Increasing sexual violence against women and difficulties in accessing Justice

24 Apr 2014

Recent nationwide increase in cases of rape has been a serious concern in the country. The data from WOREC Nepal during the last three months, Magh to Chaitra 2070 BS (Mid Jan to mid April 2014) reports 1211 cases of violence against women among that 144 cases of rape, 37 cases of attempted rape and 30 cases of other forms of  sexual violence have been reported. Most of the survivors are girls under age of 16.

Currently, the law of Nepal gives a message of raping certain age and group of women is less punishable than other. According to present law, if a person rapes a girl child of less than 10 years the sentence is 10 to 15 years of custody, 14 to 16 years is 8 to 12 years custody, 16 to 20 years is 5 to 8 years of custody and the provision of punishment for raping a woman above 20 years age is 5 to 7 years custody. Although this is not explicit these provisions accepts rape and make rape against women above 20 more acceptable and less punishable. This is totally against human right norms and principles. Similarly, the 35 days limitation for reporting cases of rape is infringing on women's right to get justice. This situation makes almost impossible for women to access justice. Similarly, the lengthy and complicated court proceedings add further complication to the process. This situation has fostered culture of impunity and boosted the moral of perpetrator to complacently continue the crime. The condition is unbearable and demands immediate action from every concerned citizen and institutions of the country to come forward and act together to end and transform the situation of violence for creating a sustainable to peace in the country.

Considering the current situation, National anti-rape campaign led by National Alliance of Women Human Rights Defenders (NAWHRD) along with more than 30 human rights/social welfare organization launched a campaign since 22nd of September 2013.  The experiences and cases gathered and shared during this phase of campaign strongly suggests that it is imperative to have discussion among Women Human Right Defenders across the country together with concerned stakeholders and strategies plan of action for further activities to create environment where women can feel that they are cared, protected and are not alone !

Why National Dialogue?

For the establishment of sustainable and positive peace, it is important to establish justice by ending violence at every social, economic, cultural and political level. We women human right activists believe that peace cannot be established unless the end of various forms of violence including violence against women. Also, it is very essential for all of us to ensure justified, equal and meaningful representation along with political, economic, social and cultural rights in constitutional development process and in further structures. So it is seen necessary for us to make it a subject of concern and develop common attitude.

Thus, national level dialogue is inevitable to create positive pressure to related institutions by creating common thoughts among stakeholders along with development of women’s movement in more empowered way by centralizing the issues to put an end to existing gender based discrimination, violence against women and creating women friendly constitution. In-depth discussion will be carried out on what can be done to bring change in the existing condition during national discussion among women human right defenders, from all over Nepal. Along with women human right defenders, the discussion will be done among active human right activists, government institutions and other stakeholders. This discussion will develop a ground for developing a work plan on what is crucial to ensure the right to access to justice for women affected by violence.

Objective of National Dialogue
 

•     To increase existing level of awareness on sexual violence and create environment for internalization by every citizen of the country to understand that sexual violence is a severe violation of women's right which affects women and society  physically, mentally and socially and creates difficulty for government to fulfill its due diligence obligations.
•     To increase access to justice both socially and legally for all survivors of rape including women affected by sexual violence during decade long conflict.

Demands of the Campaign
 

•     Immediate enactment of comprehensive, effective and aligned with human rights norms and standards new law against Rape.
•     Establishment of Fast Track Court immediately.
•     Formulation of new victim, gender sensitive investigation manual for investigation of cases of sexual violence with clear inbuilt accountability mechanisms to ensure its proper and effective implementation.
•     Enact with proper allocation of budget Action as per the state's commitment on CRC and CEDAW to ensure all the rights of women and girl children affected by rape and sexual exploitation.
•     Formulation of necessary laws to establish discrimination or stigmatization of rape survivors against rape as a social crime and establishment of necessary legal provisions to punish the perpetrators involved in such crime.
•     Include sexual violence within NAP 1325 and 1820 and create mechanism to investigate all cases of sexual violence. Also, create support structures to address effectively and create credible base and structures to vent without any fear of retaliation, stigmatization and re-victimization for survivors of SV during conflict.
•     Form a high level national committee to investigate all sexual violence committed during the conflict period.
•     Develop a constitution ensuring all women's rights.

Methodology:
 

•     In collaboration with National Alliance of Women Human Rights Defenders, National Women Commission, WOREC Nepal and National Anti-Rape Campaign this National Dialogue will be organized. Women Human Rights Defenders from most of the districts will participate spontaneously.
•     There will be three panel discussions on the first day. Likewise, second and third day will be followed by the orientation/skill building of the Women Human Rights Defender (WHRDs) on documentation of cases and advocacy.
•     Issues identified in the National Dialogue will be taken forward as National plan of action to increase access to justice for survivors of sexual violence.

Activities:
 

First Day Baishak 12, 2070 BS (25-4-2014 AD)

National Dialogue

Inaugural program and there will be three panels- "Rape law in Nepal and difficulties in accessing justice"; "Transitional justice from women's perspective"; "Challenges to address issues of women affected from sexual violence during decade long conflict and plan future mandatory activities"

Panelist: TBA

Second day (Baishak 13): Orientation on Documentation

WHRDs are the people who are bringing the cases of violence against women in public. Women human rights defenders are subject to specific types of violence, risks, and constraints because of their work on gender issues. Documentation of violations perpetrated against WHRDs/women is an important component of the work. They are the front line active women in district level who speaks and advocates for the rights of women.  Therefore, it is necessary to train them on documentation to document properly in the cases of VAW/violence against WHRDs for evidence based advocacy.

Methodology

There will be parallel orientation in four different organizations: WOREC Nepal, Nepal Mahila Ekta Samaj, WOFOWON and Loom Nepal. The orientation will be followed by experience sharing of WHRDs- the process they are documenting the cases of VAW and the challenges they face during the course of action. There will be one facilitator in each organization to present a paper on documentation and there will be open floor discussion.  The hosting organizations will provide snacks for the participants.

Third Day (Baishak 14) Skill building on Advocacy

A skill building on advocacy is important for WHRDs because it allows women activist to share experiences and insight from their work in the field and in the national policy arena, and to develop strategies and tailor message for lobbying with the government representatives.

Methodology

There will be parallel orientation in four different organizations: WOREC Nepal, Nepal Mahila Ekta Samaj, WOFOWON and Loom Nepal. The orientation will be followed by experience sharing of WHRDs- the process they are advocating and the challenges they face during the course of action. There will be one facilitator in each organization to present a paper on advocacy and there will be open floor discussion.  The hosting organizations will provide snacks for the participants.

Fourth Day (Baishak 15)

Sit-In Protest at Anamnagar from 11am to noon followed by rally.

From 16th Baishak Onward- Sit-In protest at Shanti Batika, Kathmandu will be continued.