gender discrimination essay nepal

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• Published: 01 November 2022

A qualitative study on gender inequality and gender-based violence in Nepal

• Pranab Dahal 1 ,
• Sunil Kumar Joshi 2 &
• Katarina Swahnberg 1  

BMC Public Health volume  22 , Article number:  2005 ( 2022 ) Cite this article

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Gender inequality and violence are not mutually exclusive phenomena but complex loops affecting each other. Women in Nepal face several inequalities and violence. The causes are diverse, but most of these results are due to socially assigned lower positioning of women. The hierarchies based on power make women face subordination and violence in Nepal. The study aims to explore participants' understanding and experience to identify the status of inequality for women and how violence emerges as one of its consequences. Furthermore, it explores the causes of sex trafficking as an example of an outcome of inequality and violence.

The study formulated separate male and female groups using a purposive sampling method. The study used a multistage focus group discussion, where the same groups met at different intervals. Six focus group discussions, three times each with male and female groups, were conducted in a year. Thirty-six individuals, including sixteen males and twenty females, were involved in the discussions. The study used constructivist grounded theory for the data analysis.

The study participants identify that a power play between men and women reinforce inequality and increases the likelihood of violence for women. The findings suggest that the subjugation of women occurs due to practices based on gender differences, constricted life opportunities, and internalization of constructed differences among women. The study identifies that interpersonal and socio-cultural violence can result due to established differences between men and women. Sex trafficking, as an example of the outcome of inequality and violence, occurs due to the disadvantageous position of women compounded by poverty and illiteracy. The study has developed a concept of power-play which is identified as a cause and consequence of women's subordination and violence. This power play is found operative at various levels with social approval for men to use violence and maintain/produce inequality.

The theoretical concept of power play shows that there are inequitable power relations between men and women. The male-centric socio-cultural norms and practices have endowed men with privilege, power, and an opportunity to exploit women. This lowers the status of women and the power-play help to produce and sustain inequality. The power-play exposes women to violence and manifests itself as one of the worst expressions used by men.

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Violence against women is identified as an attempt by men to maintain power and control over women [ 1 ] and is manifested as a form of structural inequality. This structural inequality is apparent with greater agency among men [ 2 ]. The differences between sexes are exhibited in the attainment of education and professional jobs, ownership of assets, the feminization of poverty, etc., and these differences increase the risk of violence towards women [ 3 ]. The global estimate identifies that thirty percent of women experience physical and/or sexual violence during their lifetime, illustrating the enormity of this problem [ 4 ]. From a feminist perspective, lending ideas of patriarchy [ 5 ] and gender performativity [ 6 ], the understanding of gender roles prescribed by male-dominated social structures and processes helps further explore the violence and abuse faced by women [ 7 ]. According to Heise [ 8 ], men who adhere to traditional, rigid, and misogynistic views on gender norms, attitudes, and behaviors are more likely to use violence towards women. The individual and collective attitudes of men toward different established gender norms, and their reproduction explain men’s use of violence toward women [ 9 ]. It is known that gender norms influence violence, but at the same time violence also directs and dictates gender performance with fear, sanction, and corrective measures for enacting respective prescribed gender functions [ 10 ].

It is difficult for women subjected to violence to enjoy legitimate rights, as most of the infringement of their rights and violence takes place inside a private sphere of the home [ 11 , 12 ]. Violence against women is the major cause of death and disability for women [ 13 ] and globally a major public health concern [ 14 ]. Establishing gender equality is fundamental for fostering justice and attaining sustainable development [ 15 ]; moreover, violence against women has to be acknowledged as a fundamental abuse of human rights [ 16 ]. A report on global violence has identified that violence against women exists at all levels of the family, community, and state. The report recommended the development of frameworks for respecting, protecting, and fulfilling women’s rights [ 17 ]. Fifteen years later, a review of the same identifies that violence continues with impunity, reaffirming violence as a major obstacle to the attainment of justice [ 18 ].

The inclusion of the gender lens to violence against women has provided more contextual evidence to explore these processes of violence. This requires the identification of unequal power relationships and an inquiry into the differences-producing various gender stereotypes [ 19 ]. This analysis of violence requires an understanding of behaviors that promote women’s subordination and factors that favor men to sustain these malpractices [ 8 ]. A closer look at the male-centric structural arrangements embedded in the social, political, and economic organization of life reveals that these structures provide lesser access and lower accountability toward women, promote systemic subordination, and create hierarchies, resulting in the increase of violence against women [ 20 ]. This unequal gender power relationship reinforced and manifested by social approval of men’s authority over women is found operative at multiple levels and helps to produce diversities of inequalities and violence [ 21 , 22 ].

The inequalities faced by women in Nepal majorly stem from socio-cultural, economic, and religious factors and influencers that define traditional roles and responsibilities between men and women [ 23 ]. The inequalities are more evident and pronounced in settings exhibiting prominent patriarchal norms restricting advantages and opportunities for the majority of women [ 24 ]. Women in Nepal are restricted inside their homes, have lesser access to life opportunities, and have limited or no involvement in decision-making on important issues directly affecting their lives [ 25 , 26 ]. Figures indicative of women’s inequalities in Nepal suggest that one-third of women have no education, fifty-two percent of women are involved in non-paid jobs, and women are less likely than men to own a home or land [ 27 ]. The men in Nepalese society are positioned higher and are expected to be the breadwinner and protectors of their families. Most of these men intend to earn respect and obedience from women and are socially expected to discipline women to achieve it [ 28 ]. Many societies across the world including Nepal, recognizes violence as a private affair requiring discussion only within a family. This has led to a serious underreporting of violence committed toward women in Nepal [ 29 ]. The national gender data in Nepal is scarce, the available Nepal Demographic Health Survey 2016 identifies that since the age of fifteen, twenty-two percent of women and seven percent of women experience physical and sexual violence, respectively in the past twelve months [ 27 ].

The contributing factors for violence against women in Nepal include the lower social status of women, illiteracy, economic dependency, patriarchal society, sex trafficking, alcohol-related abuse, dowry-related violence, infidelity, extramarital affairs of husband, unemployment, and denial of sex with husband [ 30 , 31 , 32 ]. Nepalese women have been repressing violence with silence due to the fear of breaking relationships, receiving less love and affection from family, fear of social norms by going against men, lack of faith in the justice system, and the threat of increased violence [ 33 ]. Women and girls in Nepal are sex trafficked to various countries. Sex trafficking in Nepal is prevalent due to persistent gender inequality, violence, stigma, and discriminatory socio-cultural structures; however, the actual extent of sex trafficking is still undetermined [ 17 , 34 , 35 ].

The recent trends in Nepal with the increasing number of out-migration of men for employment have provided women with temporary autonomy, and a shift in the gender roles. Earlier research has identified that migration of male spouses has provided a resistance to the power dynamics for women on the other hand it has limited their mobility, required them to share decision-making with household structures, face continued social vigilance on the money received from remittance, and get central attention with their personal sexual lives [ 36 , 37 ].

Morang district lies in the eastern region of Nepal. A district profile report based on a census survey [ 38 ] identifies that the place is inhabited by a close to a million population, out of which ethnic groups ( close to forty percent) live in the district with a majority (seventy-eight percent) of its population living in the rural areas. Tharu an ethnic group is one of the dominant population in the study area and all study participants for this study were from same Tharu population. A close to thirty-six percent of women in the district are illiterate and the average age of marriage is eighteen years. The report identifies that only twenty-three percent of women engage in economic activities apart from agricultural work and less than fourteen percent of women head the household. Almost eighty percent of the population in the district practice Hinduism.

This study is a part of a large intervention project and it was focused to establish a qualitative baseline of the gender status in the study area. This study aimed to explore participants’ experiences and understanding of gender inequality, violence against women, and information on sex trafficking in the Morang district of eastern Nepal. The selection of sex trafficking topic was motivated to assess the respondents’ general understanding of one of the consequences of inequality and violence faced by women. The study focused to explore factors that help to produce and sustain the practice of gender inequality and violence against women in the local community.

Participants

This study was part of a larger control-comparison project that used Forum Theatre interventions to promote gender equality, reduce violence against women, and increase awareness of sex trafficking [ 39 , 40 ]. The participants for the focus group discussion included the intervention population from one of the randomly sampled intervention sites. A multistage focus group discussion [ 41 ] was used involving the same participants discussing various emerging topics at different periods. The participants were recruited voluntarily during an earlier quantitative data collection for the project. The study used a purposive sampling method for the selection of participants. The local field staff at the study site facilitated the recruitment of the participants. The study formulated separate male and female groups. A total of six focus groups, three each with male and female groups were conducted over twelve months. Two inclusion criteria were set for participation. First, the participants had to be part of the population of the larger study. Secondly, they had to witness and/or participate in the Forum Theatre interventions conducted in between the study. The set inclusion criteria served a dual purpose of understanding the causes of inequality and violence and further helped to develop and determine the efficacy of participatory Forum Theater intervention for awareness-raising among the study intervention groups [ 39 ].

A total of thirty-six participants consisting of sixteen males and twenty females joined the discussions. The first discussion consisted of eight participants each from groups while the second and the third discussion missed two female and four male participants respectively. The majority of the participants were 20–29 years old. Tharu, an ethnic community of Nepal, is a dominant population in the study area, and all the participants belonged to the same Tharu community. Only one female participant was unmarried, and a single married male participated in the discussions. All participants were literate, with four males completing a bachelor's level of education. Seven female participants had education below the high school level. The nuclear family with parents and their children was the major family type identified in both male and female groups. Table 1 provides the detail of the participants.

The focus group discussions were conducted in January 2017, April–May 2017, and January 2018. The discussions were conducted in a place recommended by the participants. An isolated place in an open setting at the premise of a local temple was used for conducting all discussions. The participants were briefed about the objectives of the discussion and written consent was obtained for their participation. Verbal consent was taken for the audio recording of the discussions. Each participant was assigned a unique numerical code before the discussions to ensure anonymity during recording, note-taking, and analysis. The discussions averaged ninety minutes during each session. The discussions were conducted with the same participants and no new participants were added during the follow-ups. A single male and female participant were missing in the second follow up and two male participants missed the final follow-up. The reason for missing participants was due to their unavailability as they were out of the village due to personal reasons.

The discussions were conducted in the Nepali language. The first author moderated all six discussions, a support field staff member took the notes, and the last author observed the discussions. The audio recordings were translated into English, and the transcriptions were checked with the recordings to verify accuracy. The field and the discussion notes were used during various stages of data analysis. The notes provided information on the discussion setting, as well as the verbal and nonverbal expressions of the participants. The notes helped to assess the impressions, emphasis, and feelings of the participants during the discussions.

The discussions used pre-formulated discussion guides with open-ended questions on inequalities, gender practices, violence, and sex trafficking. The guiding questions were based on the theoretical premise of discrimination, patriarchy, oppression, hegemony, and participation of women. Three separate discussion guides were developed for each of discussions. The guides were developed by the first and last authors. Probing was done on several occasions during the discussion to gain more clarity on the issue. Cross-checking among the participants and between the groups was done to triangulate received information. Any topic deemed appropriate for discussions and/or any unclear issues identified during the initial data analysis came up subsequently in the discussion guide during the follow-ups.

Data analysis

This study used the constructivist grounded theory method. This method adheres to a constructivist philosophical approach wherein both researchers and participants mutually co-construct the meaning of a phenomenon [ 42 ]. This interaction is important since it helps to impart the meaning of shared experiences [ 42 ]. The constructivist grounded theory made it possible to (re) discover gender issues, important for both the researcher and the study participants. This method allowed the study to progress with responsiveness to emerging issues with an in-depth exploration of the identified issues. This clarity was achieved through repeated interactive discussions, analysis of explanations, and sharing of emergent findings with the study participants.

The audio recordings were translated and transcribed into English. Six transcripts from discussions were initially analyzed using a line-by-line coding process. The coding process helped with the fragmentation of data through interactive comparisons. Fifty-two initial codes such as gender differences, restricting women, alcohol-related violence, underreporting of sexual violence, coping, etc. were identified. The later stage of focused coding helped to achieve categorized data, providing logical sense to the developed initial codes. Three focused codes, namely, the subjugation of women, violence, and chasing dreams were formulated during the analysis. The abductive reasoning from the codes, memos, and discussion notes helped to develop the theoretical concept. The development of conceptual abstraction involved an iterative comparison of the data, codes, categories, memos, and discussion notes.

The constant communication between the authors during the stages of data analysis such as the formulation of codes, explanations of concepts, and categories helped to refine the analysis. The shared experiences of the participants and the description of the data collection and analysis included substantial details, enabling comparisons for future research and application to other similar contexts. The reliability of the study is warranted by the theoretical saturation [ 42 ] achieved by this study. This is supported by prolonged engagement with the study participants with communication on the emerging findings, and triangulation.

Reflexivity has a greater significance for the constructivist approach. The first and the second author of Nepalese origin were aware of the socio-cultural norms, stereotypes, values, and stigmas associated with gender in the local context. This helped the study to ascertain the depth of inquiry within the acceptable local normative limits. The non-Nepalese author, familiar with the study participants and Nepalese contexts, witnessed the discussions as an observer. The prior knowledge of the authors helped to critically assess different schemas, perspectives, and explanations shared by the participants. The universality of gender inequality and violence against women and its re-examination in the local context helped the authors to build upon existing knowledge by providing contextual explanations. The diversities among the authors and research participants established a basis for co-creating the perceived and observed realities.

The section below describes the participants’ perceptions and understanding of inequality and violence. The section contains subheadings that were derived as themes in the data analysis. The first theme subjugation of women; discusses how norms, beliefs, and practices produce inferior status and positions for women. The second theme domestic and gender violence; provides a narrative of interpersonal and socio-cultural violence present in the study area. The theme of chasing dreams; discusses the process of sex trafficking as an outcome of violence. The theoretically abstracted concept of power-play identifies the cause for the generation of power imbalance producing inequality and the use of violence by men.

Subjugation of women

The subjugation of women reflected practices and beliefs imparting positional differences for women and their social situation compared to men. The participants shared a common understanding that belief systems adhering to male supremacy have positioned women in a lower status. They provided examples of social practices of male supremacy such as males being considered as the carrier of a family name, legacy, and heritage, while women were referred to as someone else’s property. The socialization of the idea that girls will be married off to a husband and relocate themselves to their homes was identified as the major reason for instilling and perpetuating early gender differences. The participants mentioned that discriminatory practices and seclusion have situated women at the bottom rung of the gender hierarchy, establishing them as socially incompetent individuals or groups. Moreover, they inferred that selective preferences provided preparatory grounds for inequalities, and they remain attached to women throughout their lives. The participants provided examples of unequal access to education and life opportunities as a practice of selective preferences occurring in the community. They mentioned that socialization with these discriminatory beliefs and their practice helped to develop specialized gender roles from an early age. The participants provided an example of how gender intersected with mobility and resource generation in the community, it was clear from the discussions that this has restricted women inside homes but provided freedom and opportunities for men. A female participant expressed,

A woman from a poor family is more than willing to work and support her family. But she is not allowed by the men in the family to work outside of the home.

The participants informed that differences between the sexes were visible for women from a young age. Sharing practical examples from the community, the participants from both groups stated that girls received education mostly in low-cost government and community schools, while boys were enrolled in expensive private schools. They raised concerns that this selective investment for education, cited as the ‘building block of life’ by the participants, installed lesser capacity, and negotiating abilities in girls. A female participant stated,

There are differences in educational opportunities for boys and girls in our community. Family provides more support for a boy’s education by enrolling him in private schools, while a girl mostly gets her education in a community school together with engagement in household work.

The discussions revealed that women required several male anchors for their survival during their various stages of life. The participants provided examples of the shift of anchors for women which traversed from a father to a husband during marriage and later to the male child during her old age. They believed that this tradition of transferring women’s identity established men as a higher social category and stripped women of their individuality and identity. A male participant added,

Women have to remain dependent on men throughout their lives, first with their fathers and later with their husbands. They remain completely dependent as they are not economically active. This makes men believe that they have higher authority.

The female participants provided an example of marriage to illustrate how someone else’s decision-making had been affecting women’s lives. A participant explained that women were held responsible for household activities after marriage and any support for career progression or education was restricted despite her desire for its continuation. It was inferred that women had to drop their hopes and aspirations as the husband and his family made decisions for them. The female participants agreed that this continuous exposure to the ideas of male supremacy makes them start to believe and internalize the idea that women have lesser cognitive abilities and intelligence compared to men. A female participant stated,

Men and women certainly have different mental abilities. Men think and act differently often in a smart way compared to women.

The participants from both groups expressed that youth in the community were developing flexible attitudes and beliefs towards gender roles and responsibilities. They agreed that both young men and women were observed altering their roles and responsibilities shifting from traditional gender ideologies. The participants expressed that instilling these fluidity and flexible approaches in the older generation was impossible as they strictly followed traditional beliefs and practices. Few of the female participants admitted that at times young women also fail to accommodate the situation and reap benefits from available opportunities. The discussions revealed that a few of the women in the community received opportunities for independence and economic empowerment. These women had received entrepreneurial training and various skill development activities for sustaining livelihoods with practical skill-based training in tailoring, beautician, and doll-making. The female participants expressed that opportunities for independence and growth slipped away from them due to a lack of family support, financial constraints, and self-passivity. They explained that starting a business required approval from a family which was difficult to obtain. Moreover, if women made a self-decision to start up on their own, they lacked the initial capital and had to rely on men for obtaining resources. The participants further explained that the denial of men to support women were majorly due to the fear that norms of staying indoors for women will be breached and economic independence may enable women to have a similar financial footing as men. The participants stated that self-passivity in women emerged due to their engagement in household multiple roles, dependency upon males, and lack of decision-making power and abilities. A female participant summed it up by stating,

Some of us women in the community have received entrepreneurial skills training, but we have not been able to use our skills for our growth and development. Once the training finishes, we get back to our household chores and taking care of the children.

The female participants admitted that acceptance of belief systems requiring women to be docile, unseen, and unheard were the reasons for this self-passivity. The female participants resonated that the external controlling and unfavorable environment influenced by practices of discriminatory norms and beliefs developed self-passivity for women. A female participant expressed the cause and consequence of self-passivity as,

Women have inhibitions to speaking their minds; something stops us from making our position clear, making us lose all the time.

The discussions identified that gender norms were deeply engraved in various social interactions and daily life, and any deviance received strict criticism. The participants shared common examples of sanctions for women based on rigid norms like restrictive movements for women, social gossiping when women communicated with outsider men, prohibition for opinion giving in public, and lesser involvement during key decision-making at home. The participants shared that norms dictating gender roles were in place for both men and women with social sanctions and approval for their performance. A male discussion participant who occasionally got involved with cooking which was a so-called “women’s job” faced outright disapproval from his female relatives and neighbors. The male participant stated,

If I cook or get engaged in any household jobs, it is mostly females from the home and neighborhood who make fun of me and remind me that I am a man and that I should not be doing a woman’s job.

The foreign migration of youth looking for job opportunities has affected the Tharu community. It was known that a large number of men were absent from the community. The participants stated that women in such households with absent men had gained authority and control over resources, moreover, these women have been taking some of the men’s roles. The participants disclosed that these women had greater access and control over resources and were involved in the key decision-making positioning them in a relatively higher position compared to other women. It was known that this higher position for women came with a price, they were under higher social vigilance and at higher risk of abuse and violence due to the absence of ‘protective men’. It was known that women's foreign employment was associated with myths and sexist remarks. The participants shared that women had to face strict social criticisms and that their plans for livelihood and independence were related to an issue of sexual immorality and chastity. The participants from both groups strictly opposed the norms that associated women with sexual immorality but lamented that it continues. A male participant provided an insight into the social remarks received by women if she dares to go for foreign employment,

If a woman wants to go for a foreign job, she is considered to be of loose character. The idea that she is corrupt and will get involved in bad work will be her first impression of anyone.

Although the participant did not explicitly describe what bad work referred to as but it was inferred that he was relating it to sex work.

Domestic and gender violence

The participants identified violence as control, coercion, and use of force against someone will occurring due to unequal status. They primarily identified men as the perpetrators and women as the victims of violence. They explained that two types of violence were observed in the community. The first type occurred in an interpersonal relationship identified as physical, emotional, and sexual violence. The second type, as explained by the participants had its roots in socio-cultural belief systems. They provided examples of dowry exchange and witchcraft accusations for the latter type. The participants identified women as primary victims and listed both men and women as the perpetrators of both types of violence. They reported that physical violence against women by men under the influence of alcohol was the most commonly occurring violence in the community. The participants from both groups confirmed that wife-beating, verbal abuse, and quarrel frequently occurred in the community. It was known from discussions that alcohol consumption among men was widespread, and its cultural acceptance was also increasing episodes of violence. One of the female participants clarified further,

The most common violence occurring in our society is wife-beating by a husband under the influence of alcohol. We see it every day.

The participants reported the occurrence of sexual violence in the community but also pointed out that people refrained from discussing it considering it a taboo and private affair. The participants had hesitation to discuss freely on sexual violence. During the discussions, participants from both groups informed only of rape and attempted rape of women by men as sexual violence present in the community. Despite repeated probing, on several occasions, none of the participants from either group brought up issues and discussions about any other forms of sexual violence. Participants from both groups confirmed that stories about incidents of rape or attempted rape emerged only after cases were registered with the local police. The participants presumed that incidents of rape and attempted rape were not known to the wider community. A female participant stated,

Sexual violence does occur in our community, but people mostly do not report or disclose it, but they tend to keep it amongst themselves and their families.

The participants explained the identity of the rape perpetrator and victim. They identified the perpetrator as a rich, influential, and relatively powerful man from the community. The victim was portrayed as a poor and isolated woman which lesser social ties. It was known from the discussions that most of the rape cases in the community were settled with financial negotiations and monetary compensations for the victim rather than finding legal remedies. It can be inferred that the victimization of women intersects with gender, wealth, social stature, and affluence. The participants feared that this practice of settlement of rape with money could make rape a commodity available for the powerful, rich, and affluent men to exploit and victimize women. A male participant clarifies,

Recently, a man in his sixties raped a young girl near our village. The victim's family was ready to settle with monetary compensation offered by the rapist, but the involvement of the community stopped it and the rapist was handed over to the police.

The participants shared available coping mechanisms against violence practiced in the community by women. It was learned that the victim of household violence mostly used community consultation and police reporting to evade further violence. They divulged that community consultation and police reporting resulted in decisions in favor of victim women, directing abusive husbands to show decency and stop committing violence. The fear of legal repercussions such as spending time in police custody and getting charged under domestic violence cases was understood as the reasons for husbands to stop abuse and violence. The discussions revealed that women who file a formal complaint about their husband’s violent behavior could face an increased risk of violence. The participants disclosed that sharing such incidents publicly brought shame to some of the men and increased their anger, and often backlashed with increased violence. The participants in both groups stated that not all women in the community reported violence. They identified that women tend to be quiet despite facing continuous violence due to the fear of encountering more violence and to keeping their families together. A female participant clarifies,

Lodging public complaints against the abusive husband can sometimes escalate the violence. The husband’s anger for being humiliated in public must be faced by the woman inside the closed doors of the house with more violence and the men’s threat of abandoning the relationship.

The participants stated that socio-cultural violence against women in dowry-related cases was widespread and increasing. The dowry exchange was explained as a traditional practice with the family of the bride paying cash and kind to the groom's family. The participants clarified that the practice of dowry in the earlier days must have been an emergency fund for the newly wedded bride in a newer setting. According to the participants, the system of dowry has now developed and evolved as a practice of forced involuntary transfer of goods and cash demanded by the groom’s family. The discussions disclosed that the demands for dowry were increasing with time and failing to provide as promised immediately resulted in violence for the newly wedded bride. The participants described that dowry-related violence starts with taunts and progresses to withholding of food, verbal abuse, and finally, physical violence. They added that perpetrators of such violence were both men and women from the groom’s family. They stated that due to poverty not all bride families in the community were able to supply all demanded dowry which has exposed a large number of women to face dowry-related abuse and violence. The discussions also informed of a newer trend among girls by demanding goods during their wedding. It was shared that this new emerging trend had increased a two-fold financial burden on the bride’s family with heavy marriage debts. The male participants when questioned about the dowry demands cunningly shifted the responsibilities towards family and stated that it was not the groom but their families who were making such dowry demands. The discussions verified that dowry practice was so engraved in the community that it was impossible to even imagine a marriage without any dowry. A male participant reflected,

If I marry without any dowry, my family, neighbors, and all whom I know would consider that I am insane.

The participants also discussed and identified harmful traditional practices present in the community. The participants informed a common practice of accusing women of as witches existed in the community. It was mentioned that women faced witchcraft allegations in different situations. They provided examples of witchcraft allegations in common situations such as when someone’s cow stops producing milk when a child has a sore eye, when someone is bedridden due to sickness for days, or when a woman undergoes a miscarriage, etc. The participants stated that women accused of witch were always elderly/single women living in seclusion, poverty, and with fewer social ties. They also shared that the witch doctors, who ascertain whether a woman is a witch or not, were surprisingly mostly always men and hold higher status, respect, and social recognition. The consequences of being labeled as a witch, as explained by the participants, haunted victim women with torture, name-calling, social boycott, and extremes of physical violence. The participants informed that inhumane practices such as forceful feeding of human excreta prevailed during the witch cleansing sessions. A female participant explaining the witchcraft situation stated,

Witchcraft accusation is very real in our community; I know someone who has tortured his mother, citing reasons for his wife being childless. The old woman was called names, beaten, and later thrown out of the home.

The participants felt that men’s use of violence and its legitimization primarily existed due to gender hierarchy and internalization of the belief that violence was the best method to resolve any conflict. They inferred that men’s use of violence was further reinforced by women's acceptance and belief that violence had occurred due to their faults and carelessness. The female participants shared examples of common household situations that could result in an episode of violence such as women cooking distasteful food, failing to provide timely care to children and the elderly due to workload, and forgetting to clean rooms. These incidents make women believe that violence majorly occurred due to their mistakes. Furthermore, the participants believed that this self-blaming of the victim resulted due to constant exposure to violence and a non-negotiable social positioning of women for raising questions. The participants stated that beliefs instilled by religion increased the likelihood of victimization for women. They explained that religious practices and ideologies required women to refer to their husbands as godly figures, and a religious belief that anything said or done against husbands was a disgrace bringing sin upon her and family positioned women in an inferior position. A male participant added,

We belong to a culture where females worship their husbands as a god, and this might be an important reason for men to feel powerful as a god to exploit and abuse women.

The discussions put forward the idea that the existence of discriminatory beliefs, reinforcement of such beliefs, and a blind following of such practices produced differences and violence. The male participants acknowledged that the idea of male supremacy not only produced violence but also established a belief system that considered violence as an indispensable way to treat deviated women. One male participant stated this idea of male supremacy and privilege as,

The language of the feet is essential when words fail.

The participants also discussed violence committed toward men by women. The male participants burst into laughter when they stated that some men were beaten by their wives when they were drunk. The male participants admitted that intoxication reduced their strength and they got beaten. The female participants, on the other hand, assumed that women hit intoxicated men due to frustration and helplessness. They further clarified that the act of husband beating was a situational reaction towards men who had spent all of their daily earnings on alcohol. They stated that women with the responsibility to cook and feed family find themselves in an utterly helpless situation by the irresponsible drinking behavior of men. The male participants shared incidences of violence against men due to foreign migration. It was revealed in the discussions that some of the migrating men’s wives had run away with remitted money, abandoning marriage, and breaking up the family. The male participants identified this as a form of victimization of men, furthermore, the spreading of rumors and gossip caused emotional instability in those men. The female participants confirmed that some returning men failed to find their homes, property, money, and/or their wives. The discussion participants in both groups identified that this practice was on the rise in the community. It became apparent from the discussions that this increasing trend of women running away with the money and breaking away from family was a personal issue requiring social remedies.

Chasing dreams

The participants referred to sex trafficking as the exploitation of women, arising from poverty, illiteracy, and deceit. Explaining the causes of trafficking, the participants stated that women living in poverty, having dreams of prosperity and abundance were tricked by the traffickers making them victims of sex trafficking. The participants mentioned that women who had dreams larger than life and yearned for a comfortable and luxurious life in a short time were at a greater risk for sex trafficking. The participants from both groups resonated that the traffickers had been manipulating the dreams of poor women and deceiving them into trafficking. A female participant elaborated,

Women in poverty can be fooled easily with dreams. She can be tricked by a trafficker by saying I will find you employment with good pay abroad, and she gets into the trap easily.

A male participant further clarified,

Women readily fall into fraud and trickery shown by the traffickers who assure of luxurious life with foreign employment and this bait often leads to sex trafficking.

They identified that false hopes for foreign jobs were primarily used as an entry point by the traffickers to trap potential victims. Besides, they stated that some traffickers tricked women with false romantic relationships and marriages to win over their trust enabling traffickers to maneuver women as they wished.

It was identified that traffickers were not always strangers but known and familiar faces from the community, allowing the traffickers to gain the victim’s trust. The discussions divulged that traffickers strategically chose women who were less educated and poor. The participants explained that sex trafficking mostly occurred among women from a lower caste (the caste system is hierarchy-based in Hindu society which is determined by birth and unchangeable). They further explained that if one of these lower caste women went missing, it seldom raised any serious concerns in society, making these women easy targets for the traffickers. The discussions revealed that life for the survivors of sex trafficking was difficult. They identified that the survivor had to face strong stigmas and stereotypes which further increased their risk for re-victimization. The participants explained that the social acceptance of the trafficking survivors was minimal and finding a job for survival was very difficult. It was reported that social beliefs, norms, and practices were rigid for sex trafficking survivors and provided lesser opportunities for complete social integration. A female participant stated,

The story of a sex-trafficked woman does not end after her rescue. It is difficult for her to live in society, and this increases her chances of being a further victim.

The discussions in both groups highlighted that education and awareness were important for reducing sex trafficking. The participants felt that securing a livelihood for women was essential, but they identified it as a major challenge. The female participants recommended the use of education and awareness for reducing sex trafficking. They demanded effective legal actions and stringent enforcement of the law with maximum punishment for offending sex traffickers. They mentioned that the fear of law with maximum punishment for culprits could help decrease cases of trafficking.

The theoretical concept of power play

The discussions identified that gender inequality and violence against women occurred as men possessed and exercised greater authority. The participants explained that the authority emerging from male-centric beliefs was reinforced through established socio-cultural institutions. It was known that oppressive practices toward women in both public and private life have led to the domination and devaluation of women. The differences between men and women were known to be instilled by evoking discriminatory beliefs and due to internalization of them as fundamental truths by women which further helps to sustain these created differences.

The concept of power-play developed from the study has its roots in the belief systems and was found constantly used by men to maintain created differences. The power-play rise due to patriarchy, guiding discriminatory norms and unequal gender practices. These norms and practices in the canopy of patriarchy positions women inferior to men and impose control and restrictions. The power play possessed multi-dimensional effects on women such as creating further barriers, restricted life opportunities, the need for men-centered anchoring systems, and exclusion from the public arena. The power play gains its strength from the strict enforcement of stereotypical practices and committed adherence to gender performances. This leads to internalization of subordination as a natural occurrence by women. These further isolate women putting them into several non-negotiating positions. The power play at an individual level provides restrictive movement for women, barring them from quality education and other life opportunities, and is exhibited in alcohol-related assault and sexual violence. At the structural level, this power play limits women from economic opportunities, access to resources, and decision-making, and induces socio-cultural inequality exhibited in dowry and cases of witchcraft. The socio-cultural acceptance of power-play allows men to use violence as a misuse of power and use it as an effort to maintain authority. The use of power-play for committing violence was identified as the worst display of exercised power play.

Figure  1 describes the concept of power-play developed from the study. The power-play model is based on discussions and inferences made from data analysis. The model provides a description and explanation of how women are subjected to inequality and face violence. The concept of power play derives its strength from the subjugated status of women which are based on selective treatment, self-embodiment of inferiority, imposed restrictions and due to lesser life opportunities. The power play gain legitimacy through social approval of the status differences between men and women and through social systems and institutions majorly developed and favoring men. The status difference between men and women and its approval by developed social institutions and processes give rise to the concept of powerplay. It identifies that status differences allow men to gain and (mis)use power play not only to maintain differences but also enable men to use violence. The use of power-play exists at both interpersonal and cultural levels. Further, the model elaborates on influencers causing subjugation of women, display of power-play, and violence. The model identified that lodging public complaints and seeking legal remedies are the influencers that suppress violence against women. The influence of Forum Theater was perceived to have greater influence for victim, perpetrator, and bystanders. The influencers that aggravate violence are fear of further violence, the nature of the interpersonal relationship, alcohol-related abuse, and remaining silent especially on sexual violence. The cultural violence mentioned in the model refers to dowry and witchcraft-related violence and stands as systemic subordination. In the model, sex trafficking is depicted as one of the outcomes of inequality and violence faced by women majorly occurring due to deceit and fraud.

The theoretical concept of power-play developed in this study identifies that inequality produces violence and violence further reinforces inequality, creating a vicious circle. The power play situates hierarchy based on gender as the primary cause and identifies violence as an outcome of this power asymmetry. The authority to use power by men is received by social approval from embedded structures and institutions. The functioning of associated structures and norms is designed and run by men helping to perpetuate the dominance and subjugation of women. The study identifies that both interpersonal and socio-cultural violence emerges due to the positional differences and use of power. The study found that an element of control exists in interpersonal violence. The findings show that few victim women in the community took advantage of consultations and rely on the law to evade and /or cope during the occurrence of interpersonal violence. A large number of victims women however suffer silently as they are unable and unwilling to take a stand on violence due to their perceived positional differences and strict norms following. The study finds that violence originating from socio-cultural systems is widely accepted and no established means of control exists. The practice of heinous acts against a fellow human during witchcraft allegations and dowry exchanges is prohibited by the law of Nepal but is widespread. This situates that practices which are based on belief systems are more effective than prevailing national laws which try to stop them. Sex trafficking as a form of sexual violence use deceit and fraud against women. Poverty and illiteracy compel women to search for alternatives, and they become easy victims of sex trafficking when their dreams of a better life are manipulated by the traffickers. The false promise of a better life and highly paid job put women in a non-negotiating position with traffickers. The cherished dream of escaping the prevailing status-quo of oppression, subordination, violence, and poverty mesmerizes women to take risky decisions, falling into the risk and trap of sex trafficking.

The socio-cultural norms are the unwritten script of social operatives and functioning. These social norms function as codes of operation and are a major determinant for behavior and interactions between people [ 43 ]. The study has found that these norms were skewed, and most favored men, giving rise to status differences and producing inequalities for women. This is observed with lesser life opportunities, lower participation in decision-making, and a constant need to anchor women. This further helps men to maintain their hierarchical positional status and use violence. The subjugation of women does not occur in a linear process, it is influenced by the internalization of discrimination resulting in lower self-esteem, suppression, and domination of women based on norms and unequal practices. Earlier research has identified that norms and beliefs encourage men to control women, and direct them to use force to discipline women which increases the risk of violence occurrence [ 44 , 45 ]. An earlier study shows that traits of masculinity require men to become controlling, aggressive, and dominant over women to maintain status differences [ 46 ]. The study confirms that men upon receiving both normative and social approval for using violence against women can do so without hesitation.

Violence against women in Nepal mostly occurs inside the home and is only reported when it reaches higher levels of severity. The acceptance of violence as a private affair has restricted women from seeking support and discourages them from communicating their problems with outsiders [ 47 ] this increases more likelihood for men to use violence. The study finds issues related to sex and sexual violence is a taboo and are seldom reported. The study could only identify cases of sexual assault registered with the police and other cases known to the wider community as sexual violence. A community with known incidents of rape may have other cases of abuse, harassment, incest, forceful sexual contact, etc. Failure to report incidents of sexual violence infer that a large number of women could be suffering in silence. Earlier research identifies that increased stigmatization associated with sexual violence, and fear of seclusion cause reluctance in victims to report or seek support [ 48 ]. This silencing of victims provides men with greater sexual control over women [ 49 ] increasing more likelihood of use of violence. Gender-based inequality and violence intersect structures, institutions, and socio-cultural processes, making inequality and violence visible at all levels. The dowry-related violence and witchcraft allegation intersect interpersonal and structural violence. This cultural violence forces women to be a victim of lifelong abuse and trauma. The intersecting relationship between gender norms, social structures, and individual is so closely knitted that it produces varieties of inequality and violence at all levels [ 50 ]. Emotional violence in this study only emerged as a type of violence, during discussions in both groups. It did not emerge as a major concern for the participants except for dowry-related violence and violence against men. The intertwined nature of emotional violence and its occurrence with each abusive, exploitative, and violent situation may have influenced the participants understand it as a result, rather than as a specific type of violence.

The power play between sexes was found in synchronicity with the established norms and prevailing stereotypes, helping to perpetuate gender power imbalance. The gender system is influenced and governed by norms and the social arena becomes the site of its reproduction through the interaction and engagement of people. This interaction provides approval to the institutions and processes that are based on constructed differences between men and women [ 51 ]. The power, as identified by Fricker [ 52 ], controls a social group and operates and operates through the agent or established social structures. A man can actively use the vested power to either patronize and/or abuse women while passively women’s internalization of social settings and embedded norms can put them docile. The social controls as reported by Foucault [ 53 ] work with the embedded systems of internalization, discipline, and social monitoring and uses coercion rather than inflicting pain. The internalization of status differences among women as indicated by the study confirms this schema of social control. The dominance of men over women with patriarchal beliefs establishes the significance of male-centered kinship. This requires women to constantly anchor with men providing grounds for inequalities to perpetuate further. This idealizes men and reinforces the belief that women are non-existent without their presence. The requirement for male anchorage has an attachment to prevailing structural inequality. The family property and resources are mostly controlled by men and it usually transfers from father to son limiting inheritance to women [ 51 ]. These glorified idealizations of men's competence as described by Ridgeway [ 54 ] idealize men as individuals with abilities, status, power, and influences. The need for women to rely on men as anchors, fear of going against the norms and social sanctions explains the positional difference and show that men possess greater competencies. The internalization of men-centric superior beliefs by women occurs due to self-passivity and devalues women creating false impressions of their abilities. The gender roles and responsibilities were strict for both sexes but provided greater flexibility, privilege, and opportunity for men. Earlier studies in congruence with this study find that socio-cultural expectations limit women from deviation, and strictly adhere to their prescribed role and expectations [ 55 , 56 ] providing an upper hand to the men. The unequal social positioning of women, as defined by a few of the participants, can help define men's use of violence. As inferred by Kaufman [ 57 ], the disadvantageous position of women and support from the established structures enable men to use aggression and violence with considerable ease. The concept of power-play derived from this study also reflects that inequalities not only create hierarchies, putting women into a subordinating position but also legitimize norms of harmful masculinity and violence [ 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 ] creating a vicious cycle of inequality and violence. The concept of power-play developed by this study requires further exploration of gender relations, injustice, and patriarchy to identify multiple operatives of power with an outcome of inequality and violence.

Strengths and limitations of the study

The study followed the same participants over a period, which helped the study to achieve clarity on the topics through constant engagement. The data collection and the initial data analysis of the study were conducted by the same person, which reduced the risk of misrepresented findings. The study used follow-up discussions, which provided an opportunity to meet the participants again to resolve any ambiguities. The constant engagement with the participants helped to develop rapport and trust, which is essential to enable meaningful discussions. The study gathered rich data for developing the theory of power play in the Nepalese context. The study has attempted to explain the interplay of men’s use of power play, gender inequality, and violence against women, which, in itself, is a complex, but important issue. The study helped to develop a platform by identifying a level of awareness and needs for a Forum Theatre intervention study, a first of its kind in Nepal.

The major limitation of the study is that it was conducted with only one of the ethnic populations of Nepal; thus, the findings from this study cannot be generalized to a completely different setting. However, the transferability of the study is possible in a similar setting. The incidences of inequality and violence shared by the participants were self-reported, and no other means of verification were available to crosscheck those claims. The differences among the participants both in and between groups based on education and marital status might have influenced the study participants to understand, observe, and experience the phenomenon. The possibility of social desirability bias remains with the study, as a constant engagement with the study participants might have influenced them to answer differently. Furthermore, the discussions were conducted in groups, and participants might have had hesitation to bring up any opposing views. The study relied on collecting information on social norms and individual experiences and the perceptions of the study participants. It cannot be claimed that the study is devoid of any data rigidity as participants were free to choose what they wanted to share and express.

Study implications

The study explains gender practices, norms, violence against women, and sex trafficking in Nepal. The study helps to increase the understanding of how gender systems are operative in the daily lives of the Tharu community in the Morang district of Nepal. Future studies can explore the established linkages of interpersonal and socio-cultural violence. Like the complex link existing between gender inequality and violence against women, interpersonal violence and socio-cultural violence cannot be studied in isolation. The study provides an opportunity for future research on exploring how changing norms have been altering the position and victimization of women. The study finds that changing gender norms and responsibilities have, on the one hand, provided agency and empowerment for women, but on the other hand, they have also increased their risk of being a victim, an area that requires further exploration. The study has identified that constant engagement with the study participants through follow-up studies ensures the richness of data, which can be useful information for a future research study design. The study can be helpful for policy development, social activists, leaders, and researchers as it discusses prevalent gender oppressions and victimization, which need to be addressed. The findings from the study can be helpful for dialogue imitation and for designing intervention projects aimed at providing justice and equality to women.

The study identifies the presence of gender inequalities and violence against women in the study area. The positional differences based on norms, institutions, and practices have assigned greater privileges to men. The concept of power-play devised by the study ascertains the maintenance of gender hierarchy to produce inequality further and victimization of women. The subjugation of women based on the social-cultural process, embedded belief systems, and norms prevent women from life opportunities and dignified life. It situates men at the highest rung of the gender and social ladder providing a comparative advantage for men to use power. Violence emerges as men’s use of power play and as a strategy for the continued subjugation of women. Sex trafficking as a consequence of inequality and violence has its origins in illiteracy and poverty with women falling prey to the deceit of traffickers. It is important that dreams for progression provide motivation for women to develop further but at the same time, dreams should not be exchanged with trickery and fraud offered by the traffickers. Awareness and attitudinal changes are imperative to challenge unequal norms, and practices, and reduce the risks of sex trafficking. This can help to develop negotiations for power-sharing which helps to reduce inequality, violence, and preparedness in chasing dreams. Changes at both individual and societal levels are necessary to develop a collective action for establishing belief systems and practices providing women with an equal position and reducing the risk of violence.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available due to privacy but are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to all the focus group discussion participants. The authors are indebted to Bhojraj Sharma, Deekshya Chaudhary, Subham Chaudhary, and Dev Kala Dhungana for their coordination and facilitation in reaching the discussion participants.

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PD, SKJ, and KS were involved in the study design. PD and KS developed the discussion guides. PD was responsible for the data collection and the data analysis. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Dahal, P., Joshi, S.K. & Swahnberg, K. A qualitative study on gender inequality and gender-based violence in Nepal. BMC Public Health 22 , 2005 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-14389-x

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Forum for Women, Law and Development (FWLD) (2016). Legal Analysis of CITIZENSHIP LAW OF NEPAL: A Comparative Study of the Nepal Citizenship Act, 2006 with the Constitution, Precedents, International Human Rights Obligation and Best Practices. https:// fwld.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Legal-Analysis-of-Citizenship-Law-of-Nepal- Citizenship-Report-English.pdf

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) (2017). Effective law and policy on gender equality and protection from sexual and gender-based violence in disasters: Nepal Country Case Study. https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/ Gender%20SGBV%20Report_%20Nepal%20HR.pdf

Leclerc, K., and Rana, S. (2017). Nepal drafts 2nd National Action Plan on Resolution 1325, ensures budget. https://gnwp.org/nepal-drafts-2nd-national-action-plan-on-resolution-1325- ensures-budget/

Kaya, Z. (2020). Feminist Peace and Security in the Middle East and North Africa. OXFAM. doi: 10.21201/2020.6478

Ministry of Health and Population (2019). Gender Responsive Budgeting Guideline for Health Sector. https://www.nhssp.org.np/Resources/GESI/Gender%20Responsive%20Budget% 20Guideline%202019.pdf

National Alliance of Women Human Rights Defenders (NAWHRD) Nepal, (2008). Nepal CEDAW Shadow Report: Violence against Women/Girls, female migrant worker, women human right defenders, online gender based violence and women’s health. National Alliance of Women Human Rights Defenders. https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CEDAW/ Shared%20Documents/NPL/INT_CEDAW_CSS_NPL_32584_E.pdf

National Women Commission (2021). A Study on the Implementation Status of Concluding Observations of United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee) on the Sixth Periodic Report of Nepal. https://nwc.gov.np/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Final-Book-with-cover.pdf

Nepal Law Commission. (2018). The Right to Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health Act 2075. https://www.lawcommission.gov.np/en/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/The-Rightto- Safe-Motherhood-and-Reproductive-Health-Act-2075-2018.pdf

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The Himalayan Times, (2021). Right to bodily autonomy under threat, say activists. https://thehimalayantimes. com/nepal/right-to-bodily-autonomy-under-threat-say-activists (accessed on 5th August 2021)

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Upreti, B.R., and Kolås, Å. (2016). Women in Nepal’s Transition: Reflections on women’s participation in post-war constituent assemblies. Peace Research Institute Oslo. https://gps.prio.org/ utility/DownloadFile.ashx?id=57&type=publicationfile

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Gender equality in Nepal: at a crossroads of theory and practice

Disclaimer : Views expressed in this commentary are those of the staff member. This commentary is independent of specific national or political interests. Views expressed do not necessarily represent the institutional position of International IDEA, its Board of Advisers or its Council of Member States.

Balancing power relations, reducing disparities, ensuring equal rights, opportunities and respect for all individuals regardless of their sex or social identity is a must to bind a nation together and establish the foundation for social development and nation building.

Nepali women, as more than 50 per cent of the total population, are still lagging in terms of meaningful participation and representation in political, social, economic and educational aspects of life. The 33 per cent quota system for female candidates introduced by the Constitution of Nepal has indeed managed to increase their political representation, but it is not far from criticism, as it is seen as having favoured quantity over quality.

The voice of the people

International IDEA had the opportunity to recently conduct 7 workshops on the provincial level focusing on how to assess a constitution from a women’s equality perspective. During the workshops, Sarswati Aryal (Coordinator, Inter-Party Women Alliance, Nuwakot, Province 3) expressed her opinion on the current constitutional conflicts between theory and practice:

“Allocating 33  per cent​ of seats for women should be mandatory for both the first-past-the-post (FPTP) system and for the proportional representation system. During the elections, all political parties nominated female candidates only for the proportional seats. Only a few female candidates were elected through the FPTP system. This again helped place men in decision-making positions and places.”

Aryal argues that female candidates are selected for the sake of participation, to fulfil the 33 per cent quota system rather than to empower them. Seats are being filled in the personal interest of top leaders, rather than capacity and contribution to the party.

“ Although the Constitution has ensured equal pay for equal work, women usually are paid less than their male colleagues are. The situation is worse in the private sector and in informal sectors, such as construction, garments, cement factories, brick kilns etc. This is a serious human rights violation. Proper law enforcement and regular monitoring from the concerned authorities is necessary.”

- Nitu Gartaula, Deputy Director, National Human Rights Commission, Gandaki Province, Kaski, Province 4. 

The experience shows that ensuring the provisions of equal rights in a constitution is important, but at the same time, proper implementation of those provisions is equally important to balance the theoretical and practical gap of gender development.

Contextual Analysis

Recent local elections saw 753 Deputy Mayors/Chairs from 6 metropolitan cities, 11 sub-metropolitan cities, 276 municipalities and 460 rural municipalities elected. The fact that 700 of these were female is a major achievement. If you look at the details though, out of 753, only 18 of the elected Mayors/chairs were female. The question is, why only 18 female Mayors/Chairs out of 753 seats? Why must women candidates be limited to deputy positions?

Why there are only 3 female ministers out of 22 at the federal level? Why are there no females leading political parties? Why there isn’t a single female Chief Minister in any of the provinces? Is it because there are no capable women, or can other reasons explain this phenomenon?

Multiple factors are in play in this context: such as historically institutionalised gender discrimination, patriarchal mindset, socially constructed exclusion and practices and economic status. The Constitution of Nepal however, has guaranteed equal rights for every citizen and some special rights for women and disadvantaged groups. The truth is that formal equality is not enough, as women and disadvantaged groups are not on equal footing to utilise these formal opportunities.

Meeting point

Various formal and informal approaches should be applied to exercise equal rights and opportunities. This should include the effective implementation of the Constitution through the formation of proper laws with enforcement mechanisms. Differential treatment and positive discrimination, advocacy aimed at changing mindsets, beliefs norms and practices towards women, can help to practically rebalance the power.

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Invisible burden of gender bias

Devika Thapa

There are multiple norms and practices in Nepali society that differ in terms of opportunities and positions for men and women. They include healthcare and nutrition, education, sports, and political and socio-economic opportunities. Our patriarchal family structures give men the role of household heads and decision-makers whereas women and girls continue to be burdened with unpaid domestic/care work, motherhood penalty and restrictive gender roles that render their contributions invisible.

Even though the Nepali feminist movement has had commendable wins since the 1990s, there persist regressive roles, values and ideologies amongst both the masses and the socio-political elite, restricting women from achieving equality in both public and private spheres.

Such gender prejudices impact women's mental health, which goes undiagnosed or under-diagnosed due to the stigma around mental agony. According to the World Health Organisation, depressive and anxiety disorders are approximately 50 percent more common among women than men.

Additionally, women facing intimate partner violence or sexual violence are particularly vulnerable to developing mental health problems. Globally, one in three women are beaten, coerced into sex or abused (mostly by a known individual); however, public services such as quality mental health services are seldom developed with the safety of women, recovery and healing in mind. Women are also unlikely to get diagnosed with "explosive" emotional disorders , often due to gender stereotypes of women being more "emotional" in comparison to men.

Public versus private

Nepal has consistently improved on the Gender Inequality Index from 0.726 (1990) to 0.452 (2021), filling many gender inequality gaps. However, even though more women attend school , pursue higher education and build careers than in the past, Nepal has a long way ahead to achieve gender equality. It is tough for most women to excel in male-dominated sectors and hold leadership positions. The norms of hiring personnel through nepotism or from one’s "old boys network" is exceedingly common, and patronising women’s growth is as rampant as it was decades ago.

Recently, TikTok videos of women dancing to a popular song during Haritalika Teej were criticised for supposedly disrespecting Hinduism and Nepali culture and morals. Most condemning the video were the so-called "upholders of tradition and culture" enraged at women embracing the festival in a socio-culturally unconventional manner as compared to the traditional practice of fasting and praying for the long lives of their spouses.

It must be recognised that the ripple effects of patriarchal mindsets, culture, norms and traditions mirror the larger dialogue around policies and politics affecting women. Under the garb of protecting women, the Nepali state has repeatedly favoured paternalistic attitudes of those in power, and limited the freedom as well as individual rights of Nepali women on multiple occasions. The recent immigration rules for women under 40 years travelling abroad, and the dismal under-representation of women in local, provincial and federal elections are two such instances.

This is not to disregard the fact that actions are being taken to improve gender equality and social inclusion. The Constitution of Nepal guarantees 33 percent representation to women at all levels—federal, provincial and local.

Even today, a married Nepali woman is not expected to work unless out of choice or necessity, whereas one is expected to be a homemaker and child-bearer unless explicitly expressed against. Such stereotypes adversely affect the minds of young girls and women, often making them question their worth and status in society. Patrilocality/virilocality is another important catalyst in weakening the position of female household members as outsiders of the household, community or caste, which affects a woman’s self-esteem, causes emotional distress and reduces their decision-making authority. Tales of a Modern Buhari , a social media page, anonymously showcases the expectations of Nepali families and a daughter-in-law 's plight in modern Nepal by bringing forth such socially stigmatised discussions and the politics of everyday life through social media and rightly blurring the boundaries between private and public lives.

Issues around women’s healthcare such as menstrual health and hygiene have also recently come to light through social media campaigns and other initiatives; however, they are yet to be mainstreamed. There is still little dialogue on menopause and its mental impacts and post-partum depression. Globally, more than 10 percent of pregnant women and women who have just given birth experience depression. Efforts to address this through timely, comprehensive and professional mental health services have hardly been prioritised by the state alongside other mental health services for women and girls; in fact, these services are inaccessible to a vast population in Nepal. According to the World Health Organisation , more than 75 percent of people in low- and middle-income countries do not receive any treatment despite availability of effective treatments. This gap between professionals and those seeking assistance must be bridged by making mental health for women a national priority alongside physical health.

Listening and unlearning

Without reliving the disparities of a distressed society and identifying the signs as well as symptoms of inequality, it is impossible to understand the collective grievances and stigma of mental pain due to gender discrimination. The willingness to unlearn the trends of hegemonic masculinity and challenging it by creating space for femininity and feminine leadership in the public sphere needs to be recognised and advocated for. Parochial views of staunch gender stereotypes also need to be revisited and realigned, keeping in mind the welfare, rights and opportunities for women in Nepali society today. Further research on how mental health concerns affect genders differently also needs to be conducted in Nepal. Under-diagnosis of autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in women globally is a result of lack of information and unconscious gender bias amidst mental health professionals which must be eliminated.

Addressing these issues entails ending the stigma around mental health in Nepal, and encouraging more individuals in need to seek professional guidance and even encouraging a safe and non-judgmental space for friends, family as well as colleagues to express themselves freely. The Nepali state must continue taking initiatives to integrate mental health into primary level care in the country and actively contribute to making mental health and well-being a global priority.

Devika Thapa Thapa is programme associate at the Centre for Governance and Academic Affairs, Institute for Integrated Development Studies.

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Secure Gains Made In Women Empowerment  

“What has the Constitution of Nepal, 2015, given to Nepali women?” I asked Jhowa BK, a member of the Karnali Provincial Assembly, in October 2019. Her response was simple yet profound: "I was herding cows, buffaloes, and sheep at my village in Mugu. The constitution sought me out and made me a member of parliament."

This powerful answer came from a woman who never had the chance to attend school, yet her experience illustrates the transformative impact of the constitution, even in the most remote areas of the country. The Constitution of 2015 includes several provisions to ensure gender equality and social inclusion. It guarantees equality and prohibits discrimination based on gender, caste, ethnicity, religion, and other identities.

The constitution grants women the right to participate in all sectors of the state and ensures proportional inclusion in politics and government institutions. It also prohibits physical, mental, sexual, and other forms of violence against women.

Additionally, it guarantees 33 per cent reservation for women in federal and provincial parliaments, resulting in one-third of the seats in all seven provincial assemblies and the federal parliament going to them.

The constitution offers provisions for proportional representation for women, Dalits, Indigenous groups, Madhesi, Tharu, Muslim, and other marginalised communities in legislative elections to promote social inclusion. This was made possible by an inclusive electoral system, with intersectionality being a key feature of both the constitution and its electoral framework.

The provision of positive discrimination has created opportunities for women to participate across various sectors. Currently, women make up around 28 per cent of the civil service in various roles. Without this policy, it is unlikely that a woman would have ever held the position of Chief Secretary.

However, with this initiative, a woman has served as Chief Secretary, and the number of women in senior roles, including secretaries, continues to increase. Presently, women make up 11.78 per cent of police offers, 9.76 per cent of the Armed Police Force, and 9.4 per cent of the Nepali Army. This rise in female representation in the security sector is largely due to the positive discrimination policies introduced by the constitution.

Although women first joined the Nepali Army in 1961, their roles were limited to technical positions. It was only in 2005 that recruitment policies expanded, allowing broader participation. During the Maoist insurgency, the Maoists claimed that 40 per cent of their fighters were women, making it the only war in Nepal's history where women actively participated in combat.

Since the establishment of the Nepal Police in 1950, women have also made notable progress. The first policewoman, Constable Chaitmaya Dangol, joined in 1951 and retired after 32 years of service. Women's representation now spans from constable (Jawan) to the rank of Additional Inspector General of Police (AIGP). The establishment of the Armed Police Force during Nepal's conflict period further expanded women's roles, including responsibilities like border security.

The constitution also significantly advances the rights of minorities. It recognises the right of individuals to self-identify their gender and prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, making Nepal one of the most progressive countries in South Asia regarding LGBTIQ rights. This aspect of the constitution is a crucial milestone in advancing equality and inclusion for all.

Gender inclusion at the local government level is another significant achievement of the constitution which mandates the inclusion of women and marginalised groups in governance. As a result, women make up 41 per cent of local government representatives, with 79 per cent of these women serving as deputy mayors or vice chairs. However, only 4 per cent of mayors and 3 per cent of rural municipality chairs are women, with women occupying just 1 per cent of ward chairperson roles.

The Local Elections Act mandates that either the mayor or deputy mayor must be a woman. However, there is growing debate about revising this provision to ensure that 33 per cent of ward chairpersons should be women. Additionally, there is a growing need to ensure the representation of the LGBTIQ community and people with disabilities in local governance.

Since the implementation of the 2015 Constitution, several gender-responsive policies and laws have been introduced. These policies cover areas including youth, cooperatives, non-formal education, health, drug-related policy, information technology, elections, civil service, right to information, the Nepali Army, land-related policy, local governance, and foreign employment. Additionally, specific laws, including the Human Trafficking and Control Act, the Domestic Violence Act, and both the Civil and Criminal Codes, have been enacted. These laws have the provisions of penalties related to rape, marital rape, acid attack, discrimination, child marriage, and humiliating behaviour.

While this legal framework is strong, the emphasis now needs to shift from creating new laws to effectively implementing the existing ones. In Nepal, the challenges are often poor enforcement, particularly for laws related to women's rights, such as those addressing domestic violence and property rights. One law that remains largely unenforced is women's right to parental property, despite the legislation guaranteeing equal rights.

As discussions on amending the constitution continue in Nepal, there is a concern about whether women's rights will be protected if changes are made. Of particular concern is the political participation of women. Without strong constitutional provisions, there is a risk of losing hard-won achievements and regressing to previous conditions. How to ensure women's participation and institutionalise the progress made so far should be central to any debate on constitutional amendments.

(Basnet is an executive director at Media Advocacy Group.)

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Gendered consequences of social changes in Nepal: rich possibilities

In this commentary, we reflect on changing gender dynamics within a broader political-economic shift currently taking place in Nepal. We critique how Nepali women are stereotypically represented as vulnerable, uneducated or less educated Third-World women, who lack agency and are dependent on their male kin, in development and popular media discourses. Our key proposition is that the major political and economic changes over recent decades, beyond the obvious political changes witnessed in Nepal in 1950, 1990 or 2005, are having a significant impact on the lives of both women and men, across different social classes, castes, regions, religions and ethnic backgrounds. After outlining some of the stereotypical representations of Nepali women, followed by a brief discussion on the broader political-economic shifts, we conclude this paper by making four key propositions. These are: 1) current political-economic shifts have profound gender consequences, which need to be examined and understood in scholarship; 2) discussion on the position of Nepali women has been limited exclusively to sociocultural and religious domains, and particularly within Hindu patriarchy, which has overlooked the diversity of Nepali women; 3) the caring economy remains invisible; and, finally 4) with regards Nepali men, their changing roles and ideas of masculinities have been largely overlooked in any gender development policy debate. Overall, we argue that a more grounded, up-to-date, intersectional and critical understanding of dynamic gender relations within the shifting political economy is warranted, which neither romanticises nor pathologises Nepali women’s and men’s social positions.

Nous réfléchissons ici à l'évolution des dynamiques de genre dans le cadre du changement politique et économique au Népal. Nous critiquons la manière dont les discours sur le développement et les médias populaires représentent les femmes népalaises de manière stéréotypée comme des femmes vulnérables, du tiers-monde, non ou moins éduquées, dénuées d'autonomie et dépendantes de leurs parents masculins. Notre thèse est que les changements politiques et économiques majeurs de ces dernières décennies, au-delà des changements politiques évidents observés au Népal en 1950, 1990 ou 2005, ont un impact significatif sur la vie des femmes et des hommes, à travers différentes classes sociales, castes, régions, religions et origines ethniques. Après avoir souligné certaines des représentations stéréotypées des femmes népalaises, et brièvement discuté des changements politico-économiques népalais, nous concluons ce document en faisant quatre propositions clés : 1) les changements politico-économiques actuels ont des conséquences profondes sur le genre qui doivent être examinées et comprises par les chercheurs ; 2) la discussion sur la position des femmes népalaises s'est limitée exclusivement aux domaines socioculturels et religieux, et en particulier au patriarcat hindou, ce qui a négligé la diversité des femmes népalaises ; 3) l'économie de l'entraide reste invisible ; et enfin 4) en ce qui concerne les hommes népalais, leurs rôles changeants et leurs idées sur la masculinité ont été largement négligés dans les débats sur les politiques de développement en faveur des femmes. Dans l'ensemble, nous soutenons qu'une compréhension plus conséquente, actualisée, intersectionnelle et critique des relations dynamiques entre les sexes au sein d'une économie politique en mutation est nécessaire, ce qui ne romantise ni ne pathologise les positions sociales des femmes et des hommes népalais.

Entrées d’index

Mots-clés : , keywords: , texte intégral, introduction.

1 We often encounter a contrasting representation of the position of women in Nepali society, in media, in development and government policy discourses. On the one hand, Nepali women are represented as uneducated or less educated and economically vulnerable, who lack agency and are dependent on their male kin, which serves to reinforce their identity as ‘vulnerable women.’ On the other hand, we have access to impressive statistics on notable improvements in Nepali women’s education, health, and in their participation in political and civic activities. The demand for women’s rights and justice is pervasive. How do we make sense of this apparent contradiction? This paper calls for attention to the complex changing gender dynamics in a more holistic way, by taking a more grounded and intersectional approach. It calls for an up-to-date and critical analysis of gender relations that neither romanticises nor pathologises women’s social position in Nepal.

• 1 We use available secondary sources: research monographs, published papers and doctoral theses, nati (...)

2 The context in which Nepali men and women live their lives and secure their livelihoods is not their own making. This must be situated within the context of broader political-economic changes. Based on our observations and ongoing engagement in the field of gender and development in contemporary Nepal, 1 we reflect on how gender dynamics have changed in tandem with the broader political-economic shifts in the country.

Unequal changes in Nepal

3 Nepal has experienced a profound and impressive change, from a deeply hierarchical social order, where gender differences were social norms supported by a combination of religious ritual, legal provision, political economy and state bureaucracy, to one where the call for gender equality and social inclusion is widespread. All of this has happened over a single generation. There is a general sense that incidents of gender-based violence, and in particular violence against women and marginalised groups, are no longer hidden or normalised in society but are increasingly reported and widely discussed by gender rights activists and the wider public, and in the popular media. Similarly, perceived gender-based discrimination in everyday life, including with regards women’s citizenship and property inheritance rights, is frequently reported by the media, widely researched and largely debated in popular forums.

4 Available evidence clearly suggests that there is now in Nepal greater access to education and health services, a significant expansion of road networks, an opening of rural areas along with widespread out-migration, and increased availability and use of the media and of communication technology (Sharma 2021). In addition, there have been greater opportunities for women in politics, following the second multiparty democracy of 1990 (Lotter 2017, Yadav 2016, Manandhar et al 2001, Liechty 1996, Macfarlane 1994). Women are increasingly mobile, both within Nepal and abroad, and nurture educational, professional and economic aspirations (Adhikari 2019, Grossman-Thompson et al 2017).

5 These changes, together with forces such as ideas of the modernity and materiality of development, and combined with shifts in the political economy, with the commodification of land, labour and social relations, have profoundly shaped the gender dynamics, with a significant concomitant impact on the lives of women and men (Sharma 2021, Campbell 2018, Sharma 2018, Pigg 1993). However, these social and political changes have been unevenly distributed and have not occurred at the same pace in all communities. Not everybody has benefitted from these changes in the same way across the country. Given the ample evidence of how caste, class, ethnicity, religion and political patronage shape gender relations in Nepali society (Rai 2019, Lotter 2017, Tamang 2009, Tamang 2011), it is essential to pay attention to the heterogeneity in women’s and men’s experiences, and the layers of intersectional inequalities that prevail within that society.

Essentialisation of Nepali women

• 2 A practice that is rooted in the belief that women and girls are polluted and impure during their (...)

6 Yet, as described above, Nepali women have been stereotypically represented in development discourses as uneducated and helpless women who lack awareness, have no agency and voice, and are subjugated by the dominant Hindu patriarchal social order at home, in the community and nationally (Rai 2019, Grossman-Thompson et al 2017, Fujikura 2001). Very often but in a subtle manner, the issue of gender inequality is seen as a residual problem of ‘Hindu religion’ and ‘Nepali culture’ to be dealt with both by protecting women and through remedial provisions, rather than as a dynamic relational and structural problem requiring that the inequalities in economic and market structures be addressed. There is no denying that Nepali women and men, like women and men in the other parts of the world, are subjugated to patriarchy and how gender, as a structure of differentiation and inequality, particularly disadvantages some women more than others, as well as marginalised men. Yet, circulating in the national and international media and in development discourses a homogenised narrative of Nepali women’s oppression, of sexual and domestic violence, chhaupadi, 2 dowry, accusations of witchcraft, trafficking of women and girls, and other practices, such as preference for a son, obscures the broader view of changing gender dynamics in Nepal.

• 3 Personal comments, such as Nepal remaining hundred(s) of years behind in its material development (...)
• 4 For example, Ahearn’s (2004) ethnography on literacy and social change, Shah’s (2004) ethnography (...)

7 We argue that these stereotypical views are deeply engrained not only within the social and political fabric of society but, more importantly, within the broader Western imagination and in representations of Nepal, and of Nepali women and men. Nepali society is seen as static and sedentary, untouched by forces of modernity (Sharma 2021). On the one hand, Nepal is seen as a romantic mystical land, still pristine and unspoiled today by modernity and capitalism, as compared to the West (Liechty 2018, Lindell 1997). On the other hand, development discourses, heavily influenced by colonial ideas, present Nepal as a Third-World country, riddled by disease and deprivation, where women are oppressed by the prevailing Hindu patriarchal social order (Maxwell et al 2003). The Western imagination of Nepali society as exclusively agrarian and immobile (Sharma 2008), distinctly rooted in unchanging cultural and religious traditions of Hindu norms, as well as the colonial discourse of Third-World, hinterland people unaffected by the forces of globalisation and Western style modernity, 3 clearly overshadows the current changing dynamic of the gendered lives of Nepali women and men. And this despite significant statistical and ethnographic evidence of the diversity, for there are notable sociocultural shifts that are transforming women’s and men’s subjectivities and roles in the context of current dynamic social changes in Nepal. 4

5 This information has been cited widely.

8 In line with the prevailing idea of women’s position in society, the findings of a study on gender relations and women accessing antenatal services in Nepal (Gurung et al 2015: 102) suggest: 5

… In Nepal, women are considered as second-class citizens in this patriarchal society. Thus, most of the families are headed by men and the women are treated as commodities or child-producing machines. Women are affected disproportionately in different ways than men… 

9 Similarly, the section of the ILO report (ILO 2017: 4) on women’s international migration echoes this stereotypical view, as it suggests:

… For women, gender-based violence and fleeing patriarchal norms are a key motive to migrate…

10 Here, Nepali women’s lives are portrayed as being so grim that they want to run away to foreign countries to find freedom. In this version, women are trying to escape these patriarchal and sociocultural traps. This narrative ignores the fact that women migrate because more opportunities are emerging for them on the wider global labour market and that they actively seek these opportunities (Adhikari 2019).

11 Further, Bennett’s highly influential ethnography (Bennett 1983) represents high-caste women in Nepal as having a culturally prescribed role that does not allow them to rise above their social order. She observed women in her study who were deeply absorbed in performing and maintaining various symbolic roles as daughters, sisters, mothers and wives in their everyday lives. Stepping outside these socioculturally prescribed roles seemed almost impossible for them.

12 In a similar fashion, Nepali women in general are represented as having limited choices or as not being allowed to make choices in many important aspects of their lives, such as schooling, marriage, career opportunities or healthcare access. Patriarchal social values, based on the Hindu religion and its caste system, have been viewed as the main reason for all forms of discrimination against women. The latter appear in many forms: from women not having equal citizenship rights and property inheritance rights to women’s reproductive rights (Yami 2007, Laczo 2003, Thapaliya 2001).

Women’s mobility under intense scrutiny by the state

13 Women’s mobility is a frequently discussed issue in Nepal. Women are viewed as a vulnerable group, unable to speak and to defend themselves from potential exploiters and abusers, while travelling solo at home or abroad, whether en-route or at their destinations. Another common justification is that vulnerable women end up being lured by people traffickers and migration brokers. Hence, their protection is a key responsibility for the family, as well as for the state.

14 In response to this, the Government of Nepal has made policy adjustments to protect women from being trafficked to exploitative international labour markets (Khadka 2021, Kaufman et al 2011, UNIFEM et al 2006, Pun-Magar 2004). As a result, in recent decades the state has been patrolling women’s mobility outside Nepal, particularly for those women going to the Gulf countries for domestic work. Scholars suggest that this constitutes transference of patriarchy from the family to the community and state (Lotter 2017, Tamang 2000).

15 Women’s rights activists argue that the current government emigration policy is gender-biased and paternalistic, and therefore discriminatory, and is enforced at emigration control checkpoints at Kathmandu international airport and Nepal-India border crossings. For example, when women cross the Nepal-India border, they are rigorously scrutinised and quite often harassed by border security officers, which can be justified by their protecting women from being trafficked to India's sex market (Hausner et al 2013, Kaufman et al 2011). Social activists argue that, by virtue of being women, the latter’s basic human rights are compromised.

16 For many years now, Nepali women’s migration to the Gulf countries has become a controversial issue. This is not because of the exploitation of the migrant workforce in destination countries, but because of the general perception of Nepali women being more vulnerable to sexual exploitation, therefore in need of more state protection than Nepali men. Like many other aspects of everyday life in Nepal, women’s increased mobility has been overly pathologised. The most recent parliamentary discussion on women under 40 wanting to go abroad to work and therefore needing to obtain permission from their family members and local government authority, proves this point. This again has sparked human rights debates in the country (Khadka 2021). However, as indicated above, these policy moves can no longer be silenced or go unnoticed, and indeed are heavily contested by women’s rights activists (Budhathoki 2021).

Fabrication and maintenance of the notion of women being a vulnerable group

17 How do such stereotypical ideas about women and gender relations continue to be sustained and indeed to thrive in Nepal? In the post-colonial world, these colonial ideas of ‘Third-World women’ are sustained development discourses, fuelled and fostered by the popular media and social activism. Women and children, particularly in a resource-poor country like Nepal, are categorised as a vulnerable group (Green 2013). International development and humanitarianism thrive on this idea. Nepal’s national development agendas are targeted to empower women ‘economically’, by mainstreaming them to the national economy or by inviting them to participate in the labour market. This reflects the prevailing mindset of those engaged in advocacy work for gender equality and women’s rights. A major goal of some international development projects, particularly in the case of agencies working towards women’s empowerment, is to come to the rescue of so-called ‘vulnerable women’ in Third-World countries (Hertzog 2011, Tamang 2000).

18 Interventions targeted to help uneducated, voiceless and dependent women range from improving female literacy and education and health service provisions, to creating economic opportunities for them (Hertzog 2011, Shah 2004, Fujikura 2001). This idea is carefully crafted and appears in academic and development writings, national policy strategies and also in development practices. Tamang (2000) has argued that making women the target of development policy interventions ‘essentialises’ women. Critiques have also argued that, over the past few decades, the discourse on gender issues in general and on women’s issues in particular has been mobilised and manipulated by various actors, quite often for political gain (Hertzog 2011, Lohani-Chase 2008). In order to sustain the idea of women needing protection, the latter are considered cheli-beti (literally meaning daughters and sisters) , which means they are kin and much-loved family members but lack agency, and therefore need protection by men, usually their natal kin if and when problems arise in their husband’s family (Joshi 2001).

• 6 By ‘white men’ she means those involved in international development projects and suggests that ‘b (...)

19 In a broader context, these ideas emerge from the colonial discourse; when privileged white males have better access to resources, they hold more power to influence national and international development policy. Poor people, living in ‘poor countries’, are considered not only to be disadvantaged in accessing resources, but also as having no agency, or as being unable to articulate their own needs. Therefore, people in stronger positions will speak on their behalf. Spivak (1994: 95) refers to this trend ‘as white men saving brown women from brown men’, one which she implies is common in South Asian and other low-income country contexts. 6

20 Influenced primarily by colonial ideas, any government policy and programmes on women’s issues and development practices – particularly economic empowerment and female literacy programmes – to promote income-generating activities are based on the notion of uneducated, vulnerable and voiceless women needing economic protection.

21 However, beyond these stereotypical representations lies Nepal’s dynamic political-economic process, which has had such a significant impact on the subjectivities and lives of women and men in contemporary Nepal.

Gendered consequences of Nepal’s recent sociopolitical changes

22 The profound socio-economic and political changes taking place in Nepali society have significantly impacted on gender relations in ways that have yet to be fully investigated and understood. The gender roles and subjectivities of Nepali men and women are increasingly transformed by broader socio-economic processes such as the incorporation of the economy and society into the commodification and global flow of labour and land, changes in the nature of the state, and the expansion of the public sphere.

23 In recent decades, there has been a diversification of rural livelihoods, with a shift from agriculture-based to non-agriculture-based subsistence, with sources of employment significantly impacting on the gendered division of labour at household levels, as well as in the formal sector. Together with a gradual weakening of traditional forms of bonded and caste-based occupation, and of gendered roles within the household, the mobility of labour both within and outside the country and of both women and men has become widespread. This has significant gendered consequences for those who migrate and for those who are left behind (Adhikari et al 2015, Sharma 2018).

• 7 With regards women’s mobility, it is necessary to carry out an in-depth socio-economic class analy (...)

24 If we take the example of women’s mobility to examine social changes in Nepal, a woman’s mobility outside her community was not common practice until the mid-1980s. Indeed, it was not customary for community nurses to travel to rural areas or for any woman to travel to a foreign country for work (Adhikari 2019, Justice 1986). The situation has gradually changed since then and mobility is now widespread, with many young women working for NGOs, regularly travelling for work purposes both nationally and internationally. Women’s increased mobility in society has become the new norm and women’s mobility abroad is also a recent socially accepted phenomenon, and has become a steadily growing trend since the early 1990s (Adhikari 2019, Grossman-Thompson et al 2017, Adhikari 2011, Bruslé 2010). A new generation of Nepali women, some with professional and technical training and others without, now migrate to foreign countries for work. 7 When men (or women) move away from their traditional gendered roles and family responsibilities, this of course has a profound impact on the family members left behind (Adhikari et al 2015, Kaspar 2005).

25 Another realm that has changed profoundly and has consequences on gender is that of historically marginalised groups, who used to see themselves as subjects with no rights. They have begun to assert themselves more and more as conscious political and economic agents and are regarded as such by others. This shifting consciousness has been largely driven by the discourses of ‘rights’, ‘empowerment’ and ‘inclusion,’ as advocated by many non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and civil society organisations (CSOs), as well as during the Maoist insurgency (Lohani-Chase 2008, Leve 2007). With these new politicised identities, historically marginalised groups have also been demanding rights and entitlements from the state and other organisations.

26 Similarly, increasing numbers of women are formally involved in politics (Lotter 2017, Lohani-Chase 2008, Shah 2004, Pettigrew et al 2004). The provision of a 33% quota for women candidates in the electoral system was introduced in the 2008 interim constitution, with 32.8% of the elected members of the Constituent Assembly consequently being women that year (Lotter 2017, Renaissance Society Nepal 2009). More recently, the constitution of Nepal, as well as the provisions of the Local Governance Act Article 24(5), makes it mandatory to ensure the participation of women in the planning and implementation of development programmes, and in process and outcome governance generally. There is now a significant proportion of elected women representatives from marginalised and disadvantaged communities in local government units. In national elections in 2017, a total of 6,567 Dalit women were elected as ward members. The total number of women elected to local bodies is 14,353, which accounts for almost 41% of women’s representation in local politics (Lotter 2017, Rai 2019).

27 There has clearly been a significant increase in women’s participation in politics and community development activities (Yadav 2016, Shan 2004). The country has its first female president, Bidya Devi Bhandari, elected in October 2015 and women have recently occupied other key positions in Nepali politics, such as Onsari Gharti Magar who was the first woman Speaker in Parliament (16 October 2015–19 January 2018) and Sushila Karki who was the first woman Chief Justice (11 July 2016–6 June 2017).

28 Young women and men’s sociocultural worlds have been transformed, and people’s lives have been profoundly fashioned by the ideological and material impact of bikas (development), and the proliferation of modern goods and new consumerism. Ahearn’s ethnography (2004) suggests that women’s literacy and education have had a significant impact not only on marriage practices but also on gender ideology and social power in village communities in Nepal. Similarly, Shah’s ethnography (2004) clearly illustrates that women in the communities are actively involved in local development, are trying to make a lasting and positive impact on society and are fighting for rights and justice.

29 Increased access to basic healthcare and other services has also transformed the lives of women and men. Women’s reproductive health services have generally improved and been reinforced, and a range of healthcare technologies has become more readily accessible in both state and private sectors, with marked improvements in health service coverage. Evidence suggests that the demand for contraceptive services and for institutional childbirth is on the increase. Official figures indicate that significant achievements have been made in reducing the maternal mortality rate in Nepal: from 770 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 1990 to 170 in 2011 (Dixit-Devkota et al 2013, Pandey et al 2013, KC et al 2012; Hussein et al 2011). Overall life expectancy has risen from 38.7 years in 1960 to 70.2 years in 2016 (Health Profile Nepal 2018).

30 National census data suggests that in the past six to seven decades, female literacy rates have increased from 0.7% (in 1952/53) to 57.5% in 2011 (Literacy Mapping Study Team 2013). Girls’ primary school enrolments have increased, and each year has seen a growing number of girls complete secondary education, which consequently delays the age of marriage (MoHP et al 2017). Improved female literacy is considered to be a sign of major progress and a positive change in Nepal.

31 Another important fact to consider is that Nepal has experienced very rapid demographic changes over the last few decades as a result of its transition from a high-mortality, high-fertility society to a lower-mortality, lower-fertility society, within a relatively short span of time. The fertility rate went down from 6.68 in 1977 to 2.3 in 2016 (MoHP et al 2017). Very recent data puts the neonatal mortality rate at 21 deaths per 1,000 live births and the under-five mortality rate at 39 deaths per 1,000 live births (MoHP et al 2017: 141). According to a USAID report, the infant mortality rate was 255 per 1,000 live births in 1952 (Skerry 1991: 370). In an ideal world, this rapid decline in fertility can boost a country’s economic growth according to a process known as the ‘demographic dividend’. However, Nepal has a limited number of jobs and economic opportunities to take advantage of this potential (Sharma 2021). Again, changes in the population’s structure, with limited employment opportunities, will have a significant impact on the gendered roles and subjectivities of women and men in Nepal.

Women’s contributions to household economies and livelihoods continue to be undervalued

32 Women in Nepal (and globally) are generally perceived as an economically unproductive group in society. In addition to the much-debated issue of their lack of property inheritance rights in Nepal, women are placed – and are represented to be – in economically weaker positions than the men in their families.

33 However, a clearly more realistic and credible scenario is that women have always been economically productive, in addition to undertaking household responsibilities. There is substantive evidence to show that women in rural and urban Nepal often work long hours in farms and factories, and more and more in the formal sector, while at the same time managing households and taking care of children, the sick and the elderly (Maharjan et al 2017, Shah 2004). Furthermore, many oversee community affairs and engage in diverse economic and social enterprises. Partly due to the overwhelming image of Nepali women attending religious and ritual practices, which relegates their position to be within the domestic and reproductive sphere, there has been very little acknowledgement of women’s actual contribution to household and local and national economies. It is not because they are economically unproductive, but because stereotypical representations do not adequately consider household work as economically important work. This has created a mindset that obscures more realistic representations of women in the household and, to an increasing extent, in the national economy. It is as if we cannot see beyond what has already been said and firmly set in our minds. Unfortunately, this mindset has neither been challenged nor questioned by research studies, nor critically and adequately analysed to understand the real economic, social, political and other contributions women make to society.

Women’s actual contribution to Nepali society

34 We argue that, as well as managing the household and bringing up the family, women are increasingly running the majority of cottage industries and carpet factories, as suggested by numerous research findings and reports (Tamang et al 2005). For there is evidence that Nepali women are contributing significantly to these modern economies. On visiting the vegetable market or any market environment in any small town across the country, where staple products are bought and sold, there is an overwhelming presence of women. They manage most small businesses in their local communities. There are at least 50,000 female community health volunteers and over 100,000 nurses and midwives serving local communities and playing a vital role in public health throughout Nepal.

35 Furthermore, women currently occupy various positions in the Nepal Army, the Nepali Police Force and increasingly in Nepal Government positions. Women have become female trekking guides in the tourist industry and can be seen driving passenger vehicles in Kathmandu and other industrial towns in the Tarai. Women are now making a phenomenal contribution to Nepal’s economy and to politics, and are slowly influencing national policy (Yadav 2016, Lohani-Chase 2008). Studies have shown that Nepali women are not just economic dependents on their male kin, as suggested by dominant discourses, but also ‘heads of their households’ (Chapagain 2015, Kaspar 2005), and are becoming their ‘families’ breadwinners’ (UNIFEM et al 2006).

36 In addition, a growing number of Nepali women has been engaged in the national and global economy over recent decades because many women out-migrate to cities in search of work, and indeed to different parts of the world. Women sending remittances from international sources make contributions to their household economy: yet another example of their active participation in the global labour market. A survey, conducted by UNIFEM et al (2006) sixteen years ago, practically a generation ago, revealed that most migrant women returnees in the study sample had no professional qualifications, were in their 30s with a secondary education, married with children and had mostly been abroad for between two and six years. They regularly sent money home while they were away. Some women started small businesses after they returned home, while others made multiple trips to multiple destinations to support their household economy. This trend continues today. Women’s increased standard of education, involvement in the formal labour market and their mobility are key markers of their upward economic and social mobility and are indicative of women’s changing social position.

37 Since some of the household activities women perform are not calculated in straightforward monetary terms, they are often perceived as economically unproductive in the public policy sphere. So much so that there are various misguided and patronising initiatives led by powerful institutions which are designed to bring women into the so-called ‘mainstream economy’. Though the overall aim of earning money and becoming wealthy is to improve living standards, one can argue that the contribution women and men make in the domestic sphere is more valuable than anything money could ever buy. Thus, the problem does not lie in the lack of women’s participation in the formal economy but, more importantly, in the failure by development economists to value women’s work.

• 8 Women in Development (WID) perspective: introduced in the 1970s, the WID approach was to ensure th (...)

38 The ‘Women in Development’ perspective, which continues to produce dominant gender narratives, assumes that when women enter the formal labour market and have access to money, this automatically changes their social position. 8 The assumption is that this economic engagement improves women’s purchasing power. They will no longer need to be dependent on their male kin.

39 While women’s economic independence and autonomy remain essential, there are counter arguments suggesting that women’s involvement in a neo-liberal labour market not only affects the care they provide for their children, sick and elderly family members but that their work burden increases as they continue their conventional domestic roles, as well as working outside the households. Hence, there is a double burden for women (Ehrenreich et al 2002). Besides, with regard to women’s increased involvement in the labour market, there is also the key issue of the wage difference between men and women in Nepal as well as globally (Acharya 2001).

40 From an economic development perspective, there have been policies to bring women into the formal labour market, to improve women’s economic position for the country’s overall economic development and to initiate positive social change. Campaigns to mobilise women for their positive roles in children’s education, nutrition, health, forestry, and water and sanitation have also emerged. In short, improving the status of women is often seen as a way of remedying all sociocultural and healthcare challenges in Nepal.

41 Furthermore, to counterbalance the additional workload for women when they enter the formal economy, men need to share household responsibilities, an issue that has hardly been tackled by any state policy or development initiative. In order to obtain gender equality in a more meaningful and sustainable manner, we need to understand men’s views and work with them.

Men’s perceptions and their changing gender roles in society have not been adequately understood

42 We maintain that it is crucial to consider both men and women’s perceptions and their social and familial roles in any gender debate. As discussed above, the extensive social changes taking place in Nepal have also affected the lives of Nepali men both in terms of their role as the man of the family and their ideas regarding gender, which in turn impact on gender relations, gender identity and the gendered lives of all.

43 Learning the views and perceptions of Nepali men and finding out how their lives and ideas of gender are changing as a result of the phenomenal political and economic developments taking place in the country are all-important. However, Nepali men and their gendered roles, experiences, perceptions and views have rarely been an explicit focus of analysis or policy debate. Only a handful of studies focus on how Nepali men articulate their male roles and masculinities (Sharma 2018, Maycock 2017, Uprety 2011). For that reason, we ask the question: how do Nepali men articulate and appropriate ideas of gender hierarchies, masculinities, and of women in subordinate positions?

44 Nepal has undergone a major political economic transformation, from the relatively stable reproduction of social and economic relations based on feudal and caste-based systems to more fluid, open conditions where the old socio-economic order is changing, if not collapsing and giving way to a new order (Sharma 2018, Sharma 2021). Not only has there been a diversification of livelihoods, from land- and agriculture-based to non-agricultural and non-land-based sources of employment, but labour mobility within and outside the country has become a widespread phenomenon. The gradual weakening of traditional forms of caste- and gender-based division of labour, as well as the profound ideological impact of bikas and modernity, has a direct impact on Nepali men’s gendered lives and thus also on Nepali women’s lives. Women’s increased involvement in non-traditional occupations, such as occupying political and administrative positions as discussed above, and motivating international migration (for example, Nepali nurses prompting their family’s migration to affluent countries, with their husbands becoming dependent family members) can certainly threaten men’s position in the family and in society (Bagilhole 2002, Adhikari 2013).

45 Changes in the political economy have had an impact on household and caring responsibilities and on the intergenerational contract within the family. With the increased mobility of men and women, both jointly and separately, for work and education purposes, men are also taking responsibility for the types of work that were historically reserved for women (Adhikari 2019). Moreover, given women’s growing involvement in the formal labour market, both nationally and internationally, many highly educated professional men are compelled to take on so-called ‘women’s work’, providing care for their children and undertaking more domestic roles, such as cooking and cleaning (Adhikari 2013).

46 Men in Nepal are under intense pressure and face social and economic insecurity. They cannot find jobs and no doubt feel pressured by the images of educated, modern, empowered girls and women increasingly taking up paid employment, which historically would have been reserved for them; and by the increased empowerment of women both at home and in the world at large. In addition to men’s perception of women’s improved socio-economic position as a threat, gender inequality has an added caste and ethnic dimension in Nepal, comparable to what Jaffrelot (2003) describes as a ‘silent revolution’ in the context of the rise of the Other Backward Castes in North India. It is possible that traditionally upper-class, high-caste and locally dominant social groups are deeply concerned about the economic, political and social assertiveness of women, lower castes, working classes and marginalised groups, and the threat this poses to their historical privileges.

Acknowledging diversity

47 Nepali women are not a monolithic group of Third-World women with no agency and voice, who are subjugated by their male family members. We argue that any discussion on gender and power relationships would be incomplete without examining the intersections of caste, culture, religion, economy, social class, language and family structure, all of which shape social inequalities (Rai 2019, Lotter 2017, Tamang 2009).

48 For example, the 2011 Nepal Family Health Survey suggests that there is significant variation in the uptake of reproductive health services by women from different castes and from educational and economic backgrounds (Pandey et al 2013). When we carefully examine the improvements in maternal health services in Nepal, there are profound problems of inequity in health care provisions. There is still unequal access to women’s reproductive health services, including emergency obstetric care and caesarean section facilities. As such, health outcomes are not wholly determined by healthcare itself. Indeed, inequities need to be examined along lines of caste, class and rural vs urban residence. This commentary directs our attention to social and economic processes.

• 9 The mass celebration of Teej, and of other Hindu cultural rituals by an increasing number of Janaj (...)

49 What’s more, new social orders have been increasingly reshaped by the changing political economy and by exposure to the outside world, with increased mobility within and outside the country, and wider access to communication technologies. Yet, not all women and men have experienced these changes in a uniform manner. These differences are complex and people living for generations in such diverse social systems have become interdependent and integrated in many ways – producing a elaborate social mosaic. However, there has been plenty of evidence in recent years that these differences are changing at a different pace and in different ways. Differences are merging in some instances, and others are further widening, shifting, and adapting to emerging social norms and values. 9

Concluding remarks

50 In this commentary, we have outlined various premises about the changing gender dynamics along with the shifting sociocultural and economic processes in contemporary Nepal, and these can be summarised in four main points.

51 Firstly , what is commonly described as ‘Hindu patriarchy’ represents gender disparities as a residual issue of culture and religion in Nepal. Patriarchy is a global phenomenon, deeply rooted in society and found in most sociocultural and religious practices. However, the purpose of this commentary is not to defend specific notions of patriarchy found in Hindu societies or state but to stress that gender inequality is deeply engrained in the political-economic system that is sustained by economic policies, development discourses, and colonial mindsets. In the context of Nepal, it is easier to blame Hindu patriarchy than to understand the other more complex, structural issues surrounding relational aspects of gender dynamics. Of course, there are specificities of gender-based ideologies, rooted in Hindu and caste-based societies in Nepal and South Asia. Focusing exclusively on the Hindu patriarchal social system can divert our attention away from broader structural and relational issues that perpetuate gender inequalities.

52 Moreover, we contest the general assumption that replacing the traditional cultural and ritual practices with modern ones will automatically solve the problem. In order to address the real causes of gender inequality and social injustice, we need to address broader structural issues, including discourses that maintain certain stereotypes.

53 Secondly, there has been a major political-economic shift and consequent sociocultural transformations in Nepal, with gendered implications for both women’s and men’s social roles and positions. Women’s (and men’s) standard of health and education has improved and rural livelihood strategies are undergoing change. As mobility increases, new meanings are attributed to it. There is a widespread call for gender equality and social inclusion. Therefore, we argue that recycled stereotypical discourses of Third-World women who lack agency and have no voice, and are confined to a dominant Hindu patriarchal social order, not only fail to capture the changing gender dynamics in contemporary Nepali society but also work against a more liberating political space. A grounded, up-to-date critical understanding of gender relations in Nepal that neither romanticises nor pathologises Nepali women’s social position is needed. Recent changes in Nepal’s political economy have significantly altered gender dynamics, often at the expense of marginal groups of women and men.

54 Thirdly, a new-liberal ideology that assigns monetary value to most activities undermines women’s (and men’s) contributions in the domestic sphere and, more broadly, in society at large. Attributing monetary value to invaluable work, such as everyday family care, is simply not possible. However, neo-liberal approaches consider such important responsibilities to be unproductive, with those taking on a domestic role – usually women – being perceived as an economically unproductive group. If the overall aim of women and men entering the formal labour market, earning money and becoming economically self-reliant and wealthy is to improve their family’s standard of living, women’s or men’s contribution to the overall welfare of the family is worth more than anything money can buy. If a woman or a man looks after her/his children or takes care of elderly relatives, she/he not only directly saves money that could have been used for nursery services or care home costs, but also provides a psychologically solid foundation for her/his children or elders. This is not sufficiently valued and comprehensively discussed in the current literature on gender and policy documents, either in Nepal or internationally.

55 Fourthly, men’s changing roles and their perceptions of gender equality have been the missing link and a missed opportunity for too long. With current transformations to Nepal’s political economy, the lives of men, including their perceptions of gender roles and practices, are also undergoing major changes. A new generation of men are taking on more household responsibilities and these men are aware of the call for gender equality. They too are adapting to extensive social change. Any discussion on the position of women must therefore address how men’s gendered roles and perceptions are also undergoing change, with direct implications for women’s lives and in family dynamics. The pace of change has been unevenly set by the intersection of caste, class, ethnicity and religion. Yet all these changes have still not been closely examined.

56 In the context of Nepal’s significant political and economic changes, are men’s ideas of gender relations evolving? Is the new generation of Nepali men aware of its privilege in relation to the historical disadvantages and suffering of women? How can we fully understand and present modern Nepali men’s views on this issue? Scholars and activists working on gender politics in Nepal should also be asking these questions.

57 Let us stress that these positive developments in gender issues are encouraging but not adequate. Gender issues and gender politics need to be discussed continuously, acknowledging positive shifts and areas where improvement is required. International development, advocacy and gender policy actors can play vital roles in reshaping or changing a certain type of discourse and mindset. It is also essential that we value the all-important role men and women play in raising a family and the contribution they make to society. The role of men has to be understood in order to promote a gender-equal and fair society. We need to work towards fully documenting changes in gendered roles and men’s perceptions.

58 We find it appropriate to conclude this commentary by quoting a famous Malawian proverb: ‘if you want to go fast go alone, and if you want to go further go together.’ By studying an entire family as a unit in order to fully grasp the gender dynamics within a household, we would gain a more realistic insight, which in turn would take us further towards gender equality or provide a basis for promoting gender equality not only in Nepal, but also globally.

Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank Judith Justice and Kate Weir for the valuable suggestions they made to our initial draft. We are particularly grateful to EBHR peer-reviewers who provided us with a critical perspective in the final stages of this paper.

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1 We use available secondary sources: research monographs, published papers and doctoral theses, national and international media headlines, and public policy debates that are relevant to this paper.

2 A practice that is rooted in the belief that women and girls are polluted and impure during their menstruation period, and are therefore forced to stay in a menstruation hut for a number of days. Although the practice is now legally banned and has been criminalised, various reports suggest that the practice continues in various forms.

3 Personal comments, such as Nepal remaining hundred(s) of years behind in its material development and available physical comfort, compared to the developed West, can be heard very often in Nepal and also internationally. For example, see Bhandari (2019).

4 For example, Ahearn’s (2004) ethnography on literacy and social change, Shah’s (2004) ethnography on women development programmes and social change, Lohani – Chase’s (2008) ethnography on women’s involvement in the Maoist War and Yadav’s (2016) ethnography on women in politics provide significant evidence of changing gender dynamics in Nepal.

6 By ‘white men’ she means those involved in international development projects and suggests that ‘brown women’ are being neglected by ‘brown men’ in low-income countries, for only foreign men from affluent countries pay attention to women’s issues in low-income countries.

7 With regards women’s mobility, it is necessary to carry out an in-depth socio-economic class analysis, rather than simply blaming any negative incident on being yet again fuelled by the so-called ‘Hindu patriarchal social order,’ which is just another barrier to gender equality.

8 Women in Development (WID) perspective: introduced in the 1970s, the WID approach was to ensure the integration of women into the workforce and to increase their level of productivity in order to improve their lives.

9 The mass celebration of Teej, and of other Hindu cultural rituals by an increasing number of Janajati women, not only in Nepal, but also among those living abroad, is a case in point. During the Teej festival in summer, for example, women fast and worship Lord Shiva to ensure their husbands’ good health and long life. This used to be a Hindu festival but in recent years it has increasingly become a Nepali women’s festival. We have encountered Nepali men taking part in the festival celebration, some even fasting to show gender solidarity.

Pour citer cet article

Référence électronique.

Radha Adhikari et Jeevan R Sharma , « Gendered consequences of social changes in Nepal: rich possibilities » ,  European Bulletin of Himalayan Research [En ligne], 58 | 2022, mis en ligne le 15 juillet 2022 , consulté le 18 septembre 2024 . URL  : http://journals.openedition.org/ebhr/549 ; DOI  : https://doi.org/10.4000/ebhr.549

Radha Adhikari

Radha Adhikari is a lecturer at the University of the West of Scotland. Her research focuses on international migration of nurses, on gender and global health inequality. Her monograph, Migrant health professionals and the global labour market: The dreams and traps of Nepali nurses, was published in 2019, by Routledge .

Jeevan R Sharma

Jeevan R Sharma is a senior lecturer in South Asia and International Development at the University of Edinburgh. He is the author of Political Economy of Social Change and Development in Nepal, 2021 (Bloomsbury) and Crossing the Border to India: Youth, Migration and Masculinities in Nepal, Temple University Press, 2018 (South Asian Edition published by Bloomsbury Academic India in 2019). His work has focused on labour migration in the context of social, economic and political transformations in Nepal, the Himalayas and the South Asian region, especially the culture of migration; border crossing; gendered, classed and racialised mobility of labour; ill treatment; access to justice and citizenship in South Asia. He is co-editor of HIMALAYA and an associate editor of South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies.

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The long road to gender equality in Nepal

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Brief Essay on Gender in Nepal - A Personal View

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Expert advisory sessions, evidence collection, how it works, researchers, for professionals, for students, summary was created by.

Gender discrimination in Nepal: Does it vary across socio-demographics?

Gender discrimination in Nepal is perceived differently by different socio-demographics background groups, and some socio-demographics background group have lack awareness that they are being discriminated against.

• Women who resided in a rural community were more likely to experience gender-based violence than women in urban settings.

Original research

Journal article: gender discrimination in nepal: does it vary across socio-demographics (2021) peer reviewed.

Kumar Gupta, Anil. (2021) ‘Gender discrimination in Nepal: Does it vary across socio-demographics?’, Journal of Contemporary Sociological Issues (1:2), pp.61-82.

Anil Kumar Gupta

This research used a quantitative approach, combining logistic regression and postal surveys.

This research was based on data collected from the 2017/2018 Nepal National Governance Survey , which was carried out by the Nepal Administrative Staff College with the technical assistance from the Central Bureau of Statistics.

This survey sampled and interviewed 12872 Nepali adults aged over 18 years and across 43 districts in Nepal, using four-stage multiple cluster sampling designs. The sample size was 47.7% male and 52.3% female. 53.5% lived in an urban setting and 46.5% lived in a rural setting.

The survey asked the question: “In your experience, did you or your family members experience gender-based discrimination in the past 12 months?”, and their choices were “frequently”, “sometimes”, “never” and “don’t know”. Yet those who answered “don’t know” were not included in the analysis, reducing the number of respondents to 12767 individuals.

The research then made a logistic regression to create a model of prediction.

One of the limitations of this research is that some assumptions are drawn as to why these differences exist, but the qualitative aspect is missing beyond logical reasoning (eg urban women are statistically more educated than rural women). Analysis is based on perception of Nepali citizens

This research was independently conducted and did not receive funding from outside of the university.

• For policymakers
• gender discrimination
• rural living
• Summary made: 2022

This research aimed to understand how far the Nepalese population believe gender discrimination exists within society, and how the perception of gender discrimination then differs across each socio-demographics.

It found that gender, age, urban/rural, education, and economic status all have an impact on gender discrimination in Nepal.

This research found that female respondents were 2.

38 times more likely than men to report having experienced or seen a family member experience gender discrimination in the past 12 months.

Women in rural areas, where more traditional norms and values are still practiced, were 1.

17 more likely to encounter gender discrimination compared with urban areas.

In the last 12 months, one in every four young women had been physically assaulted, and have witnessed 3.

3 per cent more physical violence than in urban settings.

What it means

This means that women who resided in a rural community were more likely to experience gender-based violence than women in urban settings.

Despite reporting experiences that can be described as gender discrimination, there was a significant lack of awareness of whether gender discrimination exists between the persons residing in rural settings, compared with persons residing in urban settings. This is likely because of the higher education-levels within urban area populations, than those residing in rural areas who do not perceive gender discrimination as a serious an issue. A lack of awareness means some women takes gender discrimination as a normal course of action, and do not then seek support or speak to someone to prevent or end gender-based abuse publicly.

Citizens aged 25-39 years are more likely to report the experiences of gender-based discrimination compared to those 18-24, while those over 35 were even less likely to report experiences of gender-based discrimination. There was a significant lack of gender based awareness measured by women over the age of 39 and living in rural areas. This might be that the age group of 25-39 are a more educated and more critical demographic than older age groups. There is a higher awareness among this age category for the need for equality and gender justice.

More educated women reported witnessing more gender discrimination than less educated women, and higher income women also reported more likely to experience gender-based discrimination than lower income women.

The perceptions and awareness outlined in this research can be seen in the emergence of the growing women empowerment movement and effect of different social institutions such school, college and social medias (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and so on)

For younger generations, there is becoming deeper awareness for gender discrimination across Nepal urban areas because of the impact of education and social media.. Younger generations are becoming more aware of gender justice issues and are raising their voices and speak out against gender discrimination which is created by deeply ingrained traditional cultural norms and practices.

The government and community based organisations need to consider the different levels of reporting when understanding the prevalence of gender discrimination

The women’s commission, local government organisations and community based organisations need to protect rural and older women to ensure gender justice through policy, plans and programmes, how parents choose to socialise and educate their children is a contributing factor to upholding the patriarchy and enabling gender discrimination, acknowledgements, thank you to ide global.

These insights were made available thanks to the support of iDE Global , who are committed to the dissemination of knowledge for all.

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National Gender Equality Policy, 2077

Download link, "लैङ्गिक हिंसा अन्त्यको सुनिश्चितता: महिला र बालबालिकामा लगानीको ऐक्यवद्धता" भन्ने नाराको साथ विश्वव्यापी रुपमा सञ्चालन भईरहेको लैङ्गिक हिंसा विरुद्धको १६ दिने अभियानको सन्दर्भमा राष्ट्रिय महिला आयोगद्वारा मिति २०८०।८।१० गते अभियान शुभारम्भ कार्यक्रम, "खबर गरौं हेल्पलाइन; ११४५" को छैठौं स्थापना दिवस विशेष कार्यक्रम, राष्ट्रिय महिला आयोगको २१ औं स्थापना दिवस तथा ११३ ‌औं अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय श्रमिक महिला दिवस, लैंगिक हिंसा निवारणको अभियानलाई प्रभावकारी बनाउन सामाजिक राजनीतीक क्षेत्रका युवाहरूसंगको अन्तर्क्रिया कार्यक्रम, लैङ्गिक हिंसाको कारण महिलाको मानसिक र प्रजनन् स्वास्थ्यमा पर्ने नकारात्मक असरबारे अन्तरक्रिया कार्यक्रम, press release, मन्त्रीमण्डलमा समानुपातिक समावेशिता नभएको प्रति राष्ट्रिय महिला आयोगको ध्यानाकर्षण, घटनाको सत्य तथ्य छानविन गरी दोषीलाई कारबाही गराउने सम्बन्धमा, ध्यानाकर्षण सम्बन्धमा-२०८०/१०/२९, अन्तर्वार्ताको नतिजा सम्बन्धि सूचना, अन्तर्वार्ता सम्बन्धि सूचना, सेवा करारमा कर्मचारी माग गरिएको सूचना.