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Trafficking is not the only evil perpetrated in Nepal. There are women who are beaten or raped, children who are abused or abandoned. There is no welfare system to help them. They end up on the streets, in institutions, or in forced labour, denied their human and childhood rights.

Gender and caste discrimination are rife in Nepal and though Nepal is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), successive governments have done little to act on human rights issues, and virtually nothing on women’s rights. Although Nepal is officially a caste-free society the reality is very different.

A woman’s place in life, her ability to obtain gainful employment and self-sufficiency is based on both caste and the men who dominate her life – first her father, then her husband, and finally her son. A woman is considered an adjunct to and the property of the male head of the house.

A woman or girl child abandoned or thrown out of her family loses her entire status in society, and is usually deemed casteless or unclean. Her chance of obtaining self-sufficiency through employment without family/caste introductions is virtually impossible without some form of outside help and support.

Rights of the Child

Nepal is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, yet allows its tenets to be regularly flouted.

Though primary schooling is obligatory in Nepal, the reality is different. Due to poverty and the mindset that educating a girl is pointless since the girl will ultimately become the property of her husband’s family, many families keep their daughters at home to do domestic work, or put their children into employment. Literacy rates for girls are around 20% compared with male literacy of just over 50%. Many schools were forcibly closed during the Maoist incursions, and those state schools that remain offer scant genuine education.

Tens of thousands of children are put to work in domestic labour often far away from their families. Living in often cramped and dirty conditions, they face physical, sexual and mental abuse from their employers and the employers’ family. It is rare for them to be given educational support, leaving them to face a life of menial labour. Children in such work, apart from suffering as mentioned above, face the risk of being trafficked or other forms of abusive labour.

We are committed to fighting against trafficking and other forms of exploitation and oppression of women and children in Nepal. We wish to see female status in society raised, through education and training, to give them more independence and a voice.

Please also see our work on Education, Employment  and Advocacy