Nepal
Nepal: Badam Mahatara, "In this community there is never ending discrimination against women"
URTHU, 22 September 2011 (IRIN) - In Urthu, Jumla District, in Nepal’s Mid-Western Region, women marry young, have children young and die young. Life expectancy for women is 50, (eight years younger than men) and as one local young man described it, the women are treated like mules. Jumla’s population of 105,000 serves as a microcosm of the gender rights situation across rural Nepal, aid workers say.
Nepal: Survey of Social Norms on Violence, Culture and Gender
Kathmandu, Sep 18 (IANS) If a wife burns the food or demurs to have sex, her husband can beat her. And if she goes out without telling her mother-in-law or doesn't bring in dowry, the mother-in-law can do the same.
That is how a large chunk of women in Nepal's patriarchal society feels, a sample survey has discovered.
Nepal Looks Set To Officially Recognize Third Gender
FRIDAY FILE: Almost four years after Nepal’s Supreme Court recognized the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people, the South Asian country may get a new constitution that secures their rights.[i] By Kathambi Kinoti
The first public wedding between two women in Nepal in June 2011 in a town a few kilometres south of the capital Kathmandu. Nepal was constitutionally a Hindu state until 2006 when Parliament amended the constitution to make it secular. The majority of Nepalese are Hindu and the second most prominent religion is Buddhism.
Nepal: Religious Practices, Discrimination & Gender Violence
KATHMANDU, Jul 28, 2011 (IPS) - The recent gang-rape of a Buddhist nun and her expulsion from her sect have sparked a debate about the deep-rooted religious traditions and biases that foster discrimination and violence, especially against women, in this South Asian state.
The public outcry against the nun’s expulsion forced the Nepal Buddhist Federation to reconsider, saying now that once she recovers, the victim can return to her nunnery.
But it is only a minor triumph. While public debate on a discriminatory socio-religious practice led to its retraction, thousands of women continue to be victims of other religious rituals in Nepal.
NEPAL: Emerging from menstrual quarantine
MANGALSEN, 3 August 2011 (IRIN) - Every month, for one week,14-year-old Kamala Vishwarkarmas returns from school to sleep alone in a dark, windowless mud hut. She is forbidden from entering her family's house during her menstrual cycle for fear of what might happen.
“I'll stay here in the 'goth' for seven days total,” Kamala said. “Of course I feel afraid when I go inside by myself. It's so scary during the rainy season when all the snakes come.”
'Chhaupadi', Nepalese for the practice of segregating menstruating women from their houses and men, was outlawed by Nepal's supreme court in 2005.
Intersections Between Women's Equality, Culture, and Cultural Rights
Report of the South Asia Plus Consultation on Culture, Women and Human Rights, September 2-3, 2010, Nepal
With culture being such a contested terrain, particularly as it relates to equality claims of women and minorities, the development of cultural rights offers new understandings on culture and cultural diversity that reinforce the indivisibility of cultural rights with other human rights. This report explores the intersections of the developing field of cultural rights in relation to advancement of women’s equality.
Nepal: Widows' Organization to Address Discrimination & Rights
By Lily Thapa, Director and founder of Women for Human Rights, working to support single women who have lost their husbands.
When my husband died I was 29 years old with two young children. I was educated and from a professional middle-class family in Katmandu, the capital of Nepal. My husband was of similar background.
But with his death I realized for myself that education could make inroads into a society only up to a point.
Indigenous women shape women’s rights
The voices of indigenous women have repeatedly reminded national governments, human rights bodies and other national and international fora that their human rights as women need to be addressed as the rights of indigenous women. Accordingly, indigenous women have called on the United Nations bodies and processes related to women to adopt the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples “as a minimum standard in the fulfilment and enjoyment of rights by indigenous women”.
Most Understanding Husband Campaign - Equal Access, Nepal (UN Trust Fund Grantee)
As part of the radio series Samajhdari ('Mutual Understanding'), Equal Access created the Most Understanding Husband Competition, a unique initiative to provide positive male role models. Inviting men to nominate themselves as "the most understanding husband", Equal Access received messages from thousands of men across Nepal. Ten husbands were selected as finalists, with their stories featured on the national radio series. Watch video below.
Nepal: Custom & Dangers of Isolation of Women During Menstruation
The centuries old practice of chhaupadi in Nepal can cause prolonged depression in girls and women. In extreme cases it can also cause death.
Chhaupadi pratha, or ritual practice, places Nepali women and girls in a limbo of isolation. In history it is a practice that has been largely accepted. The word chhaupadi, translates in the Achham local Raute dialect as ‘chhau’ which means menstruation and ‘padi’ – woman.