Kathmandu, October 27:

Nepal’s legal system will continue to fail women until at least one-third of legal professionals are female, deputy resident representative of UNDP, Ghulam Isaczai, said today. “With 95 per cent of Nepal’s practising lawyers being male, and only five out of the country’s 250 judges being female, law in Nepal is still seen as a male profession,” said Isaczai at a function organised to launch the book titled Gender Justice. He urged the government to consider ways to encourage more women to enter the legal field.

“Until at least one-third of Nepal’s lawyers and judges are female, women in Nepal will continue to suffer systematic discrimination when they attempt to seek justice,” said Isaczai, adding that women will be unable to get fair hearings, especially in cases of gross human rights violations like domestic violence or rape.