Violence against Women (VAW) is a pervasive issue being perpetuated by the deep-rooted patriarchal and orthodox norms and values widespread in the Nepali society. VAW’s major manifestations (domestic violence, social violence, mental violence, sexual harassments, rape and trafficking) are an all-pervading issue affecting the lives of more than half of the country’s population. VAW harms families and communities across generations, and reinforces other forms of violence in the society. It also impoverishes women, their families, communities and nation. It is not confined to a specific culture, caste/ethnicity, region or country, or to particular groups of women within a society. The roots of VAW lie in persistent discrimination against women. In Nepali society, semi-feudal and patriarchal structure, superstitions and illiteracy among women, as well as poverty and marginalization of women are the factors accelerating the cases of VAW at large. At the same time, impunity in the state and weak enforcement of law are also responsible for VAW. 

Violence against Women (VAW) is a pervasive issue being perpetuated by the deep-rooted patriarchal and orthodox norms and values widespread in the Nepali society. VAW’s major manifestations (domestic violence, social violence, mental violence, sexual harassments, rape and trafficking) are an all-pervading issue affecting the lives of more than half of the country’s population. VAW harms families and communities across generations, and reinforces other forms of violence in the society. It also impoverishes women, their families, communities and nation. It is not confined to a specific culture, caste/ethnicity, region or country, or to particular groups of women within a society. The roots of VAW lie in persistent discrimination against women. In Nepali society, semi-feudal and patriarchal structure, superstitions and illiteracy among women, as well as poverty and marginalization of women are the factors accelerating the cases of VAW at large. At the same time, impunity in the state and weak enforcement of law are also responsible for VAW. 

VAW campaign of WOREC Nepal is a vibrant campaign. Various programs are being carried out under this campaign. These programs are conducted to address numerous multi-faceted issues responsible for VAW. WOREC Nepal’s experience of working for more than 20 years at local and national levels has revealed that only a multi-pronged approach, which addresses the numerous and complex causes of women trafficking and all other forms of VAW, is effective in eliminating the unequal power relations and achieving human rights for all Nepali girls, women and marginalized groups. 

WOREC Nepal has been accomplishing activities to break the culture of silence, ensure justice to the survivors of GBV by providing security and other supports, and provide environment to the survivors to lead a life of dignity and respect. 

WOREC Nepal's commitments

 Provide support to women survivors of violence. 

 Develop capacity of women human rights defenders (WHRDs) active at community level to document cases of VAW and advocate for proper redress to survivors of violence.

 Advocate for creation of support mechanism for the survivors of GBV. 

 Increase the access of women suffering from violence to legal aid, counseling and other support mechanism.

 Strengthen women’s role as decision-makers and leaders.

Major achievements 

 WOREC Nepal has been recognized as an active national organization in the field of gender based violence (GBV); and there has been strong coordination with the major stakeholders at international, national as well as local levels. 

 WOREC Nepal and other women NGO's continuous lobby, advocacy and dialogue with the government has pressurized government to develop national plan for action against GBV. It has been implemented by the different ministries. These ministries have been reporting to OPMCM on the activities done for the prevention and response to GBV on regular basis. It is the part of the action plan, that Ministry of Health and Population in coordination with WOREC Nepal and other ministries have developed guideline for the implementation of One Stop Crisis Centers (OSCC). Recently, feasibility study of sites in 15 districts for the establishment of OSCC has been conducted. The district stakeholders have been oriented on the concept of OSCC.

 The Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the prevention of and response to GBV has been endorsed by the Government. 

 The district resource committee against GBV has been formed at VDC and district level to enact upon the cases of VAW.

 The service providers after getting trainings from WOREC Nepal has become sensitive towards VAW cases and are proactively screening VAW cases to document it, do necessary counseling and refer to the relevant organizations/stakeholders for necessary support.  

 The national database system entitled Gender Based Violence Information Management System (GBVIMS) has been established under the office of Women Commission. This has been of great achievement to avoid the duplication of VAW cases being reported by different organizations. It can draw attention of the government on the issues and the dimensions of VAW to address them appropriately.

 Capacity of WHRD to document cases of VAW has been strengthened. The documented cases were used for the compilation of Annual Analytical Report on VAW- "Anbeshi 2011".

 The level of empowerment among women has been increasing as different networks, alliances and federations led by women are getting united and are doing lots of activities related to advocacy at national, districts and local level. The community based organizations (CBOs) and networks have started to separate basket funds for emergency situation to support VAW survivors. 

 WOREC Nepal advocacy for the safe houses for women survivors of violence became successful. The GoN has formed safe shelter at 15 districts and has announced the plan and budget for more safe houses for the survivors of VAW.

 Coordination between WOREC Nepal and mass media has been strengthened. Media has been playing very active role in making VAW cases visible.

 Guidelines and resource materials of GBV training were prepared and distributed.