Gender Issues in Nepal
Ms. Bharati POKHAREL (Nepal)
Gender-based discrimination is so much ingrained in Nepali patriarchal society thatNepali girls start facing discriminatory treatment from their very early stages of life.
This is particularly true in the rural parts of the country, which account for more than70 percent of Nepal, inhabited by inadequately educated people. First of all, a girl childis not at all wanted by parents who attach importance to patriarchal values. Hence, if it
is known that the baby in the womb is a girl, the pregnant mother starts facing hatred
held by her in-laws. She might as well have to face undue coercion and even assault togo for an abortion. The ordeal of hatred and discrimination continues throughout the lifeof the newborn. She will be denied access to education as much as possible, as the parents
prefer her contribution to household chores and/or other farm-based income-generating
activities. As a result, 14.2% of girls between the ages of 5 and 14 work full-time and do
not attend school at all in Nepal. The deep-rooted cause behind parents’ unwillingness
to send daughters to school is that they consider girls as someone else’s property as they
are to be wed and sent to in-laws’ houses ultimately. Hence, they consider investing ingirls as a waste and prefer to utilize that resource for better food, clothing and educationof male children. It is worthy to note that the adult literacy rate in Nepal for women is
34.9 percent and that for men is 62.7 percent. This signifies how difficult it is to raise
the female literacy rate and level it with men.
There is also a widespread practice of making girls marry at an early age as muchas possible, starting from the age of 10. It is very common that young girls become
pregnant by the age of 16. This is why maternal and child mortality are among theleading causes of death in Nepal.
Women also bear a very disproportionate burden in the household. Many empiricalstudies have revealed that they spend on average 18 hours (from 4 am to 10 pm) daily
for household and farm activities with very little breaks in between, while men spend
only 8 hours productively every day. From early in the morning, women are pressed withhousehold chores such as milking cows, tending animals, bathing and washing clothes,collecting food and cooking meals, etc. This is followed by physical work in the fields,
farms and forests under harsh conditions until late afternoon. They are occupied withduties such as preparing meals, feeding the family, and taking care of the elderly andkids once they come back home in the evening. Depending on the location of a particularhouse, the household chores could be very demanding. For instance, as cited in manystudies, women have to travel for hours to fetch potable water for household consumption.

This kind of daily practice would have severe health impacts on women, as they often
suffer from a stooped back, prolapsed uterus, and so on. This is why female life
expectancy in Nepal is one of the lowest in South Asia.
Nepali women are denied property rights as much as possible as most of the land
titles are held by men. Likewise, women have almost no say in decision making as men
are the key decision makers. This applies to decisions related to issues concerninghouseholds, families and the welfare of children, etc. While women are considered themain providers of food and care to families, it is a great pity that they are still denied anequal say in decisions affecting these affairs.
Recently, as a result of untiring efforts of many international and national nongovernment organizations, some progress has been made mainly on the policy and legal
fronts. The promulgation of Gender Equality Act (2006), Human Trafficking andTransportation Control Act (2007) and Domestic Violence (Crime and Punishment) Act(2009) are the positive moves by the government. But this should never be consideredenough as Nepal has been notorious for the lack of proper implementation of policies andenforcement of laws. Besides, since this issue is more concerned with changing people’s
attitudes and behavior, sustained efforts at the community level to foster awarenessabout respecting women’s rights are required. In order to achieve a gender equal society,men need to realize the immense contribution of women to their and their families’ wellbeing and accord due respect to women in all walks of life.