Protection of women improved in Nepal

A Nepalese women’s organisation has campaigned for laws protecting women. As a result, women’s rights have been included in the new constitution of Nepal.

With the 2006 revolution, the transition to democracy in Nepal began. However, women’s rights and equality have made slow progress, and women are discriminated against at all levels of society in Nepal. Violence against women is widespread.

Women who defend human rights are in the greatest danger: they are at risk because of their gender as well as their activities. Violence against women human rights defenders and even murders are not rare. The perpetrators may be authorities as well as family members.

KIOS funded the work of the Women’s Rehabilitation Centre (WOREC) on women’s rights in 2007–2014. During that period, the organisation founded a nationwide network of women human rights defenders. During the two last years, they directly influenced the awareness of more than 7,000 people of women’s rights, and thousands of others with media campaigns.

The network, operating over an extensive area, has been able to influence laws protecting women. As a result of hard campaigning, a separate article on women’s rights was included in the 2015 Nepalese Constitution (Article 38). Thanks to the work of women human rights defenders, improvements have also been made to laws on domestic violence.