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Nepal's
Social Life - Woman |
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Domestic
violence still common
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KATHMANDU,
25 November 2008 (IRIN)
Thousands
of women are subjected to domestic violence each year. Thousands of women
are subjected to domestic violence each year.
Married
at the age of 12, Radha Neupane has been a victim of domestic violence
for two decades.
"I'm
used to it now. What choice do I have?" asked Neupane who works as a maid
in more than three houses, earning less than US$30 per month, to support
her children.
She
gets absolutely no support from her alcoholic husband.
"I
have to survive for my children. They will be homeless if I leave my husband,"
the 32-year old told IRIN in Kathmandu, where incidents of domestic violence
often go unreported.
Despite
campaigns against gender-based violence over several decades, beating,
slapping, kicking, hair-pulling, verbal abuse, as well as the use of sticks,
knives and acid remain common forms of domestic violence in Nepal, experts
say.
"The
situation has barely changed because we have the same patriarchal society
where women's equality is not accepted," activist Bhawana Rana, vice-president
of Saathi, a national NGO helping victims of domestic violence, said.
According
to Saathi, which has been lobbying the government to bring in laws against
domestic violence, Nepal has one of the worst records of gender-based violence
in Asia.
Lobbying
for change
"Cases
of domestic violence and related impunity are increasing, especially due
to the lack of strong laws penalising the guilty."
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Many
human rights and women's rights NGOs, in collaboration with international
aid agencies, have joined forces to lobby for stronger measures to eliminate
domestic violence, but to no avail: |
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The 2002 bill on "Domestic Violence
(Crime and Punishment)" remains on hold.
"Cases
of domestic violence and related impunity are increasing, especially due
to the lack of strong laws penalising the guilty," said advocate Shanta
Sedai.
Activists
are calling for major changes in social attitudes: "We also have the challenge
of eliminating social taboos and superstitions against women," explained
Rana from Saathi.
Rights
NGOs say a number of crimes like polygamy, marital rape, sexual abuse by
relatives, torture and even trafficking, are directly related to domestic
violence.
According
to UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the main challenge is that domestic violence
is seen as a private family affair, with outside intervention not encouraged.
There is also wide social approval among men and women of gender-based
violence, activists say.
A
2001 survey by the government's national level Nepal Demographic and Health
Survey said a large number of women - including those in urban areas -
thought it was acceptable for a husband to beat his wife for burning food,
arguing, going outdoors without permission, or refusing to have sex.
"Discriminatory
institutions"
"In
our patriarchal society, traditionally defined patterns of social roles
and responsibilities have led to a system of discriminatory institutions
resulting in gender-based violence," Peden Pradhan, assistant representative
of UNFPA Nepal, told IRIN.
Meanwhile,
activists remain concerned that failure to seriously eliminate such violence
will only encourage impunity among the perpetrators. Even pregnant women
have not been spared severe physical violence, said Samanta, another local
women's rights NGO.
According
to UNFPA's study entitled Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women in Nepal,
abused women are more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety, psychosomatic
symptoms, sexual dysfunction and many reproductive health problems.
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Credit
IRIN 2008
Copyright
Ⓒ UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2008
[
This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
Integrated
Regional Information Networks (IRIN), part of the UN Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). |
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