KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 7
Minister of Women, Children, and Senior Citizens Uma Regmi said her ministry was committed to doing everything to control gender-based violence.
Speaking at a programme on the problems of gender-based violence organised by Koshish Nepal, a national mental health organisation and Forum for Women, Law and Development here today, Minister Regmi said patriarchy was at the root of gender-based violence and even educated men were responsible for committing gender-based violence against their spouses and daughters. " I have only a few weeks to serve as minister, but I am committed to implementing the suggestions of stakeholders," she added.
Minister Regmi said male members of society should be involved in programmes aimed at creating awareness against gender-based violence. Executive Director of FWLD Sabin Shrestha said there was a fund of Rs 1.1 million with Kathmandu metropolis to address problems of gender-based violence, but the metropolis had not spent even a penny from the fund to ameliorate the plight of victims of gender-based violence.
He said discriminatory nationality laws that barred Nepali women from transmitting nationality to their children on par with Nepali men was one of the major causes of violence against women and children. He said cases of domestic violence constituted 77 per cent of all gender-based violence cases.
He also said relatives, teachers or acquaintances were involved 78 per cent of the GBV cases, and added that Nepal Police data revealed that out of all types of crimes, nearly 40 per cent cases were gender-based violence cases. Although chhaupadi practice was abolished, it is still being practised in western Nepal, he added.
Two women, who were born in Nepal but did not know who their parents were, could not obtain citizenship due to inability to identify their parents. The victims, who were assisted by Koshis Nepal, said they were sexually abused by their perpetrators.
Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens Laxmi Kumari Basnet said that both sons and daughters should be treated equally by family members but many mothers themselves discriminated against their daughters to give more priority to their sons. He said any form of exploitation of children and child marriage was gender-based violence.
He said the MoWCSC, had in recent years, taken a number of steps to control gender-based violence, to provide training and counselling to the victims.
A version of this article appears in the print on December 8, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
