Phidim, December 9

Stakeholders have lamented the lack justice for victims of Gender Based Violence in Panchthar.

At a time when the entire nation is celebrating ‘16 days of Activism Against GBV’ campaign, speakers at an interaction on ‘mitigation of gender violence’ organised in Phidim today criticised the relative inaction shown by the office of women and children and various other organisations working in the district in launching effective programmes.

The interaction was organised by Inter-party Women Network Panchthar.

Speaking on the occasion, Federation of Nepali Journalists Panchthar chapter Chairperson Lawadev Dhungana sought genuine commitment from political parties to help bring the perpetrators of violence against women to book.

“Political leaders often try to shield the criminals, including rapists and persons guilty of gender based violence, so it is high time the political parties stopped doing such things in future,” he demanded.

Sancharika Samuha Panchthar Chairperson Shanti Rai rued the lack of unity among organisations working in the field of women’s rights.

Further, charging that most of the VAW cases were being perpetrated by the big fish in society, she argued that the ongoing violence against the female race couldn’t be stopped until a change is brought in the traditional mindset of the people.

Women Human Rights Protector Network Panchthar Chairperson Bimala Dhakal presented a paper on ‘women violence, rights, challenge and possibility’ and pointed out problems in punishing the perpetrators of VAW.

“There are cases where evidence of GBV is destroyed, the victims are threatened over the incident and forced to withdraw the accusation.

The stakeholders should be wary of such practices,” she argued.

Most of the speakers at the interaction also bemoaned the lack of coordination and programmes to stop gender violence in the district.