A NATIONAL ACTION PLAN TO END GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE
High-level committee, a review of civil and criminal codes, and new complaint desks and hospital crisis centers
Gender-based violence has reached a crisis level here. The decade-long conflict in Nepal increased women's vulnerability to rape, domestic violence, verbal and psychological abuse, and physical and sexual torture which has traditionally taken on many forms, such as child marriage; abuse from in-laws; dowry-related violence; polygamy; deuki, a ritual offering of young girls to the gods; and accusations of witchcraft. According to the Nepali NGO SAATHI's situation analysis of gender-based violence, an estimated 80 percent of women in Nepal's most conflict-affected districts experience recurring domestic violence in their homes; and 43 percent of working women in Nepal are harassed at their workplace. Since 2010, with support from the UK's Department for International Development (DFID), we have assisted a new unit in the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers that responds to cases of gender-based violence at the policy level and increases national visibility on the issue. Our shared successes include a National Action Plan to end gender-based violence and an Inter-Ministerial Coordination Committee on gender-based violence; a review of the civil and criminal codes; and the launch of complaint handling and monitoring desks and hospital-based one-stop crisis centers.
— KIRTI THAPA
Policy Officer on Gender-Based Violence, Kathmandu