NEPAL
Initial report dated
16 November 1998 (CEDAW/C/NPL/1)
In 1990, a popular
movement in Nepal achieved a remarkably peaceful transition
from absolute monarchy to multi-party democracy with a constitutional
monarchy. Led by the Nepali Congress Party and the Left Front,
the revolution put in place a new constitution with many important
human rights provisions. Since the reforms began, however, Nepal's
political landscape has been marked by frequent changes in leadership,
a plethora of competing political parties, and power struggles.
Six different coalition governments have ruled the country since
1990, and 1998 alone witnessed the formation of two governments.
Political infighting and government corruption have caused badly
needed political and economic development projects to remain
stalled.
Nepal's exceptional
ethnic diversity, coupled with its dispersed population, rugged
terrain, and isolation are important factors in its human rights
situation. Over sixty ethnic groups, speaking over fifty different
languages, inhabit the country.1 Of the twenty-one million Nepali citizens, only one million
reside in the Kathmandu Valley. Nepal is isolated from most
of the world's land, air and sea transport routes. Calcutta,
India is the only viable port of entry for goods bound for Kathmandu.
Currently, only one reliable road route runs from India to the
Kathmandu Valley. Twenty-two of the country's seventy-five districts
lack road links altogether.
Political Situation
and History
King Birendra Bir
Bakram Shah Dev, monarch since 1972, continues to play a significant
leadership role in the country's executive and legislative structures.
According to the Constitution, executive power is shared by
the monarch (who the Constitution defines as the male descendant
of the royal lineage)2 and the Council of Ministers. Appointed by the king, the Prime
Minister heads the Council of Ministers and is selected from
the party with a parliamentary majority. The king selects Supreme
Court justices and Attorney General, as well as the heads of
all major government departments, including the Election Commission
and the Commission on the Investigation of Abuse of Authority.
Nepal has a bicameral
legislature, consisting of the National Assembly and the House
of Representatives. Parliament has been dominated by the Nepali
Congress Party (NCP), a party of democratic socialists that
helped to spearhead the political reforms of 1990-1991. The
Nepal Communist Party (Unified Marxist-Leninist) (NCP-ML), six
other communist parties, and two royalist parties also have
a political presence.3 All
in all, over forty political parties compete for public support.
1999 General Elections
Nepal's most recent
general elections were conducted in two rounds on 3 May and
17 May 1999. The country's 205 parliamentary seats were contested
by 2,224 candidates,
two-thirds of whom
represented political parties.4
Of the candidates, 141 women ran for office. Campaign issues
included improving economic conditions, resolving territorial
disputes with India and eliminating corruption.5
Although the election
results are unknown at the time of this writing, four major
political parties have lodged complaints with the Election Commission
accusing local police, government administrations and Nepali
Congress Party officials of widespread poll rigging and other
irregularities. The Election Commission has cancelled elections
and ordered re-polling in seventy of the 2,919 polling stations,
ostensibly due to clashes between rival political groups.6
The Maoist Insurgency
Starting in 1996,
a Maoist faction of Nepal's communists launched a "people's
war" against the government that has left over 600 security
police, insurgents and civilians dead. The insurgency began
with a series of raids on police offices and landowners' homes
in four of the country's most impoverished and remote areas-Rukum,
Rolpa, Salyan and Jajarkot.7
Over the past three years, the insurgency has spread to thirty
of the country's seventy-five districts.
The Maoist movement
has its roots in the 1990 campaign against the absolute monarchy.
Maoist supporters diverge from more mainstream political parties
by advocating radical reforms, including abolishing the monarchy,
to "bring an end to the rule of vengeful regime and to establish
a people's New Democracy."8
Arguing that elections only return the same "corrupt and immoral
politicians" to power,9
the group faults the government with failing to provide basic
education, health and water in over 4,000 villages and urban
areas.10
Domestic and international
human rights groups condemn the Maoists for their terrorist
tactics, which have included murder, abduction and torture in
retaliation against those considered to be enemies of the "people's
war."11 The group has
targeted political leaders, local elites, and suspected informers,
including members of the more moderate Communist Party of Nepal-United
Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) and the Nepali Congress Party. They
have been accused of killing several candidates, and warned
candidates and that "people will have to pay with their lives"
if they participate in the 1999 elections.12
While acknowledging
the terrorist tactics of the Maoist insurgency, human rights
groups also criticize the government for its strategies, many
of which have exacerbated the conflict and drawn civilians into
the violence. Some human rights experts charge that the police
arrested many people based on their political beliefs even though
they oppose the use of violence.13
Police have allegedly arrested, tortured and gang raped women
to extort information about missing Maoist men who fled the
police.14 Police have
reportedly denied human rights monitors access to affected areas
and to political detainees.15
Economy
With an average
per capita income of US $200, Nepal is one of the poorest countries
in the world. According to government statistics, over twenty
percent of the country's total labor force is unemployed.16
Seventy-five percent of the people of Nepal live below the poverty
line,17 and forty percent
live in absolute poverty, defined as income inadequate to support
a minimum caloric intake.18
Over eighty percent
of Nepalis work as subsistence farmers, yet agricultural productivity
is very low and has continued to decline over the last thirty
years. Agricultural production decreased as a share of Nepal's
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 61.2 percent in 1990 to 41.4
percent in 1996. There is little arable land , and the rugged
terrain, lack of adequate transportation and population dispersion
inhibit agricultural growth. Nepal depends heavily on the imports
of basic materials and equipment for agricultural production,
which is problematic for a landlocked country.
Nepal is actively
trying to diversify its economy, particularly in the areas of
tourism, transport, telecommunications and hydropower generation.
The country's vast rivers provide potential for the development
of hydroelectric resources, which is in high demand in Northern
India.19
Human Rights
Most experts agree
that the human rights situation in Nepal has been gradually
improving since 1990. The government has abolished the death
penalty, ratified many international human rights treaties,
and passed important legislation such as the Human Rights Commission
Act and Torture Compensation Act. Implementation and enforcement,
however, have continued to be problems.20
The establishment of a Human Rights Commission has been stalled
for the past three years.21
Refugees from Bhutan
and Tibet
Nepal was an asylum
destination for over 100,000 Bhutanese refugees (one-sixth of
Bhutan's population).22
Many are ethnically Nepali and were forced out by the government
of Bhutan starting in 1990 when the royal government of Bhutan
declared a "one nation, one people" policy stressing the need
for a "distinct national identity."23
Most Bhutanese refugees live in UNHCR-administered refugee camps
in eastern Nepal. The government officially restricts work and
freedom of movement, but does not strictly enforce its policies.24
Since 1959, the
government of Nepal has also been providing asylum for refugees
fleeing from Tibet, usually in transit to India. Approximately
20,000 Tibetan refugees are currently in Nepal, and as many
as 3,000 arrive every year.25
The successive Nepali government administrations have not had
a consistent policy concerning human rights for
refugees. Approximately
4,000 Tibetans lack identification cards, which prevents them
from accessing basic services and traveling abroad. The government
of Nepal has promised to issue identification cards to all Tibetan
refugees by the end of 1999.26
Freedom of Expression
and Media
Despite legislative
guarantees of freedom of thought and expression, several limitations
and restrictions apply. The Constitution prohibits speech and
writing that would "undermine the sovereignty or integrity to
the Kingdom, disturb the harmonious relations among persons
of different castes or communities, promote sedition, defamation,
contempt of court or crime, or contradict decent public behavior
or morality."27
Many journalists
report cases of harassment and censorship when reporting on
the Maoist insurgency. Nepal's constitution states that "No
press shall be closed or seized for printing any news item,
article or other reading material."28
However, on 6 January 1999, two weekly publications, Glory and
People's Command, which are said to be linked to the Maoist
movement, were closed down by police. Police arrested thirteen
staff members, including nationally-known journalist Shakti
Lamsal.29
According to the
Committee to Protect Journalists, police in several cities have
prevented the distribution of newspapers containing information
about the fighting between the Maoists and the government.30
In July 1998, Kathmandu police "instructed transport firms not
to deliver newspapers containing articles on the government's
operations against Maoist rebels, and burned those copies of
the offending papers that had already been loaded onto trucks
and buses.31
Nongovernmental
Organizations (NGOs)
NGOs, including
women's organizations, have lobbied the government on a variety
of issues since the early 1990s. For the most part, the government
refrains from interfering in the activities of human rights
groups. It has allowed domestic and international groups to
visit prisons and prisoners, and groups may freely publish reports
on human rights abuses. However, in June 1998, police arrested
Gopal Siwakoti Chintan, a human rights activist, for alleged
cooperation with the Maoists. The police confiscated audio and
videotapes of interviews with victims of human rights violations
from his office. Chintan was later released when the government
failed to find evidence to convict him.32
STATUS OF WOMEN
IN NEPAL UNDER SPECIFIC CEDAW ARTICLES:
IWRAW is grateful
to Sapana Pradhan Malla, women's human rights activist and legal
expert on the application of international human rights instruments
to women's human rights legislation in Nepal, for providing
information on the legal status of women, property and inheritance
rights, and women in public life in Nepal for inclusion in this
section. Much of the material in the section on violence against
women is based on a September 1998 investigative report, Domestic
Violence in Nepal, by Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights (MAHR).
The report was written by Kathleen Graham and Johanna Bond.
Material on trafficking in women comes mainly from Rape For
Profit, a 1995 Human Rights Watch publication on the trafficking
of women in Nepal and India.
CONVENTION ARTICLE
1 DEFINITION OF DISCRIMINATION
The Constitution
prohibits discrimination by the State on the basis of "religion,
race, sex, caste, tribe or ideology."33
Marital status is not included in the definition of discrimination.
The law states that all citizens are equal before the law, and
that "special provisions may be made by the law for the protection
and advancement" of the interests of women, children, or other
traditional disadvantaged groups.34
The Constitution does not specify what constitutes discrimination,
although it does mention equal pay for equal work and the right
to public space and public utilities.
CONVENTION ARTICLE
2 POLICY MEASURES TO ELIMINATE DISCRIMINATION
In its initial report,
the Government of Nepal recognizes the existence of legal discrimination
against women. According to the government, "girls are assigned
unequal legal status in comparison to boys," and the "law is
silent on the maintenance of the right of the daughter with
regard to property rights since a male-child is entitled to
inheritance rights from birth, but a girl-child shall acquire
such property rights only if she remains unmarried up to the
age of thirty-five years."35
The Government's
Ninth Plan (1998-2002) displays a strong commitment to reviewing
existing legislation on women and enacting appropriate laws.
The Ministry of Women and Social Welfare (MWSW) is responsible
for monitoring the implementation and incorporation of international
women's human rights standards into domestic legislation. Although
the Ministry has actively sought to adopt measures to eliminate
discrimination, its programs have been limited by budgetary
constraints, political infighting and a lack of political will
within other government bodies.36
In 1997, the MWSW
submitted a concept bill to the Ministry of Law and Justice
(MLJ) that would eliminate discrimination in Nepal's property
and inheritance law. The concept bill came as the result of
the Supreme Court's Directive Order 3.8.195 following a discrimination
law suit. The MWSW included NGOs and women's human rights activists
in the Government Task Force, which was charged with drafting
the concept bill. Once the bill was submitted to Parliament
by the MLJ, however, the draft legislation had changed significantly,
containing discriminatory provisions requiring unmarried daughters
to return their share of inherited property upon marriage. The
Government submitted the bill to fulfill their obligations under
the Supreme Court Directive Order, but neglected to fully bring
its legislation into accordance with its obligations under CEDAW.
Although the Government's initial report addresses the Supreme
Court Directive Order, it fails to explain what initiatives
it has taken to follow the court order and guarantee equal inheritance
rights for women under the law.
CONVENTION ARTICLE
5 SEX ROLES AND STEREOTYPING
Customs and traditions
reinforce discriminatory legal, social and economic practices
relating to women in Nepal. Customary practices, particularly
dowry traditions, promote the belief in the superiority of men
over women throughout the life cycle and in virtually all sectors
of Nepali society. The current practice of Hinduism, which is
followed by eighty-five percent of the country's inhabitants
and is the official religion, "supports a social order that
promotes male domination and women's economic, social and emotional
dependence on them."37
Dowry and Gender
Stereotypes
The requirement
of dowry, while officially illegal, remains widespread, particularly
in the Terai region of southern Nepal. According to this tradition,
the bride's family negotiates and agrees to compensate the groom's
family at the time of the marriage. Though families typically
negotiate the amount of the dowry before the marriage, the ceremony
may occur with only a partial payment of the negotiated amount.
Disputes often arise if the bride's family fails to subsequently
pay the remainder of the negotiated dowry, or if the groom's
family demands an increase in the previously negotiated amount.
There is an implication that paying the additional amount will
avert future violence against the bride.38
As a result of the
dowry system, the marriage of a daughter often entails significant
economic sacrifice for families, while the marriage of a son
results in economic gain. The practice of dowry contributes
to son preference, a prejudice that places women in an inferior
position from birth and that is reinforced by many other customary
practices. According to one survey, ninety percent of parents
want two sons and then a daughter, and ninety-six percent prefer
to have a son if given the choice of one child.39
According to traditional beliefs, a baby boy causes less morning
sickness than a girl, so a pregnant woman is treated well or
badly by family members according to how much she suffers from
morning sickness.40
Gender Stereotypes
in the Family
According to the
MAHR report, the family in Nepal is the "basic organizational
unit forming the infrastructure for virtually all activity:
economic, social, and personal."41
The family structure follows traditional Hindu guidelines and
is patrilineal, from inheritance and property rights to caring
for the elderly and conducting burial rituals to
ensure parents'
passage into a holy afterlife.42
As men alone have the responsibility for carrying on the family
line, girls are often treated as temporary visitors on their
way to married life, which often begins before puberty.43
Since women are
defined and valued primarily in terms of marital and child-bearing
potential, those who must live outside a family structure have
little support from the legal and social systems. The following
story relayed by a human rights worker in Kathmandu encapsulates
the ways in which social and cultural patterns of conduct exacerbate
already overt discriminatory legal practices. A woman had come
to the legal aid organization and related the following story:
The woman had been
married through an arrangement made by her family at a very
young age. Soon after the marriage, her husband began to abuse
her physically and forced her to leave their home. When she
returned to her parents' home, they admonished her for failing
in her marriage. Her brothers became angry that the family was
supporting a married woman and began to abuse her. The woman
took a job as a domestic servant. She was later raped in the
marketplace by a stranger and became pregnant. While she had
a legitimate legal claim to support from her husband when she
was forced to leave his home, her advocates say her claim will
now be denied because she cannot prove that her husband is the
father of her child.44
CONVENTION ARTICLE
6 PROSTITUTION
Trafficking
Trafficking in women
and girls is a deep-rooted social problem, particularly in poverty
stricken, rural areas of the country.45
Today, most victims of trafficking are taken from remote villages
in economically disadvantaged areas and sent to brothels in
India. Some girls and women are abducted or falsely lured into
the sex trade by professionals, some volunteer in order to escape
economic hardship, and many are sold by their families.
Conservative estimates
of trafficking range from 7,000 to 12,000 annually. However,
one NGO estimates that each year some 40,000 women and girls
are abducted into sexual slavery.46
For decades, prostitution
brokers have targeted girls and women of the Tamang ethnic group,
most of whom are Buddhist and come from the hill communities
of central Nepal where "the flesh trade has become an almost
traditional source of income."47
Although many girls are abducted or lured into prostitution
from this region, such practices have been reported in virtually
every district of Nepal and from all castes and ethnic groups.48
According to a Nepali children's rights group, twenty percent
of prostitutes are under the age of sixteen.49
Traffickers use a variety of methods to coerce Nepali girls
into prostitution, including making false job or marriage offers,
drugging and kidnapping them.50
The impact of trafficking
on Nepali society is devastating. It is estimated that over
sixty-five percent of those who return to Nepal after serving
as prostitutes have HIV/AIDS.51
Diseases contracted in brothels often leave women sterile. Researcher
Vidhea Shrestha, who visited a poor farming area in northeast
Nepal that is a notorious source of prostitutes, observed that
"there were virtually no women between thirteen and thirty to
be seen."52
The Role of the
Government
Article 20 of the
Constitution prohibits the trafficking in human beings, although
it does not specifically address the sex trade.53
According to a national legal code called the Muluki Ain, traffickers
are subject to a twenty-year prison sentence for selling a person,
and a ten-year sentence for attempted sale, as well as fines
equivalent to the amount of the transaction.54
Border police and local officials, however, often fail to enforce
the laws. In addition, human rights groups argue that no matter
what steps Nepal takes to end the sex trade, trafficking will
continue unless regional strategies are adopted with the full
cooperation of the Indian government.
Poor training, corruption
and apathy among government officials undermine efforts to control
trafficking. HRW conducted interviews with Nepali police officers,
who:
acknowledged that
although they had received directives from police headquarters
to take trafficking seriously, there has been no systematic
attempt to train police officers to identify possible culprits.
The decision to stop and question a suspected trafficker, or,
more commonly, a suspected trafficking victim, rests solely
with the individual officer on duty, who makes the determination
based on his subjective assessment of a suspect's appearance.55
Furthermore, border
police often accept bribes to allow traffickers to transport
girls to India. According to one villager, "If a trafficker
ends up in prison it means he or she hasn't paid off the police."56
Legal and social
service programs provide little support for trafficking victims,
who are often shunned by their families and communities if they
return to their village. The few women who escape the brothels
and appeal to the Nepal police for help, or who are returned
by the Indian police, are "shuttled from one police station
to another as they make their way back to their home districts.
57 Some remain in police
detention for weeks until their guardians come and collect them.
Fearing the spread of HIV/AIDS, the Government has failed to
promote the rehabilitation of prostitutes. Unable to find a
place in Nepali society, many women ultimately return to India."58
CONVENTION ARTICLE
7 POLITICAL AND PUBLIC LIFE
Women obtained the
right to vote and run for office in 1951.59
Although tradition discourages women from participating in the
political process, Nepal is one of just six countries in the
world that legislates a minimum percentage of women for national
parliament. The 1991 Constitution requires that women constitute
at least five percent of each party's candidates for the House
of Representatives. Twenty percent of all village and municipal
level seats are reserved for female candidates.60
Prior to the May 1999 elections, seven of the 205 members of
the lower house of Parliament were women, and five of the sixty
members of the upper house were women.61
The majority of
political party platforms include equal rights for women.62
In preparation for the 1999 general elections, some of the country's
major political parties pledged to increase the number of seats
allocated for women candidates in the policy-making lower house
of parliament.63 The Nepali
Congress and CPN-ML informally committed to allocating ten percent
of Parliamentary seats to women. In reality, however, women
constituted only six percent of all Parliamentary candidates,
and no major party allocated more than seven percent of its
seats for women candidates.64
Further, women's human rights activists maintain that parties
are more concerned with the male vote, as they know that women
voters can be manipulated by male voters.65
CONVENTION ARTICLE
10 EDUCATION
In 1991, Nepal's
literacy rate was twenty-six percent for women, and fifty-seven
percent for men. The 1998 Nepal Human Development Report reveals
that girls comprise two-thirds of all school-age children who
are not attending classes.66
The Ministry of Education has launched the Basic and Primary
Education Program (BPEP), the goal of which is to narrow the
gender gap in education. In addition, the Women's Education
Unit, a division
of the Ministry of Education, publishes an annual report on
the status of women in educational institutions. Nepali experts
and activists, however, maintain that these programs do not
sufficiently result in gender-specific improvements.67
CONVENTION ARTICLE
11 - EMPLOYMENT
Theoretically, women
have equal employment opportunities with men in Nepal. According
to the law, women have the same rights as men to job opportunities
and promotions, equal pay for equal work, and the same rights
to credit from the banking sector.68
However, women face employment and wage discrimination, especially
in rural areas, where tradition, lack of education and ignorance
of the law impede full protection against wage discrimination.69
Although women have
an equal right to jobs, employers often see women as less desirable
candidates because of their child care and family obligations.
As a result of these prejudices, women must perform better than
men to gain equal status with male colleagues. In addition,
in order to obtain credit, women must present collateral, which
is nearly impossible given the restrictions that apply to women's
rights to ancestral property.70
CONVENTION ARTICLE
12 - EQUALITY IN ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE
Maternal and Child
Mortality
As of 1991, the
life expectancy rate was 52.6 for women and 55.4 for men,71
making Nepal one of only three countries in the world where
the life expectancy of women is lower than that of men.72
According to official statistics, maternal mortality rate is
539 per 100,000 live births, but the 1998 Human Development
Report states that it stands at 875 per 100,000 live births.
Approximately one in ten infants dies before the age of five.73
According to a survey conducted by the Nepali NGO Saathi (Friend),
one of every fifty women dies from pregnancy and child-bearing-related
illnesses. In addition, "100 babies die every day due to lack
of services like natal care, lack of awareness about simple
preventable causes, such as having a clean place to give birth
and not using a rusty knife to cut the umbilical cord."74
Malnutrition and
lack of access to medical facilities have a major impact on
the maternal and infant mortality rate. Forty percent of women
marry before the age of fourteen, nine percent of whom give
birth before reaching the age of sixteen. Almost all births
(ninety-two percent) take place in the home. Of home births,
nine percent are attended by a trained doctor, nurse or midwife;
the majority are attended by a village health worker. Only twenty
percent of pregnant women obtain prenatal care.75
It is estimated that eighty percent of Nepalese women are anemic,
and over sixty-three percent of three to six-month old infants
are malnourished.76 Cultural
factors further exacerbate maternal health issues: forty percent
of women in Nepal marry before the age of fourteen. Of them,
nine percent give birth by the age of fifteen.77
Family Planning
According to a recent
study published in International Family Planning Perspectives,
the average Nepali woman has 4.6 children, one more child than
she wishes to have.78
Although ninety-eight percent of women know of at least one
contraceptive method, and ninety percent of women approve of
the use of family planning methods, just thirty-five percent
of married women report ever having used a contraceptive.79
Of those who use contraceptives, tubal ligation is the most
commonly used method (12.9 percent), followed by vasectomy and
injectable methods.80
Abortion
Abortion is a criminal
offense, even when a woman's life is at risk.81
Women having an abortion can be imprisoned for one to three
years, and after twenty-eight weeks of pregnancy may be charged
with infanticide, punishable with up to twenty years' imprisonment.82
The vast majority
of women facing criminal charges for abortion are poor women,
usually unwed mothers, widows or married women living alone.
Approximately two-thirds of incarcerated women have been convicted
for undergoing an illegal abortion.83
An estimated twenty percent of women who have illegal abortions
are imprisoned.84 Parliament
has been considering amendments to the law since 1997, but it
has consistently failed to agree on the issue.
CONVENTION ARTICLE
14 - RURAL WOMEN
Nepal's rugged terrain,
dispersed population and lack of infrastructure limit rural
women's access to health, education and employment resources.
Ninety-three percent of women in the workforce are subsistence
farmers. Women perform sixty to seventy percent of the manual
labor in agriculture, as men often leave villages for more lucrative
work in larger cities.85
Access to Health
Services
Rural women in Nepal
generally face great health risks. Just twelve percent of rural
Nepal has sanitation facilities, compared to fifty-eight percent
in the cities. Fifty-three percent of the rural population has
access to safe drinking water (compared to eighty-one percent
in the cities).86 The
gap between fertility and desired fertility is nearly twice
as high among rural women as it is among urban women.
According to Women
and Politics Worldwide, the government has made some progress
in identifying, researching and creating awareness of the multitude
of problems facing rural women in the past twenty years. Seeing
that the agricultural development programs of the 1970s failed
to reach women, the Agricultural Development Bank of Nepal's
Small Farmers Development Program began a Women's Development
Program in 1981 to specialize in meeting rural women's needs.
The government has also established Women's Training Centers
in regional capitols. The centers conduct courses on rural development,
leadership training, textile making and home management. According
to researcher Meena Acharya, women's economic development over
the past several years has been small scale, but changes in
women's awareness, attitudes and participation in these programs
has been significant.87
CONVENTION ARTICLE
16 - EQUALITY IN MARRIAGE AND FAMILY LAW
Women may legally
seek divorce, but on narrower grounds than those applicable
to men. A woman may divorce her husband if he is impotent, illegally
takes a second wife or mistress, or if he deserts, grossly neglects
or abuses her. A husband may obtain a divorce if his wife is
unfaithful, deserts him or "plots" against him. A husband and
wife may divorce by mutual consent.88
The law on property
rights advantages men in inheritance and the division of family
property. Nepal's property law derives from the Hindi system
of beliefs emphasizing the retention of family property within
the male ancestral line.89
A woman has equal inheritance rights with her children to her
husband's property only if she remains faithful to her husband,
even after his death.90
She relinquishes all inheritance rights if she marries another
man or is charged with adultery. A woman is only accorded inheritance
of her family's property, on an equal basis with her brothers,
if she is unmarried and is at least thirty-five years old when
the property is divided. If she marries, the property reverts
to her brothers or other direct male descendants.91
Nepal's biased divorce
and property laws result in severe economic inequalities. If
a woman leaves her husband, divorce or partition laws provide
for only limited economic support. Because she has been married,
she has also forfeited her right to parental property. Faced
with economic dependence and the severe social stigma facing
women who live alone in Nepal, many women are forced to stay
in abusive relationships."92
GENERAL RECOMMENDATION
#19 - VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
There is no law
against domestic violence. In one study, fifty percent of respondents
said that they know someone who was the victim of domestic violence.
In another survey, respondents listed the perpetrators of violence
in seventy-seven percent of incidents as family members, and
fifty-eight percent reported that it is a daily occurrence.93
The practices of
dowry, polygamy and caste reinforce patterns of abuse. Because
the groom's entire family benefits financially from the payment
of dowry, domestic violence related to dowry often involves
more than one perpetrator in the groom's family. The practice
of polygamy is legal under certain circumstances but is practiced
illegally as well. One police official named polygamy as the
leading cause of domestic violence in Nepal.94
The caste system
has been legally prohibited, but it is still observed. If a
woman is from a lower caste, she may be more vulnerable to abuse
by her husband and their husband's family.95
Further, Nepal's
government and social services provide little support for the
victims of violence. In one survey, forty-two percent of respondents
said that in their experience medical practitioners were uncooperative
or negligent in cases of violence against women and girls.96
Little media attention is given to violence against women in
the home. According to one recent report, perpetrators of domestic
violence are generally not prosecuted in the criminal justice
system. According to the Muluki Ain, the state is not required
to prosecute the crime of assault-it is usually left to private
prosecution. As women often lack the economic resources to obtain
private legal counsel, private prosecution is rarely an option.
Civil law provides
abused women with a partition of the husband's property, but
delays in the legal system "effectively deny women their right
to partition."97 Divorce
is extremely rare, and accords little, if any, financial stability.
The government is
implementing several initiatives within the police system to
address domestic violence. There has been a growing initiative
to train new and existing police, as well as to recruit more
women to the police force, to improve police response to domestic
violence.98
Conviction on a
rape charge is punishable by a prison sentence of three to five
years, and rape of a prostitute results in a one-year prison
sentence and a fine. Marital rape is not considered a crime.
99
ACTIONS BY OTHER
HUMAN RIGHTS TREATY BODIES PERTAINING TO WOMEN'S HUMAN RIGHTS:
Concluding observations
of the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination:
Nepal. 10/02/99. CERD/C304/Add.61.
Concluding Recommendations:
- Provide fuller
information about the demographic composition of the population
and about measures taken to eliminate the practice of the
caste system.
- Provide information
on the results of affirmative action initiatives directed
at improving living conditions for less-developed groups.
- Take measures
to ensure training and education of students and social service
professionals on the Convention.
- Fully observe
the human rights of refugees and displaced persons from Bhutan.
Concluding observations
of the Committee on the Rights of the Child: Nepal. 07/06/96.CRC/C/15/Add.57.
(initial report).
Concluding Observations/Comments:
- Undertake adequate
legal reform to ensure full conformity of its legislation
with all the provisions of the Convention.
- Launch a comprehensive
and integrated public information campaign to promote children's
rights within society, and particularly in the family, to
help combat discriminatory attitudes toward girls. Provide
training on the Convention to professional groups working
with and for children.
- Make a greater
effort to distribute information on the principles of the
Convention to adults and children
- Strengthen coordination
between the different governmental mechanisms involved in
children's rights, at both central and local levels, and involve
non-governmental organizations in the process
- Gather all necessary
information on the situation of children as relates to the
Convention, including those in the most vulnerable groups.
Establish a multi-disciplinary monitoring system to assess
progress and difficulties in the realization of rights.
- Allocate economic
resources to implement economic, social and cultural rights
in the light of the principles of non-discrimination. Make
effort to reduce the negative impact of foreign debt and debt
servicing on children.
- Take further steps
to ensure that all children are registered at birth and thereby
recognized as a person and enjoys full rights.
- Take appropriate
measures to combat any form of ill-treatment and sexual abuse
of children, including within the family.
- Take all necessary
measures to reduce the drop-out rate of girls in rural and
urban areas and to prevent their involvement in child labor
or prostitution, and to reinforce access to basic services.
- Enforce child
labor laws.
- Take legislative
and administrative steps to prevent intercountry trafficking
and sale of children.
Concluding Observations
of the Human Rights Committee: Nepal. 10/11/94. CCPR/C/79/Add.42.(Initial
Report)
Concluding Observations/Comments:
- Fully incorporate
the Covenant of Civil and Political Rights into Nepal's existing
legislation.
- Adopt necessary
administrative and educational measures designed to eliminate
traditional practices and customs detrimental to the well-being
and status of women and vulnerable groups of Nepalese society.
- Gather information
and take educational measures to eradicate the trafficking
of women, debt bondage and child labor; accelerate prison
reforms.
- Adopt measures
to ensure the separation of executive and judicial functions
and the proper independent functioning of the judiciary.
- Consider developing
human rights training courses for law enforcement officials,
the judiciary, police and security forces.
Endnotes:
1
IWRAW Correspondence with Dr. Chandra Bhadra, 17 May 1999.
back 2
Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, Part 5. 27. back
3
Dhruba Adhikary, "Delhi and Ideology at Core of Elections,"
South China Morning Post, 6 April 1999, Nexis, 8 April 1999.
back
4
"2,224 Candidates to Contest May Election in Nepal," Xinhua
News Agency, 30 March 1999, Nexis, 6 April 1999. back
5
"Nepali Congress Party vows stable government," Kyodo News
Service, 20 March 1999, Nexis, 7 April 1999. back
6
"Nepal: Four Parties Allege 'Widespread' Poll Rigging,"
BBC Monitoring South Asia (original source: Kathmandu Post),
10 May 1999, Nexis, 10 May 1999. back
7
Shyam Bahadur, "Maoists 'People's War' in West Nepal Could
be Drawn-out Affair," Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 12 July 1996,
Nexis, 29 March 1999. back
8
Amnesty International, Nepal: Human Rights at a Turning
Point?, available at http://www.amnesty.org, accessed 21 March
1999. back
9
Kedar Man Sing, "Six Premiers Among Record 2,224 Candidates
for Nepal Election," Agence France Presse, 31 March 1999, Nexis,
4 April 1999. back
10
Kedar Man Singh, "Nepal Maoists Call Strike to Discourage
Voters," Agence France Presse, 4 April 1999, Nexis, 7 April
1999. back
11
Amnesty International, Nepal: Human Rights at a Turning
Point? , available at http://www.amnesty.org, accessed 21 March
1999. back
12
Kedar Man Sing, "Nepal Maoists Call Strike to Discourage
Voters," Agence France Presse, 4 April 1999, Nexis, 4 April
1999. back
13
Amnesty International, Nepal: Human Rights at a Turning
Point?" back
14
Rita Manchanda, "Nepal: Women Caught Between Ultra-Left
and Police Terror," Inter Press Service, 2 July 1998, Nexis,
3 April 1999. back
15
Amnesty International, Nepal: Human Rights at a Turning
Point?" back
16
Financial Times Asia Intelligence Wire, World of Information-Nepal
Country Profile, Nexis, 2 March 1999. back
17
Geeta Ramaseshan, "Women Imprisoned for Abortion in Nepal-Report
of a Forum Asia Fact Finding Mission," Reproductive Health Matters,
November 1997, Nexis, 22 March 1999. back
18
Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, Domestic Violence
in Nepal, September 1998, available at: http://www.mnadvocates.org,
accessed 29 March 1999. back
19
R. Ravichandran, "Nepal Wants More Foreign Investments,"
Financial Times Asia Intelligence Wire (Source: Bernama the
Malaysian National News Agency), 15 January 1999, Nexis, 25
March 1999. back
20
Amnesty International, "Nepal: Human Rights at a Turning
Point?" back
21
"Activists Demand Human Rights Panel," Ethnic News Watch,
28 August 1998, Nexis, 29 March 1999. back
22
Human Rights Watch, Rape For Profit: Trafficking of Nepali
Girls and Women to India's Brothels, (New York: Human Rights
Watch, 1995), 2. back
23
"Chronological Developments of Bhutanese Refugee Problem,"
International Solidarity, GRINSO Nepal, vol. 9 No. 4, September-December
1998, 15. back
24
US Department of State, Nepal Country Report on Human Rights
Practices for 1998. back
25
Ramyata Limbu, "Tibet's Refugees Come In From the Cold,"
Scotland on Sunday, 14 February 1999, on-line, Nexis, 3 April
1999. back
26
US Department of State, Nepal Country Report on Human Rights
Practices for 1998. back
27
The Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, Part 3, 13.1.
back
28
Ibid, Part 3, 13.2. back
29
"Police Raid Two Weekly Newspaper Offices, Arrest 13,"
Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 6 January 1999, Nexis, 29 March 1999.
back
30
Committee to Protect Journalists, 1998 Country Report:
Nepal, available at: http://www.cpj.org, accessed 1 April 1999.
back
31
Ibid. back
32
Suman Pradhan, "Nepal: Human Rights: Long on Pledges, Short
on Action," Inter Press Service, 9 November 1998, Nexis, 18
May 1999. back
33
The Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, Part 3, 11.
back
34
Ibid, Part 3, 11. back
35
IWRAW Correspondence with Sapana Pradhan Malla, 17 May
1999. back
36
IWRAW Correspondence with Sapana Pradhan Malla, 17 May
1999. back
37
Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, Domestic Violence
in Nepal, September 1998. back
38
Ibid. back
39
Shanta Laxmi Shreestha, "Gender Sensitive Planning," What,
Why and How in Nepal," Women Magazine, June 1997, on-line, Nexis,
12 April 1999. back
40
Ibid. back
41
Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, Domestic Violence
in Nepal, September 1998. back
42
Ibid. back
43
Ibid. back
44
Ibid. back
45
David Holmstrom, "One Woman's Efforts to Stop the Trade
in girls for Brothels," Christian Science Monitor, 14 April
1999, on-line, Nexis, 15 April 1999. back
46
Ibid. back
47
Human Rights Watch, Rape For Profit: Trafficking of Nepali
Girls and Women to India's Brothels, (New York: Human Rights
Watch, 1995), 6. back
48
Ibid, 7. back
49
Ganga Gurung, "Nepalis Start to 'Make Noise' About Sex Trafficking,"
Inter Press Service, 25 August 1998, Nexis, 31 March 1999.
back
50
Human Rights Watch, Rape For Profit: Trafficking of Nepali
Girls and Women to India's Brothels, 7. back
51
Ganga Gurung, "Nepalis Start to 'Make Noise' About Sex
Trafficking," Inter Press Service, 25 August 1998, Nexis, 31
March 1999. back
52
David Holmstrom, "One Woman's Efforts to Stop the Trade
in girls for Brothels," Christian Science Monitor, 14 April
1999, on-line, Nexis, 15 April 1999. back
53
The Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, Part 3, 20..
back
54
Human Rights Watch, Rape For Profit: Trafficking of Nepali
Girls and Women to India's Brothels, 79. back
55
Ibid, 55. back
56
Ibid, 52. back
57
Ibid, 79. back
58
Ibid, 2. back
59
Meena Acharya, "Political Participation of Women in Nepal,"
taken from Women and Politics Worldwide, ed. Barbara J. Nelson
and Najma Chowdhury (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994),
478. back
60
Wider Gender Gap In Political Power Found," Seattle Post-Intelligencer,
13 February 1997, Nexis, 22 April 1999. back
61
US Department of State, Nepal Country Report on Human Rights
Practices for 1998. back
62
Sapana Pradhan Malla, Political Parties and Party Manifesto,
4 February 1999. back
63
Suman Pradhan, "Politics-Nepal: More Women Politicians
in the Fray in May Polls," Inter Press Service, 25 February
1999, on-line, Nexis, 29 April 1999. back
64
Sapana Pradhan Malla, Political Parties and Party Manifesto,
4 February 1999. back
65
IWRAW Correspondence with Sapana Pradhan Malla, 17 May
1999. back
66
Suman Pradhan, "Education-Nepal: Primary School System
Flounders Despite Money," Inter Press Service, 3 August 1998,
on-line, Nexis, 22 April 1999. back
67
IWRAW correspondence with Dr. Chandra Bhadra, 17 May 1999.
back
68
Meena Acharya, "Political Participation of Women in Nepal,"
taken from Women and Politics Worldwide, ed. Barbara J. Nelson
and Najma Chowdhury (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994),
p. 478. back
69
US Department of State, Nepal Country Report on Human Rights
Practices for 1998. back
70
Meena Acharya, "Political Participation of Women in Nepal,"
487. back
71
Pashupati Shumshere, J.B. Rana, Dwarika Nath Dhungel and
Janak Raj Joshi, Contemporary Nepal (New Delhi: Vikas Publishing
House, 1998), 226. back
72
Shanta Laxmi Shreestha, "Gender Sensitive Planning," What,
Why and How in Nepal," Women Magazine, June 1997, Nexis,12 April
1999. back
73
1998 Nepal Human Development Report. back
74
Ajit Jain, "Acts Against Women Said to be Widespread in
Nepal," Ethnic News Watch, 27 March 1998, Nexis, 3 April 1999.
back
75
"Women's Health in Nepal," Latin American and Caribbean
Women's Health Network, July 1997, Nexis, 29 April 1999.
back
76
Ibid. back
77
I Olenick, "Levels of Unwanted Childbearing are High in
Nepal, Where Only One in Three Women Use Contraceptives," International
Family Planning Perspectives, June 1998, on-line, Nexis, 29
April 1999. back
78
Ibid. back
79
However, this is a vast improvement compared to twenty
years ago, when just three percent of women reported using contraceptives.
back
80
I Olenick, "Levels of Unwanted Childbearing are High in
Nepal, Where Only One in Three Women Use Contraceptives."
back
81
National Civil Code of the Kingdom of Nepal, section 28.
back
82
Geeta Ramaseshan, "Women Imprisoned for Abortion in Nepal-Report
of a Forum Asia Fact Finding Mission," Reproductive Health Matters,
November 1997, on-line, Nexis, 22 March 1999. back
83
Anika Rahman, Laura Katzive and Stanley Henshaw, "A Global
Review of Law on Induced Abortion," International Family Planning
Perspectives, v2 n2, 1998, available at http://jake.prod.oclc.org,
accessed 11 March 1999. back
84
IWRAW Correspondence with Sapana Pradhan Malla, 17 May
1999. back
85
David Holmstrom, "One Woman's Efforts to Stop the Trade
in girls for Brothels," Christian Science Monitor, 14 April
1999, Nexis, 15 April 1999. back
86
"Women's Health in Nepal," Latin American and Caribbean
Women's Health Network, July 1997, Nexis, 29 April 1999.
back
87
Meena Acharya, "Political Participation of Women in Nepal,"
Women and Politics Worldwide, ed. Barbara J. Nelson and Najma
Chowdhury (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994), 488.
back
88
Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, Domestic Violence
in Nepal, September 1998. back
89
Meena Acharya, "Political Participation of Women in Nepal,",
480. back
90
Shanta Laxmi Shreestha, "Gender Sensitive Planning," What,
Why and How in Nepal," Women Magazine, June 1997, Nexis, 12
April 1999. back
91
Ibid. back
92
Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, Domestic Violence
in Nepal, September 1998. back
93
US Department of State, Nepal Country Report on Human Rights
Practices for 1998. back
94
Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, Domestic Violence
in Nepal. back
95
Ibid. back
96
US Department of State, Nepal Country Report on Human Rights
Practices for 1998. back
97
Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, Domestic Violence
in Nepal. back
98
Ibid. back
99
IWRAW correspondence with Sapana Pradhan Malla, 17 May
1999. back
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