Nepal
Violence Against Women
The Rising Nepal
Women have been at the receiving end throughout their lives especially in a male-dominated
society like ours. Violence against women and girls is a major health and human rights
concern. Women experience physical or mental abuse throughout the lifecycle - in infancy,
childhood and/or adolescence, or during adulthood or older age. While violence has severe
health consequences for the affected, it is a social problem that warrants an immediate
coordinated response from multiple sectors.
http://www.gorkhapatra.org.np/pageloader.php?file=2005/10/31/editorial/editorial1
http://www.childtrafficking.org/cgi-
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Violence Against Women
By Muna Balami
Women have been at the receiving end throughout their lives especially in a male-dominated
society like ours. Violence against women and girls is a major health and human rights
concern. Women experience physical or mental abuse throughout the lifecycle - in infancy,
childhood and/or adolescence, or during adulthood or older age. While violence has severe
health consequences for the affected, it is a social problem that warrants an immediate
coordinated response from multiple sectors.
Definition
A group of international experts convened by WHO in February 1996 agreed that the definition
adopted by the United Nations General Assembly provides a useful framework for the
organisation’s activities. The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (1993)
defines violence against women as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is
likely to result in, physical, sexual or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of
such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private
life.”
This includes “physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring in the family and in the
general community, including battering, sexual abuse of children, dowry-related violence,
rape, female genital mutilation and other traditional practices harmful to women, non-spousal
violence and violence related to exploitation, sexual harassment and intimidation at work, in
educational institutions and elsewhere, trafficking in women, forced prostitution, and violence
perpetrated or condoned by the state.”
In every country where reliable, large-scale studies have been conducted, results indicate that
between 10% and 50% of women report they have been physically abused by an intimate
partner in their lifetime.
Population-based studies state that between 12 and 25% of women have experienced
attempted or forced sex by an intimate partner or ex-partner at some time in their lives.
Interpersonal violence was the tenth leading cause of death for women 15-44 years of age in
1998.
Forced prostitution, trafficking for sex and sex tourism appear to be growing. Existing data
and statistical sources on trafficking of women and children estimated 500,000 women
entered the European Union in 1995.
Most studies on violence against women indicate that the perpetrators of violence against
women are almost exclusively men. Women are at greatest risk of violence from men they
know, women and girls are the most frequent victims of violence within the family and
between intimate partners. Physical abuse in intimate relationships is almost always
accompanied by severe psychological and verbal abuse. Social institutions put in place to
protect citizens too often blame or ignore battered women.
Violence against women arises from a combination of individual biological and psychological
characteristics as well as social, economic and political factors. Accurate and comparable data
on violence against women are needed to strengthen advocacy efforts, help policymakers
understand the problem, and guide the design of preventive interventions.
Unfortunately, data collection efforts that measure the scope and magnitude of the situation of
violence against women are hampered by a number of factors, including the influence of social
and cultural norms in determining what constitutes violence, impeding universal consensus on
a definition of violence against women; and changes in reported rates of abuse according to
the definition of violence used, the way questions are asked, the type of target population,
and the setting of the interview.
Violence against women has serious consequences for their physical and mental health.
Abused women are more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety, psychosomatic symptoms,
eating problems, and sexual dysfunctions. Violence may affect the reproductive health of
women through: the increase in sexual risk-taking among adolescents, the transmission of
STDs, including HIV/AIDS, unplanned pregnancies, precipitating various gynecological
problems, including chronic pelvic pain and painful intercourse. Consequences such as
HIV/AIDS or unplanned pregnancies may in themselves act as risk factors for further
aggression, forming a cycle of abuse. Effects of violence may also be fatal as a result of
intentional homicide, severe injury or suicide. Violence presents an undue burden on the
health system. Violence has indirect effects on the society. It represents a drain on the
economically productive workforce and generates a climate of fear and insecurity.
Factors
Women in the east are more at risk than those in the west because of our culture and value
system. Although women throughout the world are at risk, in south Asian countries like Nepal,
there are additional factors such as poverty, lower status, discrimination, low level of
education, lack of autonomy over reproductive decisions and an inability to negotiate safe sex
practices that make them more vulnerable. A large number of women who have contracted
HIV infection do so from their partners.
Sexual violence in conflicts makes HIV all the more difficult to contain. So many issues arise
from conflict, which have a bearing on HIV like poverty, gender iniquity and migration.