Rural women, who are landless or near landless, are predominantly engaged in domestic labor and subsistence agricultural production activities. For Nepali women, life is a complex web of constraints, obligations, and sacrifices, many of which are determined from the day of her birth. The caste or ethnic group into which she is born determines her position, status, and freedom. But group identify is just one element of status. Patriarchal family structures continue to dictate much of the course of a woman's life.
Women have few options for survival other than getting married and producing male children.
Hindu tradition continues to emphasize marriage as a universal ideal. The vast majority of Nepali women are married early, often with little choice about who their partner will be. Because a woman eventually joins here husband's family anyway, parent do not feel obligated to invest in their daughters' education or development. A rural Nepali girl contributes to the livelihood of her household from a very young age. Women's participation in the formal economy is still a relatively new concept in Nepal.