rights. Patriarchs are always threatened
that their position would be unstable if women become
capable of competing or outwitting them. Due to this
men resort to violence to control women so that they stay
where they are.

Chapter 5
Rape
Chapter 5
Rape
5.1 Rape
Rape is a non-consensual sexual intercourse through the use
of physical force, threats or intimidation, including the rape
by a man of his wife. Thus,rape is a form of sexual violence
which has the effect of an ongoing trauma for lifetime. It
affects physical, emotional, and psychological well-being as
aftermath of rape is just as terrifying as the event itself, and
has a devastating effect on the person’s self and identity.
The first key feminist analysis on the discourse of rape was
Against Our Will by Susan Brownmiller (1975)19who defined
rape as “a conscious process of intimidation by which all
men keep all women in a state of fear”. It was argued that
rape contributes to the sexual exploitation of women and that
rape should be seen as a social and political problem rooted
in gender inequality. However, various other interpretations
80 and explanations have followed since then.
Rape is a human right violation which terrorizes women

through sexual intimidation. Women are terrorized even at the
thought of being raped as they are conscious of how society
looks at rape and those who experience the trauma. Recent
nationwide increase in cases of rape is a serious concern to
focus our attention on. The data from WOREC Nepal is a
shocking reality even though it cannot effectively provide
the real picture of the total cases of rape as most of them are
not even reported. Incest, or intra-familial child sexual abuse,
19 Brownmiller, S. (1975). Against our will: men, women and rape.

New York: Bantam Books

which is a particularly pernicious crime, is also on the rise.
The cases of incest involving a girl child and her father, step-
father or father figure is just intolerable, which affects the
particularly vulnerable section of the population who do not
even understand what they are going through. They have
been the targets as they are easy prey, do not play any part in
decision-making and have no control over their own situation.
Even though laws prohibit incest, their rights are sacrificed as
a result of secrecy, evidentiary procedures such as the fact that
the child’s mother cannot testify against her husband and the
notion that an abused child may be cross-examined at length
due to which many cases are dropped or not even brought to
court. It is, therefore, imperative that mechanisms be set up to
identify incest and prosecute perpetrators.
The society and the media also keeps reinforcing the myth
that rape is sexual instead of a humiliating and degrading
act of violence. It is important to discuss “rape myths” as it
has influenced the dominant understandings of rape. Rape 81
myths are the “attitudes and generally false beliefs about
rape that are widely and persistently held, and that serve to
deny and justify male sexual aggression against women”. 20
“Only bad girls get raped”; “women ask for it”; and “women
would resist” if they really wanted are some of the common
examples. These processes allow for shifting the blame from
the rapist to the rape survivor. Thus, the trend in Nepal as
elsewhere has been that the raped survivor is always blamed
for rape as it is easier to believe that the woman provoked the
attack. Police are often skeptical of the validity of a woman’s
20 Lonsway, K.A., & Fitzgerald, L.F. (1994). Rape myths: in review.

Psychology of Women Quarterly, 18, 133-164.

claim and evaluate women’s character and morals to file her
complaint of rape. Even when the woman is able to seek justice
the court makes her relive the most horrid experience of her
life. Family of the rape survivor are also reluctant to report
or discuss rape issues as they fear that it will bring shame to
the family and that the women would be unfit for marriage
if they make it public etc. In most of the cases, families also
blame the survivor for the incident. One of the most important
factors needed is social support network which lags behind to
support the survivor. The so called friends, family members,
neighbors, or community ignore and add extra stigma to the
already traumatized survivor which perpetuates “self-blame”
in the survivor.
The data for this year by WOREC Nepal showed that there
were 189 cases of rape and 35 cases of attempted rape
collected this year. The cases of rape and attempted rape
collected by media were 208 and 30 respectively. In most
82 of the cases, the perpetrators were the neighbors or people
women knew the most, including, their relatives and friends.
The data again contradicts the general supposition that rape is
committed by strangers. In most of the cases, survivors knew
their perpetrators either through blood relationship, work
relationship, as neighbors and in other ways.
The issue of marital rape is still understood as something

which needs no attention at all. In Nepal, women and men
are socialized in a way that regards marriage as the most
scared and religious aspect of women’s life. The male is given
authority and control over women’s body and her entirety, and
he gets the responsibility and power to decide for the women.

Thus, women are bound to keep silent over their husbands’
decision. In this scenario, marital rape becomes something that
should not be a problem for them as they should do whatever
to please their husband. Thus, the recognition of marital rape
not only as a crime but as a violation of human rights is still
complicated by the conception of home as a private sphere. It
has not been long that this public-private dichotomy, in the
case of marital rape, has been challenged.
On the legal side, existing law against rape is still

discriminatory. The provisions under the law give an
indication that raping certain age and group of women is less
punishable than the other. According to the law, if a person
rapes a girl child of less than 10 years the sentence is 10 to 15
years in custody, 14 to 16 years is 8 to 12 years in custody,
16 to 20 years is 5 to 8 years in custody and the provision of
punishment for raping a woman above 20 years age is 5 to
7 years in custody. Thus implicitly these provisions indicate
rape against women above 20 to be more acceptable and less 83
punishable which is totally against human right principles.
Likewise, the 35 days limitation for reporting cases of rape
infringes on women’s right to access justice. On the other hand,
the lengthy and complicated court proceedings complicate
the situation and help foster the culture of impunity. WOREC
Nepal has come across many cases where this has been
identified as barring many survivors of rape who due to ,
fear, trauma, stigma and health consequences are unable
to file a complaint within such a short span of time.
Some cases reveal that the police refuse to file a case because
there is no medical report. There are cases where filing First
Information Report (FIR) has been difficult and at some other

instances the doctor refuses to do an examination in the
absence of a FIR. Additionally, survivors face numerous
additional obstacles when reporting complaints due to
entrenched social stigma against them, fear of retaliation,
lack of legal literacy and the lack of trust in the police. The
police often do not investigate alleged perpetrators who have
high level of political influence.
Similarly, the criminal penalties attached to marital rape

is not proportionate to the gravity of the offence. For
example, the maximum penalty for marital rape is 6 months
while the penalties for non-marital rape range from 5 to 15
years’ imprisonment (depending on the victim’s age).
The penalty range for a person convicted of raping a woman
aged 20 or above is just 5 to 7 years’ imprisonment. This is
discrimination which is unbearable and demands immediate
action.
84 Kidnapping and gang rape

Radha (name changed) 16 year old girl from Siraha District
was kidnapped from outside her house when she was about to
go to the toilet at mid-night by seven men who took her in a
motor cycle. Radha knew three of the men among which one
was her cousin brother. They took her to a different village
where she was raped by six of the men who kidnapped her.
When she tried calling for help they threatened her by saying
they would kill her if she did not keep quiet. The next night,
she was taken to another village. They took her to a house
where they threatened the residents with a gun and kept her
there. The kidnappers used to take her to the nearby forest

and gang rape her. After 15 days they took her to another
village. She had been physically assaulted repeatedly and one
day she fell unconscious and they took her to the hospital. The
hospital referred her to another neurology hospital where she
was admitted in the intensive care unit for four days. After she
recovered, they threatened her and demanded that her family
pay for the hospital bills and three lakhs. One night when
everyone was sleeping, at around 2pm she managed to escape.
When she reached home, her father started scolding her asking
why she returned home. According to the father, the family
had already fixed a date for her engagement. Not seeing her
at home, the family thought she had eloped with someone else.
After telling the whole incident to her family, her father took
her to the police station.
According to the family, the police are not filing a report

although they say investigation is ongoing. Even with
pressure from human rights defenders and the media, the 85
police are reluctant to file a case.
5.2 Rape and types of perpetrators

Most of the perpetrators of rape were the people the survivors
knew. The data revealed that 50% of perpetrators were
neighbors, 17% family members, 10% intimate friends, 9% were
the people with whom the survivors had no relationship,7%
were husbands and 7% were unknown. (Chart:29)
Raped by her own brother

One day when no one was at home, Sita (name changed) was
raped by her intoxicated big brother and threatened to keep

Chart 29 Rape and types of perpetrators
quiet about the incident. This incident happened repeatedly

and Sita got pregnant. When her family started scolding her
and beating her demanding how she got pregnant, she told
what really happened. By then she was already six month
pregnant and abortion was not an option. Being ostracized by
her family she is being referred to WOREC Nepal’s safe house
for protection and support.
86
5.3 Rape and Marital Status
The highest percentage of all reported cases of rape is found
among unmarried women accounting for 63%.The group
of married women is next (34%), followed by separated
(2%),divorced(1%) and widow(1%). Chart 30
5.4 Rape and age of the survivor

The most affected are below 16 years of age accounting for
46%, followed by the 17-25 age group accounting for 32%, 26-
35 age group accounting for 14%, 36-45 age group accounting
for 5% and 46-55 accounting for 3%.

The data shows that young girls below the age of 16 are
the most affected groups, simply due to their vulnerability,
gullibility and the culture of silence. These figures are quite
high and hint to the fact that in reality the figures are still
higher as rape in this age group are often unreported. Many
Chart 30 Rape and Marital status

87
Chart 31 Rape and age of the survivor

adolescent girls and young women continue to live in a silent
pandemic of sexual violence and abuse and are threatened
after the attack to keep quiet. Mostly girls who do their daily
household chores of cutting grass, fetching water, cattle
herding are targeted. Sometimes young girls working as a
domestic helper are the targets. Rape continues to be treated
as an issue of deep shame for women and often for their
families (Chart 31).
Rape of a seven year old girl by her neighbour

Gita (name changed),a 7 year old girl was raped by a 16 year
old boy from her neighborhood. One day, when Gita was
playing outside the boy had coaxed the girl to come to her
house by telling her he would give her shampoo and some
money. When the boy started to sexually assault her, she
started shouting. Threatening to kill her and squeezing her
throat, he raped her. She then ran outside crying with vaginal
bleeding. The family took her to a nearby hospital. After the
88 doctors said she had been raped, the boy was arrested by the
local police. Presently, the mother has lodged a case of rape
and the boy is in police custody.
5.5 Educational Status of the Rape Survivor

Rape among literate group is higher than among illiterate
group .The data for this year shows that the literate group
consisted of 84% while illiterate group consisted of 16%.
As stated before, literacy may result in more reporting and
seeking justice while illiteracy may place women in positions
they prefer to keep quiet, mostly due to threat or due to lack
of knowledge about the legal procedures. Illiterate women
are mostly involved in house-work or are working in

somebody else’s land or household and the chance of them
being raped is higher by men they know within these places.
They are intimidated to report due to fear of retaliation as the
perpetrators have higher social standing than them. Similarly,
they may not have access to places or people they can rely
on to file their complaint. Their “voices” gets unheard by the
higher authority and their cases are not dealt with properly as
“victim blaming” comes into play.
Marital rape is still a difficult topic for most women to

comprehend due to their early socialization which would
lead them to accept that their husband has the right to
have sex whenever he wants, and that consent is irrelevant.
Thus, reporting of marital rape is constrained by women’s
understanding and interpretation. When women are literate
or more specifically aware of their rights over their own
bodies, they may report marital rape.
Looking specifically at different categories of the level of 89

education, we find that 30% women with primary education
Chart 32 Educational Status of the Rape Survivor

were raped. Similarly, 22% with secondary education, 21%
women who could just read and write, 17% women who had
taken adult literacy classes and 10% with higher secondary
education were raped in the literate category. (Chart 33)
Chart 33 Educational Level of the Rape Survivors
90 5.6 Rape and Ethnicity of the Survivors

It is apparent from Chart 34. that the highest number of cases
of rape have occurred in Hill Janjati category accounting for
25%.Similarly, Hill Dalit accounted for 17%, Chhetri 16 %,
Terai Janjati 10%, Brahmin 9%, Terai non-Dalit 9%, Terai Dalit
6%, Hill Janjati 5%, Indigeous 2% and Muslim 1%.Again it
should be underscored that the interpretation of the data
should be made carefully taking into consideration various
other aspects as well. One reason as has been discussed many
times is that the data has been collected from WOREC Nepal’s
working area, which can explain the presence of a higher
proportion of certain ethnic groups. Another reason could be
the openness of certain groups in case of reporting rape as
well as awareness regarding the matter.

Chart 34 Rape and Ethnicity of the Survivors
5.7 Occupation of the Rape Survivor

As evidenced before, the most vulnerable age category in case
of rape is girls below 16 years. The girls in this category are
minors who are either pursing their education in school or
working in other people’s household. They fall prey easily
while going to school, doing household chores or herding 91
their livestock.
Chart 35 Occupation of the Rape Survivor

The data reveals that 35% of rape survivors are students, 29%
are involved in agriculture, 13% in labour, 12% in household
work, 7% do nothing, 2% in business, 1% in governmental/
non governmental service and 1% work as housemaid. (Chart
35)
5.8 Impacts of Rape on the Survivor

The data revealed that mental impact as a result of rape was
30%, physical impact 29%, social impact 25% and economic
16%. Although the data reveals and quantifies the impact of
rape on survivors, this data can in no way provide the reality
of the actual impact. The categorization has been done to
put emphasis on the different aspects and environment and
not just to merely ignore them while devising strategies to
support survivors of rape. It is equally important to note that
rape has a devastating impact on the lives of women and girls
and it should be stressed that the data should not be used to
minimize the impact but to further add to the understanding
92 that the impact of rape is severe.
Chart 36 Rape and Impact on the Survivors

Analysis
• The data shows that girls under the age of 16 are the main
targets of rape in Nepal which is similar to the findings in
the previous issues of Anbeshi. There are various reasons
for this and the intervention in this regard needs a multi-
facets approach. Rape can have devastating and lifelong
impact for girls in this category as these are minor girls
who go to school and have a distant dream of doing
something in their life. Although trend of educating girls
has increased, incidents like these can curb this practice.
Due to the lack of proper infrastructure in the remote areas,

girls have to walk several miles to reach their schools which
make them vulnerable to rape and other forms of violence.
As they are very young and innocent they are threatened
to keep quiet. Even if they talk about the incident to the
parents, they themselves are blamed and withdrawn from
school. The matter gets hidden due to the fear of dishonor
to the family. When the perpetrators are from the blood
kin, the likelihood of reporting is even lower. Parents 93
often suppress the event, not only because of shame, but
also out of fear of reprisals from the perpetrators. Even
when a mother is able to lodge a complaint against the
rapist, it is hard for her to prove that the perpetrator has
sexually assaulted her daughter. The experience so far
has shown that the perpetrators can be anyone from the
‘circle of trust’ including principles or teachers. Parents
are confused whether to send them to school or keep their
children illiterate. In case of Nepal, there is also a lack of
support to children survivors who actually need a separate
type of care and specific counseling services, educational
opportunities, legal aid, and medical support, etc.
Sometimes, when women who are discriminated and

oppressed by multiple factors in their own homes, seek
opportunities to move out, they get raped. These girls are
fascinated by the glamour of the outside world through
the media and films and are easily fooled and duped by
perpetrators who seek their opportunities to sell them
to brothel owners. Mostly girls are promised good job at
some distant place and a lavish life-style but instead they
end up in flesh industry.
It is imperative in this regard that the State takes the

responsibility to provide a safe environment for young
school going girls. In case such violence has occurred, the
State must provide support and protection as per the need
of the survivor.
• The data showed that 50% of perpetrators were neighbors,

17% family members, 10% intimate friends, 9% were the
people with whom the survivors had no relationship, 7%
were husbands and 7% were unknown. This strengthens
the previous findings that women are most unsafe with
94 the people they know and trust. The perpetrators of sexual
violence and rape look for vulnerable targets that are
easily reached and are least likely to retaliate or report. As
stated before, violence committed by a relative or family
member, is mostly suppressed as a private matter and not
reported.
In Nepal there is an increasing trend of cohabitating

or living together before marriage. There is no social
unacceptability and legal recognization for ‘living-in
relationship’ and when there is violence within these
couples, the issue gets complicated. These women are
questioned and are provided the least help as morally
they are labeled deviant by going against the established
norms of marriage.

• Rape can happen to women from any community, caste/
class, religion, age and to women in any occupation. The
study finds that the most vulnerable are unmarried and
very young girls (under the age of 16) who are mostly
students.
• The data revealed that mental impact as a result of rape was

49%, physical impact 25%, social impact 11% economic 9%
and all types of impacts 6%. Rape survivors were ostracized
and blamed for the incident. It is therefore necessary to
look at patriarchal system at both micro(interactions,
families, organizations, patterned behavior) and macro
level (bureaucracies, government/state, law, religion) in
order to analyze the atrocities against women.
It is on this arrangement sexual violence and rape needs

to be understood. The incident of rape affects not only the
individual but the family and the community as a whole.
Rape has mostly been used as a tool for revenge,

punishment and to degrade and suppress woman/their 95
family and their community etc.In Nepal, due to lack of
safety networks and legal support, women survivors face
a hard time to access justice. Similarly, impunity, lack of
rule of law and political system that shields perpetrators
have further complicated the problem.
• Generally, rape in the public sphere is considered a

crime against “decency”, “honor” or “respectability”
when in actuality it constitutes a crime against sexual
freedom and the integrity of the individual.
Survivors do not feel safe to assert their rights due to

lack of victim centric justice system offering appropriate
counseling, reparations, rehabilitation ethically and
confidentially.

Chapter 6
Sexual Violence
Chapter 6
Sexual Violence
6.1 Sexual Violence

Sexual coercion and violence become the defining features
of the lives of many women and girls. The research found
that forced sexual contact can take place at any time in a
woman’s life in its various forms. The benchmark of any
form of coercion is that the woman lacks choice and faces
severe physical, social, or economic consequences if she
resists. Nonconsensual sex is degrading or humiliating for
many women and the psychological consequences of abuse
are even more serious than its physical effects thus eroding
women’s self-esteem and further putting them at greater risk
of a variety of mental health problems, including depression,
anxiety, phobias and post-traumatic disorders.
It remains extremely difficult to measure the extent of crimes

97
of sexual violence or to draw conclusions on patterns, in
particular due to the stigma surrounding such crimes.
However, all those cases collected provide a vivid picture
of the atrocities committed and survivor’s account of the
incident. Since the social stigma attached to having been
subjected to sexual and other forms of violence is quite high
in Nepal, survivors find it extremely difficult to articulate
about the incident. It has been found that women who report
sexual violence face many difficulties. The key reasons why
many women do not report sexual violence include stigma,
shame and fear of discrimination, fear of reprisals from the
perpetrator, feelings of guilt and difficulty and complexity
of reporting the crime, lack of support from family and

friends unawareness of their rights and the expectation
that the law enforcement would be ineffective or even
abusive. Conservative cultural and religious norms in some
communities, social stigma and family pressure together with
lack of appropriate services can lead to suicide. Most of the
cases of child sexual abuse committed by family members or
other individuals who are considered part of the survivor’s
trust network lead to not reporting the incident. The young
girls worry about getting the person in trouble if they report
and in addition often believe that the sexual abuse is their
own mistake. Sometimes the young girls do not know what
has happened to them and may not know how to articulate
about the abuse. Sexual violence against girls and women
is one of the clearest manifestations of patriarchal values,
norms and traditions that encourage men to believe that they
have the right to control women’s bodies and sexualities.21
The data for this year also reveals that very young girls have
been affected and the perpetrators are the people they know
98 and the incidence has many negative impacts on the young
girls. Child sexual abuse is typically perpetrated by an adult or
someone older than the child who uses their position of power
to coerce the child into sexual activity. Most perpetrators are
known to survivors and are frequently trusted caregivers
(fathers, grandfather, relatives, friends, neighbours) who take
advantage of their dominant position and the exploitation
often occurs more than once. There is increasing evidence
of child sexual abuse in Nepal. This abuse leads to disturbed
mind, lack of concentration, fear and withdrawal from school.
They are physically, mentally and psychologically affected
and the problems can persist for decades after the incident.
21 Gasman, N.; Villa Torres, L.; Billings, DL; García-Moreno, C. (2006).

“Violencia sexual en México”. Informe nacional sobre violencia y salud.
Mexico.

They find the incident extremely shameful and humiliating
and hesitate to discuss it to anyone. The perpetrators take
advantage and continue their abuse. Similarly, another
under researched topic includes sexual violence committed
against women working in the entertainment sector such as
in cabin restaurants, dance restaurants, dohori restaurants and
massage parlors. They have reported constant humiliation and
stigmatization in their work place and lack of family support.
They are harassed by the law enforcement officers and not
taken seriously while reporting sexual abuse and harassment.
There has been some recognization and response by the

government in case of sexual harassment. Responding to
the Sharmila Parajuli et al vs. Government of Nepal (2003)
the Supreme Court issued directive order to the government
for the enactment of appropriate law to protect women from
sexual harassment in Nepal. Similarly, gender equality law
was introduced, amending the Chapter on Intention to Sexual
Intercourse in the Nepal Country Code to penalize sexual
harassment against women. The law lays down that acts would 99
amount to sexual harassment “if any person, without consent
of a woman, touches or tries to touch her sensitive organ,
removes or tries to remove her undergarment, takes her to
any solitary place in an unnatural manner, causes her to touch
his/her sexual organ or uses any sexually motivated words or
symbols or shows her such photographs or drawings, teases
or harasses her with sexual motives or behaves with her in an
unnatural way or catches her with the motive to have sexual
intercourse.”22
22 Muluki Ain 12th Amendment Act, 2064.

Thus, the act is punishable under the law with a jail sentence
and some amount of fine. However, still the law does
not recognize other forms of sexual harassment such as
psychological pressure and lacks provision mechanisms and
support.
6.2 Sexual Violence and age of the survivor

The data for this year shows a total of 52 cases of sexual violence.
The most affected are in the 16-25 age groups accounting for
72%, followed by the 26-35 age groups accounting for 16%.
Likewise, below 16 years of age account for 10%, 36-45 account
for 2% of cases of social violence.
100
Chart 37 Age of the survivor
6.3 Sexual Violence and types of perpetrators

As mentioned earlier, most of the cases of sexual abuse are
committed by family members or other individuals who are
considered part of the survivor’s “circle of trust.”The data
confirms this finding and shows that 58% of the perpetrators
are friends and people they are having affair with, 19%
are neighbors, 15% are people with whom they had no

relationship, and 8% are family members.(Chart 38)
Chart 38 Social Violence and types of perpetrators
6.4 Marital Status of the Survivor

The highest percentage of all reported cases of sexual violence
is found among unmarried women accounting for 69%. The 101
group of married women is next (23%) followed by separated
women(4%),divorced (2%) and living together (2%). Chart 39
Chart 39 Marital Status of the Survivor

6.5 Educational Status of the Survivor
Sexual violence among literate group is higher than among
illiterate group .The data for this year shows that the literate
group consisted of 92% while illiterate group consisted of 8%.
Further, we find that among the literate group, 42% women
with secondary education, 22 % women with higher secondary
education, 14% of those who could just read and write, 14%
with primary education and 6% beyond higher secondary
education were affected by sexual violence (Chart 41).
102
Chart 40 Educational Status of the survivor
Chart 41 Educational Level of the Survivor

6.6 Ethnicity of the of the Survivors
The highest numbers of cases of sexual violence have occurred
in Terai Janjati category accounting for 27%.Similarly, Hill
Janjati and Chhetri accounted for 17% each which was followed
by Hill Dalit 13 %, Brahmin 8%,Terai Dalit 4%,Indigenous 4%,
Muslim and Terai non Dalit 2% and others 2%.
Chart 42 Sexual Violence and Ethnicity of the Survivor
103
6.7 Occupation of the Survivors
This data shows that students (32%) are most affected by social
violence followed by women involved in agriculture (25%).
Similarly of those affected, 11% were involved in business,9%
in labor, 9% in ‘other’ occupation beside the listed categories,
7% in household work, 5% in nongovernmental and 2% in
entertainment sector (Chart 43).
6.8 Impacts of Sexual Violence on the survivors

The data revealed that mental impact as a result of social
violence was 36%, physical impact 29%, social impact 21%
and economic impact 14% (Chart 44).

Chart 43 Sexual Violence and Occupation of the Survivor
104
Chart 44 Impact of Sexual Violence on the Survivor
Survivors of sexual violence face both direct and unceasing

psychological consequences and an array of overwhelming
and intense feelings. These may include feelings of guilt, fear,
and shame. Along with this, abusers threaten them into not
speaking up; convincing them that they will never be believed.
The reaction of a survivor’s family to the disclosure of the abuse
may also have the potential to trigger immense feelings of
guilt, same and distrust. While each individual’s experiences
and reactions are unique, some common responses have been
noted as low self-esteem, depression, guilt and shame. Many

girls were betrayed by the very people they are dependent
upon (family, teachers etc.) and supposedly cared for them.
The incidents of social abuse would lead them to a condition
where they find it extremely difficult to trust anyone in the
future.
Analysis
• The most affected are in the 16-25 age groups accounting
for 72%, followed by the 26-35 age groups accounting for
16%.Likewise, below 16 years of age account for 10%, 36-
45 account for 2% of cases of social violence. The women in
16-25 catrsectegory are mostly pursuing their education or
are working outside to make their living. Girls are unsafe
in their homes and outside. The unsafe environment
restricts women’s mobility, independence and jeopardizes
their health and well being.
• The perpetrators of sexual abuse are mostly family

members or individuals who are known to the survivors.
The data shows that 58% of the perpetrators are friends 105
and people they are having affair with, 19% are neighbors,
15% are people with whom they had no relationship, and
8% are family members. The fact that the perpetrators
are mostly from women’s ‘circle of trust’ further points
to the complexity of the issue. There is no one solution
or intervention in this regard as there are a number of
interrelated factors at the individual, household and
community levels that influence sexual violence to some
extent. Thus, the approach needs a holistic vision and
change to have an impact.
• Mental impact as a result of sexual violence was 36% but

other impacts are also significant. Adolescents are not

given any information on sexual matters as discussions are
considered taboo. Most of the information on sexuality is
obtained informally from friends and the media, and most
of this information is unclear. Especially during the period
following puberty when curiosity of sexual matters is the
most acute, this lack of knowledge on the matter further
puts girls at more risk. They are unaware of the sexual and
reproductive rights but awareness alone is not sufficient,
it needs to be supplemented with proper preventive,
protective and non discriminatory laws and practices.
Again, the data for this chapter also adds to the previous
findings that targets of sexual violence are mostly young
girls. Generally at this stage, girls are pursuing their
education as well as participating in workforce. The
incident of sexual assault disturbs them emotionally
and they end up withdrawing from their activities
.There is a lack of access to legal, medical, psycho-social
counseling services and effective protection, support and
rehabilitation services for survivors of violence. Sexuality
106 education must be prioritized in school curriculum which
will appropriately educate young people about their sexual
and reproductive health as well as help them understand
their sexual and reproductive rights. These issues have not
been focused even by the progressive groups in Nepal due
to the continuous backlash by the fundamentalist views
that uphold the dominant religious discourse sexuality.
Thus, every effort should be made to prevent and provide

support to the survivors and punishment to perpetrators.
The State should make legal and political commitments to
protect violence against girls through the application of
human rights principles as expressed in the national laws,
and through their commitments to international human
rights treaties.

Chapter 7
MURDER
Chapter 7
MURDER
7.1 Murder
Women face multiple forms of discrimination and violence.
Factors like women’s ethnicity, caste, class, migrant or
refugee status, age, religion, sexual orientation, marital status,
disability etc. influences the forms of violence and their
experiences. Murder has been seen as an increasing category in
case of gender based violence in Nepal. In most cases women
who have a history of violence from their partners have been
murdered. However, this cannot be generalized. Increased
violence against women, particularly the unprecedented
increase of murder indicates continued violation of women’s
human rights in the country.
A total of 29 cases of murder were collected by WOREC Nepal

this year. Additionally, there were 21 cases of attempted
108 murder. There are many more cases which go unreported
every day. Although there are various reasons for murder,
dowry-related and witch-allegation have been the most cited
reasons so far. Similarly, rape has been followed by murder
where the women have been severely tortured, raped, burnt
or killed mercilessly. In case of rape and murder committed
by army, police and armed forces, the details of the case are
not available due to political and other reasons.
Dowry has been a social evil in various communities in Nepal

where the families of the grooms make endless demands
on the bride’s family. In case of not being able to satisfy the
grooms’ side, the newly married girls are tortured and even

killed. Dowry has been the commonly cited reason for murder;
and in most cases rape has preceded murder.
As mentioned in the earlier chapters, witch- allegation

is prevalent in different communities in Nepal. Women
continue to face inequality and discrimination, and unequal
access to resources and power. Widows are barred from
attending public ceremonies and events. They are one of the
most vulnerable groups for witchcraft accusations including
humiliation, sexual assault, torture, and even death. The act is
meant to justify community’s actions in the name of protection
from evil. Family members reportedly take advantage of the
vulnerability of widows to deny them share in the family
property by accusing them of practicing witch craft.
There are cases of old widows, mothers, or couples being

accused of practicing witch craft and burnt alive. Local
shamans and their family members accuse women of using
witchcraft to make another family member sick. As a result of 109
which the whole community support the heinous act of witch
allegation and torture and participate in it.
Rape and sexual violence have mostly been followed by

murder. The rape and murder of young women points a
finger at the ineffective legal mechanisms as well as the
discrimination and inequality women and girls continue to
face in their daily lives. The acts are commonly employed to
validate and rationalize normative misogynistic practices.
The example is the murder of a 14- year old girl Sarita (name
changed) in Siraha who was murdered in a very brutal way
in her village.

Sarita (name changed), a 14 year old girl residing in Sirlaha
district was heading towards her rice field to cut some grass at
around 2:15 pm after finishing her daily house work. Seeing
her walking alone, a stranger approached her. She was then
raped and murdered with her throat slit with a sickle.
As evening approached, Sarita’s parents were getting worried

about their missing daughter. At around 6:45pm they went
in search of their daughter. They started searching the
neighborhood but couldn’t find her. They even went to the
adjacent villages. Some of the neighbors also started searching
for her and at around 8:00pm they reached the rice field. They
found a sack of grass Sarita had cut and her abused lifeless
body in the rice field. Sarita’s parents were shocked beyond
belief to see their daughter.
The villagers informed the police who arrived at the crime

scene at around 10 pm. They took the dead body for post
110 mortem to Lahan hospital. The perpetrator who had murdered
Sarita had absconded but was soon taken in by the police for
investigation. The bereaved parents are eagerly awaiting the
outcome of the case.
It is a matter of severe concern as Nepal is facing persistent

increase of such violence against women in the country which
should be strongly condemned and responsible institutions
should seriously follow up the issue to make sure that those
responsible for such violations are held accountable.
7.2 Murder and the age group

The highest percentage of murder is found among women

in the age group of 26-35 (46%)followed by age group 17-25
(38%) and age group 36-45 age group (12%). Likewise, below
16 years of age and above 55 years of age consists of 2 % each
of the total cases of murdered women.
Chart 45 Age and Murder
7.3 Murder and the types of perpetrators

The perpetrators are mostly husbands who account for 54%
of the total cases of murder of women in Nepal for this year. 111
Similarly, 24% are murdered by family members, 10% by
neighbors and 10% are unidentified and 2% of perpetrators do
have any relationship with the murdered women (Chart 46).
Dowry related murder

Neeta had an arranged marriage and her family had provided
the groom side with dowry which was felt insufficient. They
started demanding motor-cycle, wardrobe, television etc. after
marriage.The husband’s family started to torture her and beat
her everyday.Unable to bear the torture and the assualt she
ran away to her natal home but returned to her husband’s
place after mediation by the police.However, Neeta was given

poison and taken to a hospital. Her identity was changed in
the hospital when she was admitted. The villagers soon came
to know about the incident and informed her parents.Neeta
was refered to Dharan hospital but was more serious and
again was referred to Silguri hospital where she died.Now the
case has been filed and the husband has been arrested.
112 Chart 46 Murder and the types of perpetrators
7.4 Marital Status and murder

The data for this year showed that the highest number of
those murdered included married women which consisted of
87% of the total cases. Likewise, unmarried women consisted
of 13 %.( Chart 47) The research indicates that the patriarchal
structures of power and other hierarchal social settings lead
to various forms of discriminations against women. The
social institutions help to shape the practice and trend which
bestows favors on men. The roles and attitudes of men and its
reinforcement in the community, the objectification of women
all add to their vulnerability.

Murder and marital status
13%
Married
Unmarried
87%
Chart 47 Murder and Marital Status
7.5 Murder and the Educational Level of the women

Looking into the data, we find that the percentage of literate
women is higher than that for the illiterate. The data for this
year shows that 83% of murdered women were literate whereas
17% were illiterate. Among the literate 31% women could just
read and write, 23% had completed secondary education,
20% had taken adult literacy classes, 14% had completed
higher secondary education and 11% had completed primary 113
education (Chart 49).
Murder and Educational status
17%
Literate
Illiterate
83%
Chart 48 Murder and Educational Status

Chart 49 Murder and Educational Level
7.6 Murder and Ethnicity

The highest number of cases for murder of women have
occurred in Terai non Dalit category accounting for 22%.
Similarly, Brahmin accounted for 20%, Chhetri 18%,Terai
Dalit 16%, Hill Janjati 12 %,Terai Janjati 8% and Muslim 4%
(Chart 50).
114
Chart 50 Murder and Ethnicity

7.8 Occupation of the murdered women
Women involved in household work (43%) accounted for the
most case of murdered women followed by students (18%) and
women involved in labour (18%).Similarly, of those murdered
6% were housemaids, 6% were involved in business, 3% in
non government organizations, 3% in informal sector and 3%
in agriculture.
115
Chart 51 Occupation of the murdered women
Two women murdered in Rupendehi district

Rama and Sunita (both name changed) have been brutally
murdered in Rupendehi district. Both women had gone to
the nearby field where they were found murdered with their
throat slit. Rape was also suspected because the lower half of
one of the bodies had no clothes and the undergarment was
torn. However, the local police and the hospital were not
convinced that it was rape in case of Rama who was not even
examined for rape as she was in her menstrual period. Sunita

was examined for rape at the hospital but the police were not
convinced. Rama had 3 children and Sunita had four children.
The following day, WHRD network and WOREC Nepal

demanded that the perpetrator be identified and punished.
WOREC Nepal with other Women’s Rights organization
went to the crime location. Multiple meetings were held
with the local Women’s rights organization and the police
demanding immediate investigation into the case and that
stalling the investigation due to political pressure or bribe
would not be tolerated at all.
Even though the police were requested to make the case public,
this has not happened. The case is being turned to blaming
the murdered woman by pointing out that their character was
bad. It is being pointed out Sunita had regular sexual contact
with a local and the day she was murdered, she was called to
the field by the same individual. However, seeing other people
116 in the vicinity and while trying to run away, she was killed.
Rama was also present there and had seen everything and she
was also murdered.
Presently WOREC Nepal is trying to make the case

public in collaboration with various other Women’s rights
organizations.
Analysis
• Vulnerability to violent crime/murder varies across the age
spectrum. The study found that the highest percentages
of murder is found among women in the age group of
26-35 (46%)followed by age group 17-25 (38%) and age

group 36-45 age group (12%). A woman’s risk of murder
varies according to a number of factors but the analysis
points to husbands as the most frequent perpetrators
(54%). Mostly young married women in the reproductive-
age are at high risk for rape/murder. These women are
constantly in interaction with young men and spend
more time around them. These men, in turn, compose the
demographic group that commits the majority of crimes or
are the primary perpetrators for various crimes including
rape-murder. Other reasons could be that this age group
is mostly struggling to make their living and have a lot
of responsibilities. Although it not the only reason for
murder, social responsibilities and different circumstances
and failures can build tension in a relationship which can
lead to violence and eventually murder. The perpetrators
are socialized to be masculine and macho and when their
counterpart questions them they are attacked. Similarly,
most women are also getting education and are quite
knowledgeable about their rights. This is a positive aspect
but on the hind side can trigger anger from husbands 117
for being ‘smart’ as they expect them to be obedient and
‘feminine’ as they understand it.
• Among the literate 31% women could just read and

write, 23% had completed secondary education, 20% had
taken adult literacy classes, 14% had completed higher
secondary education and 11% had completed primary
education. The reason could be that the perpetrators fear
literate women would report the crime committed against
them and to avoid getting into further trouble they would
murder them. On the other hand literate women are
victims of murder as they are economically independent
and may be robbed and murdered. The perpetrators
commit heinous and brutal crimes on these women and to

destroy the evidence, murder them.
• As seen before, 54% of the perpetrators of murder are

husbands, 24% are family members and 10% are neighbors.
Thus, partner violence accounts for a significant number
of deaths among women. Women were murdered by their
husband often during an ongoing abusive relation. The
research indicates that domestic violence is the leading
cause of all forms of violence leading to murder. Taking
this into consideration, the DV Act should be implemented
properly to prevent its occurrence and to guarantee
protection and access to justice to the survivors.
• Women’s empowerment becomes an important process

to make them capable of having power to decide over
their bodies and their labor. In the absence of this, they
become prey to various violent crimes including murder.
Although Domestic Violence (Control and Punishment
Act 2009) represents a significant achievement in efforts
to strengthen women’s rights, the clause regarding
118 reconciliation/ settlement is problematic and can act as a
loop-hole for the perpetrators and increase impunity.

Chapter 8
Human Trafficking/
Transportation
Chapter 8
Human Trafficking/ Transportation
A series of national and international commitments for

combating Trafficking in Persons and protection of human
rights of survivors has been undertaken in Nepal. The
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Convention
of Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
(CEDAW), Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in
Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others,
United Nations Convention on Transnational Organized
Crime (UNTOC), Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish
Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children,
supplementing the United Nations Convention against
Transnational Organized Crime 2000 (Palermo Protocol),
SAARC Convention on Preventing and Combating
Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution are
120 important international and regional legal instruments for
combating trafficking.23
8.1 Human Trafficking/Transportation

Human Trafficking encompasses the organized movement
of people, specifically women, between countries and within
countries for sex work. It also includes coercing a migrant
into a sexual act as a condition of allowing migration. Women
from various parts of Nepal are subjected to sex trafficking
23 Trafficking in persons, especially on women and children in Nepal,

National Report 2011, National Human Rights Commission Office of
the Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Women and Children, Nepal.

in Nepal, India, the Middle East, and China and subjected to
forced labor in Nepal, India, and China as domestic servants,
beggars, factory workers, mine workers, and in the adult
entertainment industry. Similarly they are subjected to sex
trafficking and forced labor elsewhere in Asia, including in
Malaysia, Hong Kong, and South Korea. Human traffickers
usually target low-caste groups.24
The experience has shown that sexual trafficking uses

physical coercion, deception and bondage incurred through
forced debt and exploit women and compel them to work as
sex workers. Women are often promised work in the domestic
or service industry, but instead, are usually taken to brothels
and their passport and identification card confiscated. They
are physically tortured and locked up and promised their
freedom only after earning through sex work. In most
instances, this forced labor is facilitated by recruitment fraud
and high recruitment fees charged by Nepal-based manpower
agencies. 121
Article 3, paragraph (a) of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and

Punish Trafficking in Persons has defined “Trafficking in Persons”
as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring
or receipt of persons, by means of threat or use of force or
other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception,
of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of
the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve
the consent of a person having control over another person,
24 United States Department of State, 2013 Trafficking in Persons

Report - Nepal, 19 June 2013, available at: http://www.refworld.org/
docid/51c2f39e58.html [accessed 26 October 2013]

for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at
a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or
other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services,
slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the
removal of organs.”The recruitment, transportation, transfer,
harboring or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation
is also considered trafficking in persons. Previous studies
have shown that children and girls are mostly victims of
sexual slavery which has major impact on their health and
well being.
In recent times, there is increase in male foreign migration

and female headed households are increasing and although
these male foreign migrants are sending money back to their
wives and families, they are cheated and sometimes duped
and sexually abused while seeking help regarding the paper
works etc. Similarly, the government’s re-imposed ban on
the migration of females under age 30 to the Gulf states for
122 domestic work may further encourage women from going to
the Gulf countries through illegal channels which will further
put them under increased risk of being exploited.
It is obvious that economic, social, cultural and political
environment of the country contributes to this modern form
of slavery. Thus, the analysis should focus on different aspects
to understand the problem in the light of various changing
scenarios and discourses.
As mentioned earlier, there have been various attempts by

the government of Nepal to control human trafficking. It has
shown commitment and formulated national action plan to
control human trafficking, sexual and labor of women and

children. The Human Trafficking and Transportation (Control)
Act, 2064 has defined Human Trafficking and Transportation
as follows:
(1) If anyone commits any of the following acts that shall be

deemed to have committed human trafficking:
(a) To sell or buy a person for any purpose,
(b) To force someone into prostitution, with or without
financial benefit,
(c) To remove human organs except otherwise determined
by law,
(d) To engage in prostitution.
(2) If anyone commits any of the following acts that shall be

deemed to have committed human transportation:
(a) To take a person out of the country for the purpose of
buying and selling,
(b) To take anyone from his/her home, place of residence
or from a person by any means such as enticement,
inducement, misinformation, forgery, tricks, coercion,
123
abduction, hostility, allurement, influence, threat,
abuse of power and keep him/her into ones possession
or take to any place within Nepal or abroad or
handover him/her to somebody else for the purpose of
prostitution and exploitation.
The data for this year shows that there were 14 cases of human
trafficking/transportation on women.
8.2 Trafficking/Transportation and age of women

survivor
The data for this year shows that the age group 17-25 was at
the highest risk of trafficking (43%). (Chart: 52) Similarly, 29%

of girls in the age group 26-35, 21% of women below the age of
16, and 7% of women in the age group 36-45 were trafficked.
Chart 52 Age of the Survivor
8.3 Relationship of the survivor with the perpetrator

The perpetrators of trafficking/transportation were mostly
124 unidentified (50%) followed by people who had no relationship
with the women and agents (21%), neighbours (18%),
husbands (7%) and intimate friends(4%). Many of the case
studies have shown that women are lured into some lucrative
openings or promises of glamorous and comfortable lives in
the cities. The pimp or the middle men take advantage of the
young girls’ innocence and marry them with the promise of
comfortable lives outside their villages (Chart 53).
8.4 Marital Status of the survivor

There is an even split between the married and unmarried
women with regard to trafficking as both accounted for 50%
of cases each (Chart 54).

Chart 53 Relationship of the survivors with the perpetrators
125
Chart 54 Marital Status of the survivor
8.5 Educational Level of the Survivor

It is shocking to know that 93% of the trafficked women were
literate and 7% were illiterate.( Chart 55).Among the literate
23% women had basic education (those who could read and
write),23% had primary level education,23% had taken adult
literacy education, 15% had secondary level education and
15% had higher secondary level education (Chart 56).

Chart 55 Educational Status of the survivor
126
Chart 56 Educational Level of the Survivor
8.6 Ethnicity of the Survivor

The highest numbers of cases of trafficking/transportation
have occurred in Hill Dalit category accounting for 43%.
Similarly, Brahmin accounted for 15%, Terai Janjati 14%, Hill
Janjati 14%, Chhetri 7% and others 7% (Chart 57).

Chart 57 Ethnicity of the Survivor
8.7 Occupation of the trafficked women

Women involved in agriculture (42%) account for the most
cases of trafficked/transported women. Similarly, 25% were
students and 25% were involved in household work (Chart
58). Women involved in entertainment sectors (8%) were also
trafficked/transported.
127
Chart 58 Occupation and Trafficking

8.8 Impact on the survivor
The data revealed that mental impact as a result of trafficking
was 42%, physical impact 29%, social impact 19% and
economic impact 10%.It is important to note that trafficking
had devastating impact on the lives of women and girls and
completely changed their future trajectories and endeavors.
128 Chart 59 Impact on the Survivor
Analysis
• Mostly young women/ girls are trafficked/ transported

and are forced into prostitution and sexual slavery. These
women and girls are at high risk of contracting HIV and
other sexually transmitted diseases.
• The data revealed that 93% of the trafficked women were

literate and 7% were illiterate. Literate women may seek
opportunities to go abroad and work and are therefore at a
greater risk of falling into the clutches of middle men and
brokers who are involved in trafficking/transportation.

Lack of employment opportunities and no minimum
wage law deprive individuals of basic standard of living
in Nepal. The government should focus its attention to
providing safety for women traveling abroad for work
and devise measure for their protection.
• Women involved in agriculture (42%), household (25%)

students (25%) and entertainment sector (8%) were
trafficked. There could be various explanations for this.
However, mostly women who are economically weak
easily fall prey to the promises of high paying jobs and
comfortable life elsewhere. They are seeking opportunities
to make more money and lead a luxurious life in cities.
Some are too frustrated with the social structures and
surrounding environment and feel that if they stay in their
villages they will end up working in the household and in
the field throughout their lives. These girls are fascinated
by the glamour of film industries and magazines and
are attracted to earn money to be like one of them. Some
of these girls have talents to work in the entertainment
129
sector as they are blessed with vocal and dancing talents.
They want to make their living in cities by singing but are
instead forced in sexual slavery or sold in cities in India.
• The impact of trafficking is severe as it affects them

mentally and physically. They experience a high rate
of sexually transmitted diseases, HIV and sometimes
permanent damage to their reproductive system. The
rescued women experience problems of reintegration
into the family as socially they are treated as an outcaste.
Society blames them for their own misfortunes and
acceptance rate is minimal.

Chapter 9
Background of the
Perpetrators
Chapter 9
Background of the Perpetrators
9.1 Background of the Perpetrators

This chapter contains some information on the perpetrators
of violence. The information is based on the reported cases
and as articulated by the survivors. As mentioned earlier, the
research collected and analyzed 1703 cases of VAW this year
and the following information is based on the collected data.
9.2 The age of the perpetrators
The perpetrators in the age group 26-35 accounted for 31 %of

the total perpetrators, unidentified accounted for 25 %, 36-45
age group accounted for 19 %, 16-25 accounted for 14%, 46-55
accounted for 7%, above 56 age group accounted for 3 % and
below 16 age group accounted for 1% of the total perpetrators
(Chart 60).
131
Men commit the majority of violent and brutal acts against
women. While efforts have been made to prevent violence,
these efforts are yet to make a major impact on the rates
of violence against women as such efforts often involve
overturning long-held cultural and societal beliefs that
impacts the male behavior. Men learn that being violent is not
only the acceptable form of conflict resolution, but it is also
admired. As seen in the research husbands/intimate partners
are the most common perpetrators of violence against
women thus reflecting the existing asymmetry in the power
relations between men and women which perpetuates the
subordination and devaluation of women. As it exists within

the framework of the patriarchy, men who hold traditional
gender beliefs (men as breadwinners, women should stay at
home, etc.), conform to masculinity norms (believe men need
to be self-reliant, have power over women, etc.) are more
likely to commit violence against women (Chart 60).
Chart 60 Age of the perpetrator

132
9.3 The sexual category of the perpetrator
Chart 61 shows that 91% of the perpetrators are male whereas
only 9% are female. It is important noting here how and
why overwhelming percentage of men are responsible for
perpetrating violence against women. However, the data
should not minimize the violence committed by women on
women. The explanation for this is that women who internalize
patriarchy act and behave as patriarchs. Specifically, in case of
violence committed by women on women, domestic violence
comprises the most cases which is committed on daughters-in-
law by their mothers-in-law and sisters-in law and the causes
are various. Women can also risk abuse from female members

if she is unable to act in accordance with socially accepted rules
and behavior. The causes behind violence towards women
and girls has been found to be related to how individuals
are taught to be men or women, as well as the subsequent
gender differences that these perceptions bring about.25 The
causes of VAW are rooted in gender concepts, inequalities
and hierarchies. Gender concepts are part of social, political
and economic transformation processes.26 Gender roles are
therefore influenced by families, educational institutions, the
media, civil society and the state. Thus, all social institutions
can contribute to reinforce gender hierarchies. Many gender
norms that are widely accepted around the world are based
on a set of beliefs that tend to value and privilege certain
groups of people. Generally, the roles and traits associated
with men are seen as more valuable than that associated with
women which contantly helps to shape hierarchies and fosters
inequalities. Thus, VAW is a “policing mechanism” to create,
manifest, and defend or reinforce these structures. However,
new forms of discrimination have also emerged in the 133
changing political and socio-economic scenario in the country
and women have been subjected to abuse and discrimination
from both men and women controlling positions of authority.
Women who abuse women are acting as patriarch to similarly
maintain their power as men in the society. They employ
abusive measures to maintain authority within groups over
whom they exercise power. As stated in the previous issues
of Anbeshi, it should not however trivialize the severity of the
25 Ending Violence against Women and Girls –Protecting Human Rights

Good Practices for Development Cooperation, Deutsche Gesellschaft
für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), 2005.
26 Ibid.

problem of male violence.
VAW must therefore be analyzed within the surrounding

discourses. Women as well as men must therefore make
efforts to ‘unlearn socialization’ that teaches them that it is
acceptable to maintain power by coercion or force.
Chart 61 Sexual category of the perpetrator

134
9.4 Educational Level of the perpetrator
The data reveals that 88% of the perpetrators are literate
male and 12% are illiterate. Among the literate, 25% could
just read and write, 23% had secondary level education, 20%
had higher secondary, 18% had taken adult literacy classes,
7% had primary level education,6% had undergraduate level
education, and 1% had graduate level education (Chart 63).

Chart 62 Educational Status of the perpetrator
135
Chart 63 Educational level of the perpetrator
The above chart shows that most of the perpetrators are

literate. Thus, education is not sufficient to change the deep
cultural and ideological belief that contributes to VAW. The
socialization process ingrains the patriarchal attitude in both
men and women. Looking at the educational level, we find

that educated men are less likely to commit VAW.
However, it should be underscored that education alone

cannot decrease VAW; it depends on the type of education
people are getting. The biased curriculum in school fosters
patriarchal attitude and strengthen the discriminatory
socialization process together with the stereotyped portrayal
of women and men in the media and sexist interpretations
of VAW. Thus, critical thinking and ideological changes
are necessary to unlearn/undo the socialization. Although
there is no silver bullet to end VAW at once, ideological and
transformational changes is expected to end discrimination
and at the same time empower women to be in a position to
raise their voices against the biased ideologies and to demand
their rights.
9.5 Marital Status of the perpetrator

Looking at the marital status, we find that most of the
136 perpetrators (82%) are married men. Likewise, unidentified
account for 10%, unmarried 7%, 1% separated, 0.4% living
together and 0.2% divorced/widower (Chart 64).
Perpetrators can be anyone from the “circle of trust” to

a stranger. There are many underlying factors that are
responsible for violence. It is mostly based on men’s sense
of “entitlement” to certain privileges over women and the so
called “masculine norms” ( accepted ways of men’s behaviour
and the specific roles they are expected to play).
The above findings also add to the previous findings that

married men abuse their wife to a great extent. Inequalities cut

Chart 64 Marital Status of the perpetrator
across public and private spheres and deprive women of social,

economic, cultural, and political rights by restricting women’s
freedoms, choices and opportunities. These inequalities
increase women’s risks of abuse, violent relationships and
exploitation. Alcoholism, unemployment, and other factors
are also commonly cited problems but are not considered
to be direct causes of violence but are associated factors or
trigger mechanisms. 137
Dowry-related violence is also common which points to the

continuing insignificance of women in a patriarchal culture.
The culture of conspicuous consumption has been infused
even to those communities and classes which traditionally did
not accept dowry. Dowry has been a popular way of showing
social mobility and status among the people and when the
demand for dowry is not met violence is committed.
Thus, women are still at a disadvantage due to various

discriminatory factors leading to economic dependency,
and lack of income-earning opportunities. Initially violence

against women was hardly recognized as a problem. However,
in present times the State has shown some positive steps in
recognizing it as a crime and hopefully in the future women
can access justice through effective implementation of these
laws.
9.6 Occupation of the perpetrator

Looking at the occupation of the perpetrators, we find that
most of them are involved in agriculture (38%).Similarly,
occupation of 18% are unidentified, 10% are involved in
labour, 9% in business, 6% are not involved in any work,
4%in foreign employment, 4% in government and non
government service, 3% in driving, 2% in household work,
2% in teaching and 0.2% in entertainment sector and 0.2% as
housemaids(Chart 65).
Most male perpetrators of violence are involved in agriculture.

This can also be attributed to the fact that Nepal is an agrarian
138 economy and most people are directly or indirectly involved
in agriculture. Perpetrators who are involved in agriculture
spend most of their time in the field .Similarly as most
women are also involved in agriculture; they are constantly
interacting with each other on a daily and nightly basis.
Although women work in the agricultural field tediously the
land is in the name of their male counterpart who decides and
controls most of the activities. Property less and without any
control of their labor they continue becoming dependant and
become vulnerable to abuse.
Based on this data not much analysis can be provided to

assert that the perpetrators belong to a particular occupation.

Chart 65 Occupation of the perpetrator
It is now a well established fact that women are unsafe almost

everywhere. They are unsafe in their houses, workplaces,
their communities or in a foreign land. Women continue to
face violence at the hands of State agents, law enforcement
officers, etc. which is exacerbated by government’s silence or 139
apathy or a lack of interest to hear their voice.
The culture of impunity which lets perpetrators of VAW

easily escape the crime scene and safe guards the perpetrators
boosts their moral courage to commit crimes. Police, prison
officials and security forces are generally bribed by anyone
with a little influence and money.
Women involved in defending women’s rights, doing

activities usually done by males, being actively involved in
the public sphere etc. are the usual targets of the perpetrators.
These are attempts to discredit women, “putting women in

their place” or “disciplining” them. Women’s sexuality has
been understood as being very fragile which can be defiled
by any man to degrade them whenever women stand against
them. It is this notion which benefits men to employ their
power against women to subordinate them constantly. Thus,
violence and exploitation are not isolated acts but form a
part of an interactive process driven by values linked to
relationships of domination and submission and to inequality
between the males and females. It is the also influenced by the
interpretation of women’s and men’s sexuality, where women
sexuality is considered a very delicate matter, which when
defiled put women in the worst position of embarrassment
and shame.
140

Chapter 10
Support to the
Survivors
Chapter 10
Support to the Survivors
VAW has many serious health impacts that can have

devastating consequences in the life of women. As discussed
earlier, social and economic impacts are also severe. Rejection,
ostracism and social stigma restrict women to actively
participate in different activities and deteriorate women’s
confidence. This gets further compounded by a lack of the
support mechanism and access to justice.
Thus, an integrated approach is needed for supporting the

survivors of VAW to promote psychosocial well-being of
the survivors. Interventions must address the particular
vulnerabilities and related needs of survivors.
The integrated and multi-disciplinary approach must be

coordinated across all sectors to include protection, shelter,
142 health, sanitation and hygiene, and information /awareness
on rights and legal recourse. A safe space must be a secure
social space which can offer necessary support for women,
adolescent girls and child survivors of violence. It should be
able to cater to the needs of children survivors as they require
differential support services and sensitive care facilities .Thus,
attention must be paid to ensuring that spaces are relevant
and accessible to women as well as children.
10.1 Medical Examination of the survivor

The data for this year reveals that only 13% of the survivors
went through a medical examination after the attack, 48% of
the survivors did not seek any medical help and for 39% of

the cases there is no information (Chart 66).
When women are victimized by their family members,

the issue gets suppressed as a private matter and medical
examination gets ignored. Families may want to hide the
incident due to fear of lowering family prestige. The survivors
do not disclose the reality due to fear of retaliation. Many a
times inaccessible support mechanism places women in a
dangerous and risky position. The lack of shelter provisions,
safe houses and a counseling service at the community level
makes it even more challenging for women.
143
Chart 66 Medical Examination of the survivor
10.2 Details of the support/provisions

As mentioned in the first chapter, WOREC Nepal has collected
1703 cases of VAW in Nepal for this year with the support of the
Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs), Communities
Women Group and the researches. These networks have
been able to break the “culture of silence” surrounding VAW

Chart 67 Details of support/provisions
to some level and help women to access legal recourse. The

data for this year shows that WOREC Nepal supported 1705
VAW related cases.27 The data for this year shows that among
the total cases of VAW, the organization was able to provide
psycho-social counseling service to 379 women (22%), safe
144 house facilities to 343 women (20%), legal support to 245
(14%), reintegration support to 202(12%), family counseling
services to 172(10%), medical help to 132 (8%), follows ups
to 120(7%), referral to 73 (4%) and other help beside the listed
categories was 39(2%).
WOREC Nepal has always been developing, identifying

and practicing different strategies to deal with VAW. It has
been actively involved in providing support to the survivors
of VAW. In 1998, WOREC pioneered in establishing a safe
27 It should be noted that one specific case of VAW may have received
numerous supports. Thus, numerically this data is greater than the
actual number of cases.

house for women survivors of trafficking. The organization
has provided training to the members of the community and
linked them as WHRDs which was an effective process for
increasing awareness and support at the community level.
Stigma is consequence of sexual violence in many settings,
and can act as a barrier to seeking support. Stigma may
include three elements: problems of knowledge (ignorance
or misinformation); problems of attitudes (prejudice); and
problems of behaviour (discrimination).28 The organization
has been raising awareness on VAW to help minimize stigma
on sexual violence.
VAW survivors have been able to receive support from

WOREC Nepal and utilize safe house facilities in various
districts where WOREC Nepal has been actively involved.
The effectiveness of these provisions have been recognized
by different networks and institutions and similarly Nepal
Government also established safe houses since 2010 in different
districts of Nepal. The present record shows that there are now 145
safe houses in 15 districts. WOREC Nepal raises awareness on
appropriate approaches to counseling techniques as it believes
that proper counseling and providing ethical and effective
services to survivors of violence is necessary. WHRD network
has been an important component to bring out the voices of
women survivors of violence. Most of the cases collected are
from the districts where the presence of WHRD network is
effective. Survivors have stated that the support is important
28 Responding to the Psychosocial and Mental Health Needs of

Sexual Violence Survivors in Conflict-Affected Settings, Final
Report,France,2011.

and without help they would have been in worse conditions.
They feared retaliation but the support has boosted their
confidence to break the silence against VAW.
As VAW is a structural matter it needs well developed

strategies at political, legislative, legal and educational
levels. Safe houses, support networks, medical support,
counseling services, legal provision, are some of the important
components. These factors are imperative to reaffirm the
irrefutable rights of women and the State should take
responsibility and obligation to guarantee these rights under
all circumstances (Chart 67).
146
Chart 67 Details of the support/provisions

Chapter 11
Media Coverage
and Follow-up
Chapter 11
Media Coverage and Follow-up
11.1 Media Coverage of VAW

Media coverage of VAW for this year is discussed in this
chapter. It should be noted that most of the cases collected
by WOREC Nepal are also covered by the media and the
previous chapters have incorporated both the cases collected
by WOREC Nepal and the media. In this chapter, 587 cases
covered by the media are presented and there is no repetition
of the cases.
The media coverage does not provide the details of the cases
and only briefly discuss and highlight the issues. Based on the
highlighted issue, attempt has been made to categories and
analyzes the different components.
148
Chart 68 Cases of VAW from five Development Regions

Chart 69 Types of VAW
149
Chart 70 Forms of Domestic Violence

Chart 71 Forms of Social Violence
150
Chart 72 Age Profile of the Survivor of VAW

Chart 73 Marital Status and VAW
151
Chart 74 Types of Perpetrators and VAW

Chapter 12
Conclusions and
Recommendations
Chapter 12
Conclusions and Recommendations
12.1 Conclusions
Anbeshi as a year book on VAW has attempted to analyze
the cases of VAW to draw more attention to the physical,
psychological, and sexual nature of violence against women
and to stimulate action. Although, it is considered a universal
problem shared by women all around the world, the data has
concluded that it is a structural issue which should be dealt as
a serious, contextual problem.
Data and research on different aspects of VAW are lacking at

the national level. Newer systematic studies and research is
necessary across a wider range of women. As VAW suffers
from low reporting, attempt should be made to ensure better
Witness Protection System. Support mechanism like One Stop
Crisis Center should be equipped to provide all the first hand
services to the survivors. Respective bodies should show their 153
responsibilities to end the prevalent impunity. Preventive
measures, including public information and education
programs to transform attitudes concerning the roles and
status of men and women should be prioritized.
Protective measures, alternative housing/safe shelter,

counseling, rehabilitation, support services, for women
survivors of VAW should be available and accessible. Access
to proper support network can give confidence to women
survivors and help them to break the “culture of silence” on
the issue of VAW.

Socio-cultural factors/norms/ideologies, patriarchies and the
resulting process of socialization ,hierarchical relationship,
symbolizations and objectification of women’s sexuality have
been responsible for reproducing and perpetuating a system
of discrimination/ subordination against women. VAW is
an effect of the ideology that gives men the right to control
women’s action, mobility, their access to material resources,
and their labor. It cuts across and transcends race, class,
culture, and national differences. It violates, impairs and
nullifies the enjoyment by women of their human rights and
fundamental rights and freedom. The long-standing failure to
protect and promote those rights and freedom is a matter of
concern of all stakeholders and responsibility of the State. As
VAW denies women their fundamental rights the focus must
be on ensuring women their rights.
In the present context there is a demand of recognization of

differences from all groups in Nepal. Although rights are
154 defined globally as a common issue, women’s experiences in
different spaces should not fall into the trap of legitimizing
discriminatory practices towards women in the name of
culture.
In case of domestic violence the research found that it is

the most common crime which occurs at homes in the most
intimate of relationships. Women continue to face severe
consequences as a result of DV due to the widespread belief
that it is a private matter. Although laws have been enacted
against DV, it is not implemented in practice.
Similarly, in case of rape/marital rape, the law is still

discriminatory and the understanding of marital rape is still a
problem at the practice level.
The legal system is still insensitive to feminist issues. Although

various acts have been passed in regard to VAW, they are not
implemented properly. Impunity is widespread and there is
still lack of Victim Centric Justice System.
The impact of poverty which is under-discussed in the

above chapters is predominantly structural in nature needs
attention. Poverty denies women access to and control over
resources and opportunities as well as control over their
bodies. The recent trend of the free market policies and the
increasing trend of migration has increased vulnerability of
women migrants to sexual exploitation and impacted the
lives of most women and their children who are subjected to
huge psychological and emotional problems.
Similarly, social violence can have grave physical and mental 155
impact on survivors with chronic health consequences
and even death in some instances. Constant stigmatization
and ostracism is also rampant. Media can play an effective
role in disseminating information but needs to be critically
monitored. For example, in case of rape it should not reinforce
the myth that rape is sexual instead of a humiliating and
degrading act of violence on women.
The patriarchy inherent in social institutions including

legislation, the justice system, and others (education, media,
religion, politics, economy etc.) needs to be challenged for
broader transformational change.

12.2 Recommendations
1. Devise multipronged approach to address VAW.

Women face challenges due to the lack of preventive and
protective measures regarding VAW. From amending
discriminatory laws to ensuring access to justice a holistic
vision is needed. It must be ensured that there is survivor-
friendly support network/ mechanism; quick, fair and
affordable legal process to encourage them to speak up
against injustice. Similarly to encourage high reporting,
better Witness Protection System needs to be ensured. It
is imperative that mechanisms be established to monitor
the enforcement of the relevant legislation and create
awareness on VAW. Similarly, judges, lawyers, police
officers and public-sector officials in general should be
trained to facilitate the reporting of crimes and provide
protection to the survivors.
2. Increase access to support mechanism for survivors of

VAW.
156 Physical and mental health impacts are severe as a result
of VAW. It is important to ensure protective measures like,
alternative housing/safe shelter, free medical examination,
counseling, rehabilitation and legal support for women
survivors of VAW. The research indicates that there is an
urgent need to focus on counseling and safe house facilities
for women survivors which should be managed by skilled
persons capable of delivering the necessary counseling
support and help as per the need of the survivors which is
very weak at present.
3. Improve quality of service and safety in the safe houses.

Many safe houses are still quite unsafe for survivors
from perpetrators. They face problems from multiple
parties. It is important that while survivors are in safe

houses, they must be kept safe. The major issues include
inadequate resources, poor follow up and lack of long
term commitment to survivors. Protection of survivors
and witness must be provided in rural and remote areas
as well.
4. Incorporate feminist perspectives to ensure justice for

women.
Patriarchal attitudes are ingrained in all the social institution
which needs to be challenged. Incorporation of feminist
thinking is needed to effectively address women’s issues
and change societal attitude towards VAW. Re-defining
various forms of violence against women as a human
rights violation and constant State action and support is
needed to ensure justice as defined by the survivors.
5. Increase research and wider level studies and data

collection on VAW at the national level.
Systematic studies across a wider range of women
groups are useful in understanding the reality of VAW.
It is important in identifying and devising programs and
activities and demanding changes at all levels. Anbeshi’s 157
research has been a significant eye opener to the rampant
but silent issue of VAW which should be taken seriously to
demand the rights for all women.
6. Smoothen the process to increase reporting of VAW

through women friendly environment and networks.
The research indicates that women face difficulty reporting
cases to the concerned authorities. The social institution
is ingrained in patriarchal attitudes which deter women
from coming forward and reporting the case. They are
humiliated and blamed by powerful stereotypes about
VAW which reinforces the notion that the woman was
fully/ partially responsible. This further traumatizes
the women survivor. There are various reasons for not

reporting, from unawareness of their rights to lack of
knowledge on the process as well as fear of retaliation. This
needs to be changed to encourage reporting and speaking
against VAW. Mediation process that is largely practiced
at the community to settle VAW and free the perpetrators
should be discouraged.
7. Protocol on Investigation must change

The present procedures are significantly biased against
the survivors. Police often fail to register First Information
Reports (FIR) in cases of rape, especially when the
survivor comes from a socially or economically weak
background. At various instances, doctors have refused
to conduct a medical examination in the absence of a
police report, while police officers refuse to issue a report
without a medical statement. In such situations families
of survivors have also been harassed and threatened into
withdrawing their accusations. Sometimes, due to delay
in filing a complaint, the police have no time to conduct
the investigation and send the investigation report further
which hampers the legal investigation procedure. Thus,
158
the police must register FIRs even when no medical report
is available. The requirement that FIRs will be filed only at
nearest police station where the offence occurred needs to
be changed. Likewise, confidentiality must be protected
during investigations, trials or other legal proceedings.
8. Demand measures to end impunity against VAW.

The rampant impunity for reported cases of VAW should
end immediately. The political system must stop shielding
perpetrators, and must proactively enforce rule of law so
that women’s human rights are ensured. Access to state
mechanisms by socially disadvantaged caste and groups
should be prioritized and supported through various
networks. Impunity must be addressed through proper

implementation of various plans and policies while
providing women and girls with effective protection,
access to justice and at the same time helping prevent
VAW occurring in the first place.
Legislative reform is needed to criminalize all forms of

sexual violence which should be supplemented with
availability and accessibility of legal support for the
survivors. Similarly, since FIR can only be filed for crimes
listed in Schedule 1 of State Cases Act, 1992 which includes
rape, but not other forms of SV; this must change to end
impunity against VAW. Similarly, procedures should be
established to make government official accountable for
not pursuing cases using their discretionary power.
9. Raise awareness regarding VAW.

It is important to raise awareness in community through
engagement of people from different groups to help change
the dominant views that are detrimental to women. Public
information/ education programs to increase awareness
regarding VAW and women’s right should be prioritized
at all level. It requires efforts to involve male members, 159
elders, community leaders, traditional and religious
leaders.
10. Ensure amendment and implementation of relevant

laws and policies.
The Domestic Violence Crime and Punishment Act
2066-67 is a positive step towards Women’s human
rights .However, it is important to push for its effective
implementation and devise strategies to effectively deal
with DV as still it lacks clarity on the legal processes as
well as incorporation of all the aspects of DV. Similarly
law on marital rape must be enforced and the provision of
the criminal penalties attached to marital rape should
be made proportionate to the gravity of the offence. (for

example, the maximum penalty for marital rape is only 6
months)
11. Rape Bill must be passed

Rape Bill must be passed to protect survivors, provide
adequate protection to survivors as well as punish the
culprits. Redefinition of rape is urgently needed. The
present definition limits which sexual assaults can be
classified as rape and denies the possibility that a male
can be raped as sexual intercourse is narrowly defined,
appearing to be limited to penile penetration of vagina.
Discriminatory provision such as extremely short

limitation periods for filing complaints must change. Under
the present law, rape complaints have to be presented
within 35 days, but survivors may be too traumatized
or frightened to come forward within such a short span
of time. This provision has acted as a barrier to access
justice for rape committed during the conflict period in
Nepal and for many rape cases since then. Moreover, the
criminal penalties attached to rape, including marital
160 rape is inappropriate or inconsistent with international
standards.
12. Ensure that various forms of S.V are specifically and

individually criminalized.
These include but are not limited to sexual slavery, enforced
pregnancy, forced prostitution, forced sterilization,
forced nudity, mutilation of genitals and breasts and
other sexual assaults not involving penetration.
13. The practice of mediation must end.

Many cases are settled outside the formal justice system,
with survivors pressured into negotiations by offering
meager monetary compensations while the perpetrators
remain unpunished. Perpetrators often attempt to broker

mediation with survivors and offer “compensation” to
ensure that families will not register criminal complaints
or file civil suits. This trend must change.
14. Strengthen Witness Protection System.

Effective witness protection system is lacking in
Nepal. Steps must be taken to ensure that the survivors
and witnesses are protected against all ill treatment or
intimidation.
14. One Stop Crisis Centre needs to be established.

Many survivors have multiple needs and requirements.
However, official services are highly fragmented and
procedure oriented and drowns in excessive paper work.
This has resulted in delaying services, providing partial
services and very often denied services. This must all
change with One Stop Crisis Centre that can provide
comprehensive services as needed urgently by the
survivors.
15. Victim Centric Justice System needs to be developed.

Given the huge delays, excessive paper work and highly 161
formalistic procedures and other such characteristic of the
regular justice system, survivors of justice are often faced
with significant biases and bottle-necks. This is in spite
of some improvement in legal protection. The practical
aspects of providing justice in the spirit of the law need far
reaching changes. There should also be establishment and
strengthening of gender-sensitive units in the criminal
justice system, gender focal points in police stations,
special units to investigate cases of SV.
16. Fact Track Court should be in place.

‘Justice delayed is justice denied’ and this is even more so
in the case of SV survivors. It is urgent that Fast Track
Court be established and provided with the legal backing

necessary to deliver timely justice to such survivors.
17.Increase State support to children of SV.

State support to children of SV has been totally neglected
and overlooked. This is a major policy gap and must
be addressed immediately to protect the human rights
of children. Similarly, with regards to the children of
survivors of rape or other forms of sexual violence,
their opportunities to pursue life in a dignified way must
be ensured by the State.
18. Reintegration, compensation and reparation must be

ensured for survivors of SV committed during the
conflict period.
Ex-combatants have not as yet been fully integrated on
account of deep rooted socio-cultural barriers which
must be addressed and reparation urgently provided.
A comprehensive program of compensation and
reparation for survivors of sexual violence during the
conflict including victims of rape and other forms
of sexual violence must be developed since existing
162 provisions for reparation to survivors are limited in terms
of compensation and fall short of international standards.
19. Ensure safety to Women Human Right Defenders

(WHRDs)
The Government must support and protect those who are
committed to eliminating violence against women, including
women human rights defenders as they face risk of violence.
Similarly, the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders
adopted by the UN General Assembly on 9 December 1998
lays out the basic principles that must be fully respected in
order to support them to carry out their work freely and
without fear of reprisal. In this regard, NGOs who work to
support survivors of sexual violence are under violent attacks
who must be protected.

Annex 1
Terms and
Definitions
Annex 1
Terms and Definitions
A. Types of Violence
Domestic Violence
Any abusive, violent, coercive, forceful, or threatening act
inflicted by husbands or member of a family or household
on another can constitute domestic violence and can have
various physical, mental, social and economic consequences.
These include but are not limited to beating/ physical torture,
polygamy, eviction, verbal abuse and mental/emotional
torture.
Social Violence
Social violence can basically be understood as violence that
takes place due to social factors and mostly occurs outside
the family. It includes discriminatory practices that impact
women which are mostly caused by the members of the
society. Social violence includes discrimination based on caste,
acid spraying, labor exploitation, allegations of witchcraft,
164 threats, dowry related, child marriage, verbal abuse, character
assassination etc.
Sexual Violence
Conduct of a sexual or indecent nature towards a woman
that is accompanied by actual or threatened physical force or
that induces fear, shame, or mental suffering. If any person,
without consent of a woman, touches or tries to touch her
sensitive organ, forces her to touch his/her sexual organ or
uses any sexually motivated words or symbols or shows her
such photographs or drawings, teases or harasses her with
sexual motives .
Rape
Rape is generally defined as forced or nonconsensual sexual

contact. Rape is forced, manipulated, or coerced sexual
contact through verbal coercion, threats, physical restraint,
and/or physical violence. For the study, rape, gang rape and
attempted rape are included in this category.
Human Trafficking/Transportation
Trafficking/ transportation include transfer, harbouring or
receipt of persons, by means of threat or use of force or other
forms of coercion for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation
includes prostitution, sexual exploitation, forced labour or
services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude,
removal of organs etc.
Murder
This category includes cases of murder of women and
attempted murder.
Others
This category includes cases of kidnapping, abandonment,
suicide etc.
B. Marital Status Of Survivor/Perpetrators

Married, Unmarried, Single, Separated, Living-in, Divorced 165
C. Ethnicity Of Survivor/Perpetrators
Hill Janajati: Janajati Gurung,Magar,Rai, Limbu,Kirat,
Dhami,Chhantyal, Tamang, Sherpa, Lama, Bhote,Newar,
Jirel, Thakali, Raute, Chepang, Kusunda, Danuwar etc.
Terai Janjati:
Tharu,Rajbanshi,Tajpuriya,Gangai,Singh,Dhanuk,Dhimal,Sa
nyal,Munda,Satar,Jhagar,Danuwar,Kisan,Koche, etc.
Tari Dalit:
Chamar, Harijan,Ram,Musaha ,Dusadh, Paswan, Pasi, Tatma
,Khatwe,Dhobi,Sardar,Chimidar, Dom, Halkhor, Kuswadiya,
Kalar, Khatik, Koyeri,etc.

Hill Dalit: Damai,Kami,Sarki,Doli,Gayene,Badi etc.
Terai Non Dalit: Yadav, Teli, Gupta,Kamat, Malaha,

Mahato,Shah, Thakur, Rajbhar, Mali, Kurmi, Haluwai, Kewat,
Nuniya, Kahar, Dhedeyar, Dhaniya, Lodha, Hazam, etc.
Brahmin, Chhetri
D. Occupation Of Survivor/Perpetrator
1. Agriculture, Household Works, Labor, Business ,Non
Formal Work, Non Governmental Work, Government Service,
Social Work, Foreign Employment
E.Effects on Survivor
1. Physical Effect
2. Mental Effect
3. Economic effect
4. Social Effect
F.Age of Survivor/ Perpetrator

1. Below 16 Years
2. 16 years to 25 Years
166 3. 26 Years to 35 Years
4. 36 Years to 45 Years
5. 46 Years to 55 Years
6. Above 56 years
G. Education
1. Literate
2. Illiterate
Literate: -Those who can read and write, Adult Literacy,

Primary Level Education, Secondary Level Education, Higher
Secondary Level Education, Beyond Higher Secondary Level
Education

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"Anbeshi"

Status and Dimension of

A year book on Violence Against

Written By : Shiba Satyal Banskota

Publication year: 2013

MISEREOR, Germany had provided financial support to publish

Published by: WOREC Nepal

Chapter 2 evidence and analysis 27

Chapter 3 domestic violence 51

A Year Book on Violence against Women 2013

Chapter 4 social violence 67

A Year Book on Violence against Women 2013

Chapter 7 murder 107

Chapter 8 human trafficking/ transportation 119

A Year Book on Violence against Women 2013

Chapter 9 background of the perpetrators 130

Chapter 10 support to the survivors 141

Chapter 11 media coverage and follow-up 147

Chapter 12 conclusions and recommendations 152

Annex 1 terms and definitions 163

A Year Book on Violence against Women 2013

Chart 1 Cases of VAW from five Development Regions 28

Chart 3 Age Profile and GBV 34

A Year Book on Violence against Women 2013

A Year Book on Violence against Women 2013

A Year Book on Violence against Women 2013

Babu Ram Gautam

WOREC Nepal has attempted to shed light on the issue

The previous issues of Anbeshi have highlighted that one

By ratifying different Convention and providing equality

A Year Book on Violence against Women 2013

This year’s report also presents compelling evidence of the

As before, the publication again provides a host of evidence

It is high time that the State shows its responsibility to prevent

1. VAW and Five Development Regions

A Year Book on Violence against Women 2013

Similarly, according to the media 154 (26.2%) of the cases

A Year Book on Violence against Women 2013

The most affected were below 16 years of age accounting

A Year Book on Violence against Women 2013

g. Suicide and Others

6 3. Age Groups and VAW

4. Education and VAW

A Year Book on Violence against Women 2013

5. Marital Status and VAW

6. Occupation and VAW

8. Ethnicity and VAW

A Year Book on Violence against Women 2013

9. Relationship between the survivors and perpetrators

Thus, VAW can be discussed as any act of gender-based

Attempt has been made to understand the different dimensions

1 1993 United Nation Declaration on the Elimination of Violence

A Year Book on Violence against Women 2013

Unequal power relations and related social norms are the

It is clear from the above discussion that multiple and

A Year Book on Violence against Women 2013

The literature on the causes of violence against women

A Year Book on Violence against Women 2013

Previously some interpretations have led to confusion in

Many gaps still remain in our understanding of VAW as it

4 Greig, A. and Edström, J. (2012) Mobilising Men in Practice:

A Year Book on Violence against Women 2013

Gita Sen writes: The structures that govern gender systems