“Anbeshi 2019” is prepared on the basis of collected and documented cases of violence against women (VAW) from July 2018 to June 2019 by WOREC.
This year WOREC documented total 1,319 VAW cases from around the country and the analysis of this book is exclusively based on those reported cases.
Study Limitations
The study compiles the articulation of cases of violence at the community level from various district as analyzed and reported by the women human rights defenders and other various staffs of WOREC’s working districts. Survivors of violence against women participated in this study voluntarily.
WOREC acknowledges the problem of underreporting cases of VAW, and as such Anbeshi does not claim to represent the full picture of VAW in Nepal, rather it is expected that this report will provide a glimpse of the violence suffered by women across the country.
Collection of Information
The intake forms were used to collect the information by trained counselors and case workers and case managers of WOREC. The information collection process used both ways of detection of event by personnel and also the reported cases by the victims or anyone on their behalves to institutional outlets of WOREC.
Key findings
The highest percentage of violence cases are from province 1 than other. There are 494 cases in province 1, followed by 399 cases in province 2, 215 cases in province 5, 101 cases in province 7, 76 cases in province 3, 32 cases in province 6 and 2 cases in province 4.
1. Types of violence
a. Domestic Violence
According to data recorded by WOREC Nepal, among 1319 cases, women are mostly affected by domestic violence. Domestic violence accounted for 880 of the total recorded VAW cases (66.72%) where ninety percent (790) of the perpetrators were the husband, followed by ten percent (90) family members. Thirty-nine percent (339) of women aged 17-25 years and thirty eight percent (337) of women aged 26-35 are highly affected by domestic violence where eighty seven percent (764) of domestic violence survivors were literate.
b. Social Violence
Social violence is second highest form of violence that takes place after domestic violence. A total of 158 VAW cases were documented as social violence (11.98%). Neighbors perpetrated 92 cases (58%). Seventeen percent (27) of the perpetrators were friends and sixteen percent (26) of the perpetrators were among the close friends. Five percent were affected by their family member (8) and three percent were affected by their coworkers (4).
c. Rape
There were a total of 143 cases of rape (10.84%) and 18 cases of attempt to rape (1.36%). Out of total cases, 64% (92) of the perpetrators were neighbors and 13% (18) were friends. 10% (14) of the perpetrators were close friends, followed by 7% (10) family members, three percent service providers (4), two percent teacher (3) and one percent (2) of survivor was affected by their intimate partner. Minor girls below the age of 16 are the most vulnerable, accounting for 48% of total rape cases (69).
d. Sexual Violence
A total of 62 (4.70%) sexual violence cases was documented. The highest percentage (37%) of sexual violence was committed against women by neighbors (23). Thirty one percent (19) of cases was committed by close friends and ten percent (6) by teachers. Intimate partners perpetrated six percent (4) of cases, followed by service providers (6%), family members (5%) and friends (5%). About 89% of sexual violence survivors were literate and among them 31% (19) of survivors were between the age group 17-25 years.
e. Murder
A total of 10 (0.76%) cases of murder were documented this year, of which eight cases were attempted murder (0.61%). The perpetrators were mostly their family members (50%). Forty percent of the women were murdered by their neighbors. Seventy five percent of the women were literate. Forty percent (4) of the murdered women were between 17 and 25 years of age, followed by twenty percent (2) under the age of 16. Two of the women were between 26-35 age groups, followed by 2 women above the age of 36 who were murdered.
f. Trafficking
There were a total of 8 cases of trafficking of women (0.61%), of which 7 were attempt to trafficking cases (0.53%). Fifty percent of the trafficked women were literate. Seventy five percent of trafficked women were found among the age groups 17-25.
g. Suicide
This year, 10 women were reported to have committed suicide (0.76%) because of gender based violence. WOREC includes suicide as a type of VAW, not for the act itself, but for the reasons behind a woman’s decision to take her own life; women are often driven to commit suicide after experiencing acts of violence.
h. Others
There were additional VAW cases categorized as “other types of violence”, including cases of cybercrime, abduction and abandonment. This year, 3 women were abducted and 12 women were abandoned.
2. Age Profiles and VAW
VAW affects every age group. Women between 17-25 years accounted for the highest percentage of the VAW survivors (36%), closely followed by women aged 26-35 years (32%), 36-45 years (14%), girls under 16 (12%), 46-55 years (4%) and women aged above 56 years (2%). This data indicate that women from every age group experience any form of violence.
3. Education and VAW
Literate women accounted for the highest percentage (86%), while 14% were illiterate. Among the literate women, 64% had primary and secondary education, 31% had higher secondary education, 4% completed undergraduate degree, 4 women attended complete graduate degree and 2 women attended technical classes.
4. Marital status and VAW
The highest percentage of reported VAW cases were found among married women (78%). Conversely, 19% of women (248) were unmarried, followed by 2% (22) who were widowed, 1% (15) who were single, 3 women who were living with their partner and 2 who were separated or divorced. These figures correlate with the high percentage of domestic violence cases. Due to this correlation, it can be argued that women are at greater risk of violence after they are married.
5. Occupation and VAW
The high percentage of women who have experienced violence working in their own households correlates with the high rate of domestic violence. The majority of the women who experienced violence worked in their own households (39%), followed by agriculture (28%), studies (12%), labor (11%), business (5%), non-governmental service (3%), governmental service (1%), job seeker (1%) and private sector (6).
6. Impact of VAW
Regarding the impact of VAW on survivors, it has been divided into five groups in this book. It shows that 51% of the women suffer from a physical impact, 27% suffer a mental impact, 2% suffer an economic impact, 1% suffers a social impact, and 19% suffer from a combination of all previously stated impacts.
7. Ethnicity/Caste and VAW
The highest percentage of reported VAW cases was found among Terai Janjati. 311 number of cases were reported by the Terai Janajati (24%), followed by Hilly Brahmin / Chhetri (20%), Hill Janjati (15%), Terai Dalit (11%), Terai Non-Dalit (11%), Terai Brahmin / Chhetri (9%), Hilly Dalit (6%), Muslim (3%) and Others (1%).
8. Perpetrators of VAW
A survey on the relationship between the women and the perpetrators revealed that husbands (61%) were the most common perpetrators, followed by neighbors (17%), family members (10%), intimate partners (4%), strangers (4%), friends (4%), lovers (4%), service provider (1%) and others (1%).