National Campaign against Rape

21 Apr 2014

Recent nationwide increase in cases of rape has been a serious concern. The data from WOREC Nepal during the last three months reports (Baisakh to Asar 2070), 149 cases of rape and 14 cases of attempted rape on women[1]. Most of the survivors are young girls, dalit, poor, single women, disabled women and lesbians.

The people’s movement of 62/63 aimed for justice, equality and self-dignity of every Nepali. However, the lack of effective laws and impunity clearly show the bitter truth that our country is not heading toward that direction. Lack of access to justice-socially and legally to the survivors has compounded the situation.

RAPE Law in Nepal:

Existing law against rape is discriminatory. The existing provisions under the law give a message that 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 it difficult for women to seek 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.

Objective of the Campaign:

• 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..
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• To increase access to justice both socially and legally for all survivors of rape.

Demands of the Campaign:

•  Immediate enactment of comprehensive, effective and aligned with human rights norms and standards  new law against Rape ( in present context bring the new law by ordinance in absence of parliament)
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• Establishment of Fast Track Court, and as temporary measure implement the supreme court’s decision on continuous hearing and ensure justice to all survivors of violence within specific period (one year)
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• 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.
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• 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.
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• 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.
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• Create proper mechanism to implement NAP 1325 and 1820 effectively and create credible base and structures to vent without any fear of retaliation, stigmatization and re-victimization for survivors of SV during conflict 

Timeline: First Phase of Campaign started on 22^nd September 2013 (in occasion of International Peace Day) and end on 10^th December 2013 (Human Rights Day)

Second phase of camaign : ongoing

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[1] WOREC Nepal, August 2013

http://www.worecnepal.org/monthly-report/