Kathmandu, May 5

Chairperson of National Women Commission Bhagwati Ghimire said it was extremely important to focus on implementing aws and policies in place regarding gender violence and gender issues.

Speaking at a programme  on the role of media in preventing gender-based violence, she said that the media played a crucial role in giving voice to women who are repressed and become victims of gender-based violence.

“The media can greatly help empower women, and make them realise that they don’t have to quietly subscribe to patriarchal notions and beliefs. So many women and girls grow up believing that they are actually the lesser sex. They feel that  their voices would not matter to others. We have to help them gain their self-respect, and build faith in themselves,” she said.

She also said that women must be given the same opportunities as men to become leaders of society. She pointed out, however, that a disproportionately less number of women were running for top posts in the upcoming local level elections, which she said was a reflection of the country’s repression of women.

According to a report published in 2016 by ASMITA on media coverage of gender violence, 9.13 per cent of news regarding gender violence was covered in the front page in national daily newspapers, 6.15 per cent news was broadcast on radio, and 2.7 per cent on television channels as the headline bulletin.

Legal Officer at National Women Commission Nirmala Gurung said, “Women are still treated as commodity in large parts of our society, parcelled from her father’s home to her husband’s home. Sometimes, even money exchanges hands. This should be changed through awareness programmes.”

Gurung said that during the fiscal 2010/11, 149 cases of domestic violence were registered in the NWC, which has increased to 202 in the fiscal 2016/17. She added that 50 cases have already registered in the new fiscal.