RESEARCH BASED ON LITERATURE REVIEW ( CORPORAL PUNISHMENT,

CHILD MARRIAGE, GIRLS EDUCATION, CHILD MALNUTRITION, CHILDREN

WITH HIV / AIDS FOCUS ON CHILD HEADED FAMILY, CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE,
CHILDHOD DISABILITY,CHHAUPADI )
FOR TALK SHOW SERIES ON BROADCAST TELEVISION IN NEPAL

Submitted to:

Save the Children , Nepal Country Office

Shree Krishna Bhawan ,
Airport Gate, Shambhu Marga Sinamangal,

By Irada Parajuli Gautam

Independent Consultant

3rd December 2012

I.

Background

Save the Children Nepal is interested in piloting a talk show series on broadcast television and
would like to build upon the evidenced success and apply its format to social issues that are
faced by children in Nepal. The concept is to have eight 30 minute episodes that each focus on a
different social issue facing children in Nepal (e.g. Corporal punishment, child marriage, girls
education, malnutrition, children with HIV / AIDS focus on child headed family, child sexual
abuse, childhood disability, chhaupadi ). The shows content will be evidence-based and
supported by research as well as experiences of survivors and role models. Each episode will
feature a child survivor or role model that has personal experience with the highlighted social
issue. After interviewing the survivor or role model individually, thematic experts and relevant
stakeholders will be invited to join a broader discussion on the topic.
The talk show is envisaged as a forum for candid dialogue that empowers children to speak
openly about the contemporary social challenges they face in Nepal. Beyond the family level,
the series could potentially influence the policy level. To serve as an effective advocacy tool at
this higher level, each episode will be based on thorough research and incorporate carefully
selected facts and figures.
Objectives and Expected Results
Goal: To raise awareness and sensitize the general public on various social issues affecting
children in Nepal and how they can be addressed.
Objectives:

To facilitate honest and open dialogue on taboo social issues

To create a forum for child survivors/role models to share their personal stories and

struggles with various social issues in Nepal

To widely disseminate policy gap and information on the selected social issues, their

affect on the lives of children and how they can be properly addressed
Documentation of research findings on the selected issues related to children

Results/Outputs:

Eight 30 minute episodes broadcasted across Nepal (Potential episode themes include:
child marriage, girls education, malnutrition, child headed family, child sexual abuse,

childhood disability, Corporal punishment, chhaupadi etc)

Research report compiled for each episode/social issue to be used in our programming
2

Target group/beneficiaries:

People (duty bearers and right holders) of all ages and all sectors including policy
makers, parents, etc. will be targeted as viewers.

Modalities and methodology

The project will involve close coordination between Save the Children, research experts,
producers/program

facilitators,

potential

broadcasting

networks

and

child/stakeholder

participants.
A panel of relevant stakeholders or Professional individual will be invited to participate in the
discussion following the individual interview. This panel may include policemen, psychosocial
counselors, medical professionals, lawyers, service providers, authorized government official or
any other specialist that may have a unique perspective or meaningful stake in the episodes
highlighted issue. Save the Children and its partners will mobilize existing networks and
connections to select and assemble a diverse panel.
As Kantipur and Nepal Television have nationwide coverage and popularity they will be
approached to arrange the broadcasting events. Special screenings might be organized in remote
village areas with limited television access. The issues being addressed will be relevant to all
people in Nepal. Therefore, coordination with local stations and public village viewings should
be considered to extend coverage and maximize the scope of audience. The detail of research
findings for selected theme has given below.

1.

Corporal Punishment

A study done by Plan Nepal in different 7 districts in 2011 shows that 39.34% of children
realized punished corporally by the teachers. They also mentioned that 5.34% of total school
droppers are because of the corporal punishment. Corporal punishment in school has become a
preferred measurable tool for making children disciplined. 57.77% of school going children in
the world is potentially risk of receiving school corporal punishment.
A 2008 study in 71 child centres in Nepal UNICEF & Terre des Hommes found that
punishments in child centres included hitting children, isolating them, locking them in the
toilet, public humiliation, and forcing them to clean floors and toilets,( Adopting the Rights of
the Child: A study on inter country adoption and its influence on child protection in Nepal)
In a study in the schools of Kathmandu, 82% of students were found to suffer physical
punishment in schools; 80% of students said that alternative methods can be used to discipline
children. (Reported in The Rising Nepal, 24 December 2006)
In December 2003, the Centre for Victims of Torture (CVICT), in collaboration with
UNICEF, conducted a focus group study on Existing Systems of Discipline in Schools
among students, teachers and parents in four regions. The study revealed that corporal
punishment was being used in most schools, more commonly in the private than the public
schools. Physical punishment was most commonly used against primary school students,
while psychological punishment was more common against secondary level students. Both
were commonly used against lower secondary students. Many teachers and parents reported
that they give severe punishment to children because they were unaware of alternatives to
corporal punishment and knew little about the physical and psychological impacts of harsh
punishments. (Reported in CVICT, Monthly Update, June 2004)
A study on barriers to education for children with disabilities in Nepal found that students with
disabilities experienced corporal punishment at home and at school, and that this could
contribute to the childrens lack of access to education. (Human Rights Watch (2011), Futures
Stolen: Barriers to Education for Children with Disabilities in Nepal)
Banning corporal punishment is responded in School Sector Reform Program (SSRP-2009-14).
The SSRP states that no child shall be subjected to physical punishment in any form in the
4

school. Teacher and school found guilty of practicing corporal punishment shall both be subject
to disciplinary actions that may include suspension of teachers grade and an official warning to
the School Management Committee (SMC).
Similarly, Education Rule (sixth addendum), 2059 has added no students should be physically
and mentally violated under the teachers code of conduct. At the mean time, the ministry of
education has approved a policy named Policy Provision for Banning Corporal Punishment in
Schools- 2011.
Ministry of Education in the collaboration with the Department of Education, National Centre of
Educational Development, Plan Nepal, Save the children and UNICEF launched Learn without
Fear (LWF) Campaign in Nepal on 21st November 2008. It is a campaign for preventing all
forms of violence against children in schools. This includes corporal punishment, sexual abuse,
neglect, verbal abuse, emotional abuse, and bullying in schools.
As per the UNICEF study, Students are punished when they

1. Do not come to school in neat school uniforms.

2. Do not come to school on time, fail to improve handwriting
3. Do not do their home work, do not pay school fees promptly.
4. Do not respect teachers, tease classmates
5. Do not memorize an assigned lesson by heart.
6. Misbehave, disturb class, destroy schools property.
7. Write unacceptable things on the school premises.
8. Skip classes, stay out of school without giving a legitimate reason.
9. Are blamed or accused by other students.
10. Cannot bring textbooks, pen, pencils, notebooks and other learning materials with them.
11. Fight or quarrel in class, are found cheating in exams, fail in an examination.
12. Have a teacher fail to identify the mischievous student.
13. Make a noise or talk in class, steal something, disobey or behave rudely
14. Dont pay attention to teachers, fall asleep in class, teachers are in stressful or tense mood

Why Teachers Punishes; to

1.

Maintain discipline students quickly, easily and effectively, keep the classroom quiet and

2.

orderly.
Make fun of disobedient students (for example, by giving them animal names).

3.

Discriminate between students: weak and intelligent, high class and low class, poor and

4.
5.
6.
7.

rich;
Get the favor of the Management Board of the school and parents as well.
Make student confess misdeeds, make students follow the rules and regulations of schools.
Dominate students, students under control, correct the bad habits of students
Obtain one hundred per cent results in examinations, follow parents request to punish their

children.
8. Teach students the difference between what is good and what is bad.
9. Use the abuse of a weak student to threaten other students.
10. Make student do their homework or class work
Types of Punishment:
PH YS I C AL
1.

Different degrees of beating, mild to severe: with a stick, cane, belt, pipe, fist and ruler
on different parts of body; with a duster and a book on the head; with a pencil and a bare

palm on cheeks; kicking randomly on lower parts.

2. Beating with a bunch of wet stinging nettles, making students stand on a bench.
3. Making students stand in the corridor, outside the classroom, Pulling ears and the hair.
4. Twisting ears, Pinching cheeks or arms, making students sit or stand for a long time.
5. Pressing a pencil between two fingers and then pressing them hard.
6. Poking and prodding with a pencil or a stick, beating on a wound.
7. Hanging from a ceiling fan, hitting a students head against the wall or a desk
8. Mutilating an ear or damaging an eye, ordering to stand on one leg in the sun.
9. Making a student walk or run around the school compound 15 to 20 times.
10. Putting in a sack and tying up the open end, banging a students head against a wall.
11. Beating with a sharp nail attached to a flat bamboo stick, forcing students to kneel on a
rough surface with naked knees.
P S YC H O LO G I C A L
1. Using words of embarrassment and degrading, discouraging, insulting, humiliating
expressions such as stupid, useless, hopeless, idiot, nonsense, fool, and bloody fool,
2.
3.
4.
5.

bastard.
Giving animal names: donkey, monkey, ox, bitch, and buffalo.
Threatening to beat severely or expel from school, Blaming students
Demoralizing, Taking the student to the principal, calling parents to the school.
Telling stories of witches, ghosts, wild animals or dacoits to create fear among primary

level students,
6. Ordering students to act in a degrading way such as having to eat grass like sheep or
goats.
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7. Forcing students to touch human excrement with the tip of the tongue.
8. Ordering students especially girls to stand in the rain.
9. Making students crow like a rooster or lie down like a donkey.
10. Frightening students - One mistake - five time beating with a stick.
11. Making a girl student stand completely naked in the classroom.
12. Discriminating on the basis of gender, wealth or background.
13. Giving too much homework to create mental pressure.
14. Enforcing solitary confinement in a toilet, cupboard and in a store to humiliate.
15. Suspending or expelling students.
16. Retaining a student as collateral against school dues.
17. Making a student work in the kitchen of the school hostel.
18. Insulting in the class by belittling the parents, Scolding badly.
What results when the teachers beat students (Consequences of Corporal Punishment)

Intellectual loss, Increased delinquency, School drop outs of children

Mentally / physically disabled, Nurture violence behavior

Lower self esteem / lose confidence/humiliation / Rage without reducing undesired

behavior

Training for children to use physical violence, Liable to instill hostility

Associate with negative outcome , Suicide /Death

It does not only hamper the individual development but also disturbs/ruins the social
harmony
Why corporal punishment is not the solution
Extensive research shows that corporal punishment does not achieve the desired end a culture
of learning and discipline in the classroom. Instead, violence begets violence. Children exposed
to violence in their homes and at school tend to use violence to solve problems, both as children
and adults. Key research findings show that corporal punishment:

Some learners blow their own horn about being beaten as something to be proud of, as a
badge of bravery or success.

Undermines a caring relationship between learner and educator, which is critical for the
development of all learners, particularly those with behavioral difficulties.

Undermines the self-esteem and confidence of children who have learning or behavioral
problems and/or difficult home circumstances and contributes to negative feelings about
school.

Does not build a culture of human rights, tolerance and respect.

7

Does not stop bad behavior of difficult children. Instead, these children are punished over
and over again for the same offenses.

Does not nurture self-discipline in children. Instead, it provokes aggression and feelings
of revenge and leads to anti-social behavior.

Does not make children feel responsible for their own actions. They worry about being
caught, not about their personal responsibilities. This undermines the growth of self-discipline
in children.

Take children focus away from the wrongdoing committed to the act of beating itself.
Suggestions by research Participants
1.
2.
3.
4.

There should be a code of conducts for both teachers and students.

Students should be involved in making school rules and regulations.
A copy of a schools rules and regulations should be sent to parents.
A student must know why s/he has been punished so that s/he can rectify his/her mistake

and not repeat it again.

5. Teachers or principals should punish students only after verifying the mistakes of the
student.
6. Students should not be beaten for not wearing the proper uniform or not having
textbooks, notebooks, pens or pencils because they are not responsible for such things.
7. Students should not be discriminated against by teachers on the basis of gender, caste,
religion, economical status, or on grounds of intelligence.
8. Students should not be fined for their mistakes or unacceptable behavior because it would
be a punishment for parents.
9. Children should be treated humanely and not as if they are animals.
10. Principals/teachers should not beat students in front of all the students of the school
during morning Assembly.
11. Students should be rewarded for their good deeds and for their good behavior.
12. Humiliating and insulting words should not be used to discipline students.
13. Students should not be given too much homework, they must get time to play with other
children of the neighborhood and have chance to share their feelings. They should
get some time to talk or listen to their family members at home.
14. Teachers should remember their school days and recall how they felt when they were
beaten and humiliated.
15. School managements should create better teaching and learning environments in schools.
16. Students should be made busy in schools through extra activities such as indoor or
outdoor games, contests or competitions so that they are not attracted by unsociable
activities
8

17. Parents would like the government to improve the standard of public schools so that most
parents would not need to send their children to expensive private schools for a better
education.
18. Parents associations should be formed in each district and at a national level to fight
against severe punishment in schools.
19. Civil society should pressurize government and school administrations to stop severe
punishment in schools and also arrange programmes to control it at home.
20. The government should ban corporal punishment and verbal humiliation in schools. It
should launch training workshops on non-violent teaching for teachers and should use the
media to make the public aware.
21. Home is the first school for a child and s/he spends more time at home than in schools.
Many children are severely beaten at home, therefore, parents should also be trained in
alternatives to punishment and they should also be made aware of the consequences of
punishment.
22. If violence is to be eradicated from society, a beginning must be the control of violence in
schools. Examples set in school can be a constructive influence on family discipline in
the home.
23. The management of schools should hold regular interaction with parents to discuss the
progress of their children.
24. The management of school should arrange for smaller classes and hire qualified and
educated teachers at good salaries.
25. Teachers should use creative methods of teaching rather than relying solely on rote
recitation.
26. Teachers should know about the rights of the child, child psychology and ways to teach
non-violently
2. Girl's Education
Poor, marginalized, illiterate girls have little access to resources and opportunities due to cultural
and socioeconomic barriers. Nepal has formulated the program Education for All and also has
the major goal to achieve the universal education to primary level on Millennium Development
Goal by 2015 but huge numbers of children are out of schools. Government allocate more than
17 percent budget for education but girls education status is very poor as compare with fund at
local, national and international level. Government and other organizations have shown the data
that more than 90 percent of children are enrolled in school at primary level but they cant justify
9

why only 50 percent of them get enroll in lower secondary level Education of Children is like,
they admitted the children in schools and increase the data on the graph and they didnt give any
concern about it.
As per UNICEF, A net attendance ratio of 82% for females and 86% for males can be found in
primary schools (20052010) while for secondary schools, its 38% for females and 46% for
males.
As per the flash I report, 2008 department of education, The school drop out rate of girls of
grade eight is 20.6% as against 6.5% of the boys.
Out of 195,689 students who passed the SLC in Nepal, only 58.78% girls as against 67.91% of
boys passed the examination. Out of total

171593 students in different institutions under

Tribhuvan university , the largest public sector institution of higher education in Nepal, only
34.70% are girls as per Tribhuvan university, 2008 - ( gender disaggregated statistics,2010,
national women commission)
The opportunity costs of schooling are higher because poor families are not able to manage their
subsistence living without the involvement of their children ( mainly girls)in agricultural
production, non formal and household economic activities. These factors contribute towards
undermining the need of education especially among girl children.
The differently abled populations and children living with HIV / AIDS face many
discriminations and disadvantages in the school system. Although the Net enrolment ratio
( NER) has reached 89.1% in the year in 2007 -2008, the participation of marginalized girls,
janajatis, Dalits and children with disabilities is still very low. About 11% of the population in
the primary school going age ( 5-9) are still out of school. The percentage of girls particularly
Madeshi, Muslim, Tharu Janajatis, Dalits and children with disability is the highest among the
out of school population. Several studies have shown that the out of school children are a hard to
reach target group. (Shadow report, 4th and 5th periodic report of the government of Nepal
CEDAW 2011 )
Unesco has examined seven of the twenty studies on barriers to girls schooling. As reported by
these studies, girls face numerous barriers in their efforts to acquire formal education. These
barriers have been grouped into nine major categories:
Social and cultural barriers
Economic barriers
Psychological barriers
Institutional barriers
Barriers caused by poor teaching-learning conditions in schools
10

 Barriers caused by family circumstances

Geographic barriers
Mental and physical barriers
Barriers caused by armed conflict
The impact of educational research and evaluation on policy-making was measured in terms of
the number of recommendations adopted into policy. Those transformed into policy include the
following recommendations:

Introduce alternative schooling programmes to all girls and other children who cannot
attend full-time, formal primary schools.
Provide increased incentives (scholarships, free textbooks, uniforms and nutrition) for
girls and disadvantaged children.
Give local schools the authority to reschedule school hours to fit local lifestyles.
Establish schools within short walking distances for children.
Give clear guidelines to local authorities regarding the selection of girls.
Appoint at least one woman teacher to every primary school.
Increase the amount of the stipends to be paid to girls at feeder hostels.
Increase the size of scholarships so that the money is sufficient to meet educational costs.
Increase the number of scholarships to be commensurate with actual enrollment.
Establish committees at the local level to identify children eligible for scholarships

distribute the scholarships accordingly and monitor how they are used.
Institute a system of reward and punishment to make teachers accountable for their

performance and to encourage a better work ethic in the profession.

11

3. Child Sexual abuse:

Childhood is a building block on which the future is laid. Childhood experiences influence the
ways in which we feel, think, act and respond throughout our lives. The events, circumstances
and relationships of our early past have a profound impact on our adult lives. For some children
childhood is not the golden period that is idolized and glorified, rather it is a period of intense
pain and hurt and betrayal. This hurt, pain and betrayal is often caused by sexual abuse.

Child abuse can be defined as a physical violation of a child's body through any sort of sexual
contact or a psychological violation of the child through verbal or nonverbal behavior. It is
neglectful, disrespectful and hurtful because it violates a child's basic rights to be protected,
nurtured and guided through childhood. Child sexual abuse can take place within the family by a
parent, step-parent, sibling or any other relative, or outside the home by a friend, teacher,
caretaker or favorite uncle! It can range from covert episodes like using profane language to
overt actions like rape.
No child is psychologically prepared to cope with repeated sexual stimulation. Child sexual
abuse leaves deep physical and psychological scars, which often have indelible and irrevocable
ramifications. The consequences of abuse are traumatic and distort the development process.
Research evidence suggests that the initial effect is that of fear often accompanied by depression,
restlessness, bedwetting, refusal to go to school, feelings of guilt, phobias and nightmares.

The long-term effects of child sexual abuse are intense shame and low self-esteem. Most victims
feel valued only as sexual objects and relate to the world through sexual activity. They feel
worthless, insignificant and almost invisible. Guilt and shame go hand in hand. Many children
continue to believe that they played some part in the interaction. They may blame themselves for
the physical contact, and for not having defended themselves. Most children feel isolated from
others, especially if a family member is involved, because they feel there is no one they can
12

safely confide in. Sexual abuse involves coercion, confusion, manipulation and betrayal, thus
making it emotionally devastating.
Almost 40% of survivors of child sexual abuse and rape are girls below 18 yrs. Most of them are
abused either at home, in educational institutions, or at their work place. Poverty, lack of
education as well as of implementation, coordination and consistency among law enforcing
agencies, are some of the root causes of the practice of sexual abuse of children, especially girls.
Because of sexual abuse, many girls are forced to drop out from school or are irregular in
attending it and fail to graduate. They suffer from a poor health status, higher mortality rates and
are vulnerable to HIV. Such a situation also affects their relationship with their family and other
children. Children who are sexually abused have a lower degree of self confidence as they feel
they are not in control of their own body and lack protection from family and authorities. ( UN
Children's Fund (UNICEF), Violence against Children in Nepal - Child Sexual Abuse in Nepal:
Children's Perspectives, 2006, Series)
As per the child rights monitoring form of CCWB in 23 districts; 136 cases of child sexual
abuse are recorded, out of this 133 are girls and 3 are the boys. This is very low reporting and
lack (The state of children of Nepal 2012 )
Like wise 57 cases of child sexual abuse had reported in Surkhet, Bardiya and Dailekh Aawaaj
organization in one year period ( published report Aawaaj koseli 2069)
391 cases were recorded as rape and 75 cases were recorded as try to rape - Nepal police, in 065
/066.
Government has passed the Child Act in 1992, on which Article 19 states "States Parties shall
take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the
child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent
treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s),
legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child." Child Workers in Nepal
Concerned Centre (CWIN) in 2011 found that 75 percent of the street children in the Kathmandu
Valley are victims of sexual abuse. The study revealed that 74.8 percent of the respondentsall
boys living in the streets in the 10-18 age bracketssays they knew at least three of their friends
who had had non-consensual sex. The study authors, who interviewed 110 boys, found that '78
per cent of the perpetrators were Nepalese'- CWIN programme officer Pooja Shrestha said.
Same study shows that some children were paid as little as 200 rupees (2.6 dollars) for sex. Most
13

of the street children in Nepal are boys, according to CWIN. Nepal's law defines sexual abuse
and rape only in relation to women and girls. There is no legal recourse against sexual abuse of
boys. The problem is made worse by a gap in Nepalese legislation which does not recognize
sexual abuse of boys.
Children from rural areas often run away from home to the city to escape poverty and domestic
violence. There are over 4,000 street children in Nepal according to 2008 statistics, 1,000 of
them in the area around Kathmandu, population 3.5 million.
And so similarly, Nepal, a country that has ratified to The Optional Protocol on the sale of
children, child prostitution and child pornography, needs to take immediate action to give the
children their rights back.
Prevalence study of child sexual abuse among out of school child domestic laborers (CDL's) had
carried out by the Cwish among 319 child domestic laborers in 2005. Following findings were
significant.

54.90 % of CDLs have suffered Different form of sexual abuse.

Out of the CDLs suffered sexual abuse,56.55% were victimized of contact forms and
43.45% were of non contact forms of sexual abuse

Out of those who have victimized of sexual abuse, 66.07% mentioned there was single
number of abuse.

82.74% (87% of boys and 82.74% of girls mentioned that the abuser was male and 4.76%
mentioned that the percent was female.

80.95% mentioned that the abuser was elder than them.

32.14 % abused children mentioned that the abusers were already non-person to them and
14.88% mentioned that they were neighbors. 7.74 % mentioned relatives of employer and
6.55 % mentioned friends and visitors of employers have sexually abused them.

Regarding the personality and social status of abuser, children mentioned 14.29 % are
rich people and 14.29% are poor people, 19.64% are people seemed civilized and 16.67
% are worker.16.67% are educated and 7.74 5 are uneducated.
14

17.26% children mentioned that they were sexually abused inside home (working home)
and 76.19% mentioned outside home. Source- Cwish 2005, study report

For many children the abusive experience demonstrates blurred role boundaries between adults
and children, parents and children, and often men and women. Children may be frightened to
trust, fear intimacy, show extremes in dependency needs, and may often vacillate from being
totally dependent to totally independent. Typically they may sexualize their relationships in an
attempt to gain affection. In adolescence this can lead to self-destructive patters of promiscuity
with a succession of abusive relationships, often with far reaching and emotionally crippling
consequences. Interpersonal difficulties are characteristic of adult life.
Sexually abused children often become depressed because they have no way of dealing with their
painful feelings. A child endures extreme losses, like the loss of safety, loss of self-esteem, and
the loss of trust. These losses tend to reinforce the depression. Most adult survivors carry these
childhood losses with them and struggle with repeated bouts of depression. The negative
connotations that are communicated to the child about the experiences become incorporated in
the child's self image. There may be a failure to even establish a sense of self and they feel like
"damaged goods."
The child's sense of responsibility is often distorted. Sometimes an over developed sense of
responsibility is exhibited wherein they feel responsible for everything and are frequently
overwhelmed by guilt. Some other children totally internalize the victim's role and refuse to
accept responsibility for anything.

The neglect that is part of growing up in a sexually abusive family causes the child to feel
abandoned. They are in constant fear of their well being and it isn't just the abuse itself. It is the
threats, the guilt, and the constant fear of discovery that is as harmful. All these feeling coupled
with the painful realization that the people who are supposed to love them are the ones who are
hurting and betraying them is the worst of all.
Instead of developing the feelings about oneself and others that a child would learn in a nurturing
family (I am important), they creatively alter and develop skills to survive, which may include
15

denial (I'll pretend it did not happen). Altered coping skills interrupt the learning stage and are
ineffective in adulthood. For example, instead of learning to trust, they learn not to trust causing
a host of interpersonal and personal problems.
Many an adult survivor may turn to a preoccupation with food, sex, or gambling, as a way of
coping. They use it as a means of feeling whole and integrated. Such preoccupations also give
them a sense of illusive escape from their traumatic world
If the abuse is short lived and terminated with effective action, the negative consequences are
minimized. However, one of the most important factors is to believe in the child. Family support,
love and understanding are crucial at this stage and may largely influence the recovery of the
individual. Thus, abuse inflicts severe physical, psychological and spiritual damage, the echoes
of which haunt the child long after he has grown up. It is important that the survivors move
beyond the painful past and live an integrated, empowered, and fulfilling life that they are
entitled to and capable of living. It is possible to change a hopeless life to a hope filled life.
Of Nepals 602 child care homes housing 15,095 children, four are run by the government and
nearly 60 percent are operating without evaluation. We know that child care homes are not
running properly, said Raghu Adhikari, programme manager of the Child Welfare Board.
According to Dr Aruna Upreti, founder of Rural Health and Education Services Trust, who is
consistently writing on the issue of child sex abuse, the problem is rampant across the country. A
lot still needs to be done, she adds.

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4. Children with Disability:

A report by Human Rights Watch expressed on 27th August 2011; concern that children living
with disabilities in Nepal are denied access to education.
Contributing to this concern is the inaccessibility of school structures, lack of instructors who are
properly trained to accommodate children with disabilities and neighborhood schools denying
admission to disabled children.
These factors result disproportionately in low school attendance and high dropout rates for
disabled children when compared to children who do not suffer from a disability. According to
Education Ministry officials, disabled students comprise a significant number of the almost
330,000 students who are not in school despite being school aged.
According to the Human Rights Watch report, Futures Stolen: Barriers to Education for
Children with Disabilities in Nepal; more than half the interviewed families of disabled
children stated that their children had been denied admission to schools and many of the parents
were not even made aware that their children had the right to an education.
Classes are often segregated and the classes offered to disabled students are generally inferior to
classes attended by children who are not disabled. The extent of the problem is unknown because
there is no reliable data about the number of children who have a disability but it is estimated
that between .45 percent and 1.63 percent of Nepals child population is living with at least one
disability.
These failures come despite Nepals ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities on March 1, 2008.
As a new report from Human Rights Watch documents, however, many disabled Nepali children
continue to be isolated and excluded from the countrys educational system.
(August 24, 2011) Children with disabilities in Nepal face diverse and imposing barriers to
getting a basic education, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Schools are
physically inaccessible, teachers are inadequately trained, and some children with disabilities
are unjustly denied admission to neighborhood schools, Human Rights Watch found.
The report, Futures Stolen: Barriers to Education for Children with Disabilities in Nepal,
documents the hurdles that children with disabilities face in obtaining a quality education in
Nepal. Some children with disabilities experience abuse and neglect at home and in their
communities, making it harder for them to gain access to schooling. These barriers result in low

17

attendance and high dropout rates for children with disabilities compared with their nondisabled peers.
Tens of thousands of children with disabilities in Nepal are being shut out from or neglected by
the school system, said Shantha Rau Barriga, disability rights researcher and advocate at
Human Rights Watch. The Nepalese education system needs to offer appropriate, quality
education to all children, including those with disabilities.
The Human Rights Watch report was based on interviews with nearly 100 disability advocates,
teachers, government officials, and children or young people with disabilities and their families.
One of the children Human Rights Watch interviewed was 16-year-old Amman, who lives in the
far-western region of Nepal. Because the local school entrance has two steep steps and no
ramps, Amman has to crawl to reach his classroom. He cannot use the toilet without assistance
and gets no support from school staff, so he either has to wait until he gets home, or another
child has to run home to fetch his mother to assist him. Other children in the classroom are
afraid to sit near him, so he sits alone in the corner.
Education Ministry officials acknowledge that a significant number of the more than 329,000
primary school aged children who are out of school in Nepal are children with disabilities. The
government promotes an inclusive education policy, requiring communities to provide education
to all children without discrimination. But many children with disabilities are not provided the
support they need to attend community schools, and many schools are unprepared to teach
children with disabilities.
Research shows that an inclusive approach to education can boost learning for all students and
combat harmful stereotypes of people with disabilities. However, the government of Nepal relies
upon segregated, and often inferior, classes for children with disabilities, and separate schools
for children who have physical, sensory, or intellectual disabilities.
Many children with disabilities were turned away from schools entirely, Human Rights Watch
found. More than half of the families with children with disabilities interviewed by Human Rights
Watch reported that their children were denied admission to schools, both public and private.
Many parents were not aware that their children had the right to attend school.
International donors and United Nations agencies are seemingly aware of the lack of targeted
efforts to ensure that children with disabilities are in school. But they have not done enough to
18

ensure that funding for education is distributed without discrimination and equitably benefits
children with disabilities, Human Rights Watch said.
As funding pours into Education For All programs in Nepal, the government, the UN and
international donors need to make sure that children with disabilities are not excluded, Barriga
said. The government and its partners need to have a clear plan for integrating children with
disabilities, particularly intellectual or developmental disabilities, into mainstream schools.
The curriculum in Nepals schools does not take into account differences in learning ability, so
children with disabilities who are in mainstream schools repeatedly fail and are more likely to
repeat a grade. One 15-year-old boy with a psychosocial disability told Human Rights Watch, I
spent three years in Class 1, then three years in Class 2, then one year in Class 3. But I dont
know the alphabet. The teacher just wrote my exams. Thats why I passed.
As a result of the lack of educational options for some children with disabilities, lack of
information about options, and schools refusals to admit children with disabilities, some parents
said they saw no choice but to lock their children with disabilities in a room or tie them to a post.
The mother of one young boy with a developmental disability told Human Rights Watch, I offer
food and bring him tea. If he does toilet in the room, I clean it up. I have to take care of the
whole house; I cant just look after him. If I spend the whole day with him, my other child will
miss his bus, everything will be in disarray. She lets her son out of the room once or twice a day
to see the sun.
The government of Nepal should revise teacher training materials, train all teachers about
inclusive education methods, and improve monitoring of access to and the effectiveness of
education for children with disabilities, Human Rights Watch said. The government and donors,
working together, need to develop awareness-raising and educational campaigns about the right
to education and other rights of people with disabilities. Parliament, in consultation with
disabled peoples organizations, should comprehensively review all domestic legislation and
make amendments to comply fully with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities, Human Rights Watch said.
While it will take time for the school system to become fully inclusive of all children, the
government needs to take steps toward this goal, Human Rights Watch said.
For example, the government needs to rethink the use of special resource classes, which are
intended as a transition to mainstream schools but which effectively perpetuate segregation.

19

Children in these classes range in age from 6 to 17, with some even in their 20s, and children
often remain in these classes for years.
Nepal needs to honor its obligations to protect the right of all children with disabilities to be
educated in a safe, accessible, and non-discriminatory environment, Barriga said. Children
with disabilities should not be left behind, locked up, or shut out from school and learning.
- Human Rights Watch press release, 8/24/2011
In Nepal, the name Dr. Ashok Banskota is synonymous with health, hope and healing. The
Nepali surgeon is the founder of the Hospital and Rehabilitation Center for Disabled Children in
Kathmandu and has impacted the lives of over 43,000 poor and disabled children in the country
where he grew up. His work, he says, means everything to him. "The hospital has become a
beacon of hope to so many needy children from every nook and corner of the country."
No child is ever turned away, and the mission of the hospital is to provide free or low-cost care to
the country's most marginalized children who suffer from disabilities such as club feet or
tuberculosis of the spine.
The hospital has been up and running for over two decades, but Dr. Banskota says the road to
establishing the world-renowned facility was not an easy one.
In 1984, he started a small program for disabled and ostracized children and over the years, it has
grown into the life-changing facility it is today.
The work, he says, "is extremely challenging, but very rewarding." "We still encounter so many
dramatic and soul-wrenching stories of children whom we are able to help," and this, he says, is
what keeps him and his staff going. Dr. Banskota's work has recently been recognized by The
World of Children, and he was named one of 2011 Global Changemakers for Children.
For more information, please see:
Hindustan Times Right to Equality, but Only on Paper- 27 August 2011
Nepali Times Educating Children with Disabilities - 26 August 2011
Daiji World Nepals Hellen Kellers, Stephen Hawkings Await Their Rights - 24 August 2011
The Himalayan Times Disabled Kids Denied School Admission 24 August 2011
Human Rights Watch - Nepal: Separate and Unequal Education 24 August 2011

20

5. Child Marriage

Legally, children are allowed to marry at the age of 20, but this provision is barely respected, as
34% of total marriages in Nepal involve girls below 16. The marriage of adolescent girls aged
15-19 is nearly three times higher (34%) than that of adolescent boys (12%). 7% of child
marriages are held with children below 10. ( UPR 2011 BIce)
The Demographic Health Survey of Nepal (NDHS) of 2006 showed that girls married at a
median age of 17.2 years. In 2006, more than 32 percent of women aged 15 to 19 were in union.
Similarly, approximately 51 percent of young women aged 20 to 24 had been married by 18 and
10 percent by 15 (MOHP et al. 2006).
Thus, despite the relatively easy accessibility of education to the poor in Nepal, early marriage
for their daughters is likely to remain an attractive choice for poor families. Typically, married
girls perform domestic work in the spousal home and are not enrolled in school even if they are
of school-going age. In Nepal, women participate in work outside of the home in
uncharacteristically high numbers: in 2006, close to half (48 percent) of adolescent girls aged 15
to 19 and almost 60 percent of young women aged 20 to 24were working for wages (MOHP et
al. 2006). ( Ashish Bajracharya and Sajeda Amin, Poverty, marriage timing, and transitions to
adulthood in Nepal: A longitudinal analysis using the Nepal Living Standards Survey. Working
paper No 9, 2010, Population Council )
According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 16 describes or raises the
voice related to marriage especially about appropriate age of marriage and the right of
marriage of women or girls. Here are the points which clearly show and confirm that this law
doesnt allow the child marriage, which are:

Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion,
have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to

marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.

Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending
spouses..1

1http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml accessed at: 02.11.2012

21

Similarly, Nepali constitution also do not allow the child marriage. On July 13, 2006, the
Supreme Court issued a directive order in the name of the government for the effective
enforcement of the Nepalese law on child marriage. 2 This has been only formality, but not yet
been implemented directly in the society in the strict manner.
Child marriage is among the most frequently addressed issues by both the CRC and CEDAW
Committees in their dialogue with State parties and in Concluding Observations. Both the CRC
and CEDAW Committees have emphasized the complementary and mutually reinforcing features
of the two Conventions.
The Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women provides for the
prohibition of Child Marriage in Article 16.3 While child marriage per se is not referred to in the
1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Convention contains a provision calling
for the abolishment of traditional practices prejudial to the health of children4. In addition, child
marriage is connected to other childrens rights, such as the right to express their views freely,
the right to protection from all forms of abuse, and the right to be protected from harmful
traditional practices and is often addressed by the Committee on the Rights of the Child.3
Child marriage is one of the most pernicious manifestations of the unequal power relations
between females and males. Begun as a practice to protect unwelcome sexual advances and to
gain economic security, child marriage has undermined the very purposes it was meant to
achieve. Child marriage often means for the girl a life of certain sexual and economic servitude.
The subordination of women is both a cause and consequence of child marriage. Child marriage
has grown on account of womens absence from lawmaking. Traditionally, law and practice is
replicated in the image of the male.4
Above statement clearly describes how this issues or burning problem came to existence. It is
true that unequal power relation between male and female has lead to the child marriage. It
depends also according to the society, and the extremeness also depends upon that. Taking
example of Nepalese society, the extremeness of child marriage differs from Terai, hilly and

2 United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), New York, (2008). Child marriage and the law. New York
Global Policy Section, UNICEF
3 United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), New York, (2008). Child marriage and the law . New York Global
Policy Section, UNICEF

4 United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), New York, (2008). Child marriage and the law. New York
Global Policy Section, UNICEF
22

Mountainous region. The child marriage takes more often and more intense in Terai region rather
than hilly and mountainous area.
Rambhajan Yadav, who works on advocacy projects against child marriage, explained the
challenge that, People dont want to interfere and obstruct something good. Naming three
regions in the south of Nepal, he claimed that In Rupandehi, 89.5, per cent of girls are still
married young, mostly under 18. The figures in Dhanusha stand at 59 per cent and Mahottari at
51 per cent.5
Even one of the national daily newspaper published very hot news in their newspaper in March
23, 2012 which describes that: According to a report by the UNICEF, Nepal is ranked second in
terms of child marriage prevalence with 51 percent of girls in the country marrying before the
age of 18. The UNICEF report differs from the government's own report by the Ministry of
Health and Population. The ministry reported that only 23 percent of girls and 8 percent of boys
were found to have married before the age of 18 in 2011.
Though the data of UNICEF differs from the governments report, but the problem is still same
and has been able to establish its power all over the Nepal. According to the latest government
report published by the Central Child Welfare Board under Nepals Ministry of Women, Children
and Social Welfare, 34 per cent of all new marriages in Nepal involve under the age of 15 yrs.

6. Children with HIV / AIDS

As of 2011, there were approximately 50,200 adults and children living with HIV in Nepal, with
an estimated overall prevalence of 0.30 per cent among the adult (1549 years) population. The
prevalence of HIV infection among adult (1549 years) males (58%) and females belonging to
the reproductive age group (28%) was the highest, whereas children aged under 15 years
accounted for approximately 8 per cent of the total infected population in 2011.
As per the situation analysis of WLHA in Nepal August 2012, Table below illustrates that about
half of the study population fell between the age group of 31 to 40 followed by 21 - 30 years age
bracket with 30.7 per cent of the respondents. The eldest lot fell into the above 41 age bracket
and included 19 per cent of the population while youngest ones of below 20 years of age
comprised of 2 per cent of the respondents. Nepal comes under concentrated epidemic for HIV
5
http://www.soschildrensvillages.ca/news/news/child-poverty-news/pages/childmarriage-nepal-poverty-reinforces-custom-170.aspx
23

with only 0.4% prevalence among total population, the infection, however is highly prevalent
among certain segments of the inhabitants, including IDUs, sex workers and their clients,
migrant labour and their spouse and MSM. 35 per cent of the total recorded cases of 17,556
PLHAs are identified as women6. The estimated infection rate reaches around 64,000.
Constituencies that form WLHA include migrant spouse, female injecting drug users (FIDUs),
and female sex workers (FSW). More than 50% of the WLHA are single without husbands, and
of the total number of infected women of 6191, 4952 (80%) are housewives 7. This study,
conducted in 10 districts covering 300 WLHAs across Nepal.
Age Groups of respondents

Total
N

Not mentioned

1.3

Up to 20 years

2.0

21 - 30 years

92

30.7

31 - 40 years

141

47.0

41 and above years

Total

57
300

19.0

100.0

People who inject drugs (PWIDs), men who have sex with men (MSM) and female sex workers
(FSWs) are the key populations at higher risk spreading this epidemic. Male labour migrants
(who particularly migrate to high HIV prevalence areas in India, where they often visit FSWs)
and clients of FSWs in Nepal are playing the role of bridging population groups that transmit
infections from the key populations at higher risk to the low-risk general population.
In 2011, the key populations at higher risk (PWIDs, MSM, FSWs, male labour migrants and
clients of FSWs) accounted for 58 per cent of all HIV infections among adults, whereas the lowrisk general male and female populations accounted for 42 per cent of all estimated infections.
The prevalence of HIV infection was estimated to be the highest among the adult segment aged
2549 years who are economically productive and sexually active. The prevalence of HIV
6

Cumulative HIV and AIDS Situation in Nepal, March 2011, National Center of AIDS and STI Control

Cumulative HIV and AIDS Situation in Nepal, March 2011, National Center of AIDS and STI Control

24

infection among the youngest stratum of the population, that is, below the age of 15 years, was
the lowest; a majority of the HIV infections among children in this age group were owing to
mother-to-child transmission (MTCT).
Some progress in terms of acceptance of the third gender has been achieved after the Supreme
Court directives ensuring the rights to life of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexuals, Transgender and
Intersexes (LGBTIs) according to their own identities were passed in 2007. The third gender has
now been included in the census and in the issuance of a national citizenship card.
On December 21, 2007, the Supreme Court of Nepal ruled in favor of the LGBTI community
ordering the Nepal government to ;
(1) issue citizenship ID to third genders,
(2) amend or scrap all discriminatory laws against LGBTI in Nepal and
(3) introduce same sex marriage law in Nepal.
The following positive outcomes have resulted from this historic decision of the Supreme Court:
(1) Violence against MSM/LGBTI from the state party has reduced dramatically.
(2) More MSM/LGBTI are openly disclosing their sexual orientation to their families and to the
public.
(3) The attitudes of social groups, political parties, government, and media toward LBGTI have
become supportive.
1,NCASC (2012) National Estimates of HIV Infections in Nepal, March 2012.
The majority of the CABA (56%) have lost either one or both the parents; children affected by
Aids (CABA) were twice more likely to be paternal orphaned than maternal orphaned. Those
who have lost both the parents comprised of 7 percent only. The cause of death of parents for
most CABA respondents was AIDS-related (81%).
The study showed a high level of school enrollments among both CABA (93%) and "children of
comparable group -CCG (95%) who were aged 12-17 years. However, some gender disparity in
current school enrolment within CABA and among CCG was evident. Comparatively, however,
current school enrolment was higher among CABA boys (87%) than the CABA girls (75%). This
was also true to some extent for CCG (93% boys 'vs' 85% girls). Caste factor in school
continuation (current enrolment) was also evident from the study. For instance, children from
Dalit community had comparatively lower school enrolment (78 % CABA and 85 % CCG) when
compared to children from Brahmin/Chhetri castes (88% CABA and 94% CCG) and the
Janajati children (82% CABA and 94% CCG).
A higher percentage of CABA boys (64%) than the CABA girls (44%) had received health
attention for the illnesses (general illnesses) they had suffered in the past six months
(preceding the survey). In contrast, no gender disparity in receiving health attention was
evident in CCG (62% boys 'vs' 63% girls). The findings show that the possibility of a girl
born to a CABA family to receive health care attention when sick was much lower than a girl
25

born to a CCG family. Likewise, better educated (lower secondary and above levels) CABA
are more likely to receive health attention (62%) than those who are either illiterate (40%) or
low literate (primary education level) (47%). These differences are observed even in CCG
respondents.
A higher percentage of girls (39%) have reported about facing discrimination than the boys
(34%). Moreover, more HIV infected girls (53%) than counterpart boys (33%) aged 12-18 years
have reported of experiencing discrimination. The study has also shown that "Dalit" boys were
more likely to experience discrimination than the "Brahmin and Chhetri" boys. This is evident
from the fact that 22% of the "Brahmin/Chhetri" boys perceived discrimination as against 35%
among"Dalit" boys.
CABA respondents reported that they had experienced least discrimination at a health facility
and within the family (6%). They are more likely to face discrimination from the community
(49%) and to some extent from their peers (28%). The nature of discriminations were in the
form of avoidance (65%), insult/disgracing remarks (53%) and giving separate dinning plates/
utensils, separate seat and separate bed to sleep. Discrimination within the community was
mainly in the form of avoidance, making disgracing remarks and asking to sit separately
from others. Within the HIV infected children, more girls (76%) than boys (56%) tend to
experience fear and isolation when left alone. The extent of experiencing fear and isolation are
high in double orphaned children; much higher among the girls (79%) than in boys (54%).
Feeling of fear and isolation increased with increase in education level. Out of 67 CABA boys
studying in the primary level, close to two fifths (39%) have expressed of having such feelings,
as against 51% and 48% of those studying in the lower secondary and secondary levels. Similar
trends (increase in feelings with increase in education levels) are observed in CABA girls also.
The majority of CABA children (60%) were unaware about any place where they could find
psycho-social support. One-third (32%) of them stated NGO as the place for such support.
One-eight (12%) of CABA respondents cited hospital as a place for psycho-social support.
Similarly, an insignificant proportion of the respondents reported private clinic, HP/SHP,
youth clubs and FCHVs as a source of support. (A Situation Assessment of Children Affected by
AIDS in Nepal conducted by CREHPA in 2009)

7. Chaupadi:
Literally Chhau means menstruation and padi means women. Chhaupadi system is a social ritual
followed by people in some regions of Nepal. This ritual regards women as impure during
their menstrual cycle; it is known to have initially originated centuries ago from a belief that
gods and goddesses become angry if any woman stays in her home during that time. Following
26

the ritual, women are made to live in sheds outside their homes called Chhaupadi goths. A
menstruating woman cannot touch anyone; if anyone touches her, the person needs to be purified
by taking a bath and drinking cows urine. Specifically, she is not permitted to touch pregnant
women or trees, because of the idea that the fruit each are bearing will die or will be
malformed. Menstruating women are not permitted to participate in religious ceremonies,
nutritious food is forbidden, and warm clothing is not allowed. Yet, they are still expected to
participate in hard labor, carrying out the daily chores that they would normally do, such as
working in the fields, fetching firewood, washing clothes, and so on.
During the menstruation period, generally women stay in the shed for four or five days. At the
end of the ritual, they take a bath; wash their clothes and bedding and return home. There are two
kinds of Chhau (menstruation): minor Chhau and major Chhau. During minor Chhau, the stay
lasts four to five days. During major Chhau, which occurs after childbirth and during menarche,
women are obliged to stay in the goth for ten to eleven days.
In addition to these, women in western part of Nepal who are practicing the system lead several
anomalies in society and raise the problem in reproductive health. This superstitious belief of
society puts women in dirt and isolation bearing the risk of various contracting diseases, danger
of rape, acute health problems, physical and mental weaknesses and illness and subsequently the
danger of attack of dangerous wild animals and sometimes snake bites.

The women must survive on a diet of dry foods, salt, and rice. They cannot use warm blankets
and are allowed only a small rug; most commonly only things like jute sacks. They are also
restricted from going to school or performing their daily functions like taking a bath, forced to
stay in the barbaric conditions of the shed.
According to the governments Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2010, up to 58 percent
of women in some parts of the Mid and Far Western Region reported they have to live in an
animal shed during their menstrual periods.
The survey found the midwestern mountain region to be the worst affected -- 52 percent, while
the far western hilly region reported a 50 percent prevalence."It is unacceptable," said Hanna
Singer, Unicef representative in Nepal, referring to the high prevalence of the chhaupadi system

27

and the early marriages.

This system comes from the superstition of impurity during the menstruation period. In this
superstitious logic, if a menstruating woman touches a tree it will never again bear fruit; if she
consumes milk the cow will not give anymore milk; if she reads a book about Saraswati, the
goddess of education, she will become angry; if she touches a man, he will be ill.
This sort of inhuman and barbaric practice forbids women and girl from enjoying their rights and
individual liberty. In order to reform this practice, efforts have been made through Public
interest litigation on initiative of Dalit NGO Federation (DNF) in 061 BS.
Women practising chhaupadi have reported rapes, snake bites and a lack of nutrition because
they are not allowed to cook for themselves or eat dairy products, according to a local womenrun advocacy organization called the Paralegal Committee. The group launched the chhaupadifree movement three years ago.
Tula Shahi, a local restaurant owner and health expert contracted by the government, sat in on
the Paralegal meeting. She recalled how she once did not eat for seven days while in the
goth because there was no one to cook for her. Now she, like all of the Paralegal members, no
longer uses a `goth.
Women and children arent eating properly, and because it is cold inside the goth they can
become sick easily, said Namsar Vhandari, the Paralegal Committees secretary.
Court asks government to abolish chhaupadi system
Kathmandu, 2005 Sept 15-The Supreme Court on Wednesday has ordered the government to
enact necessary law to abolish the practice of Chhaupadi and declare it as an evil custom
within a month.
Responding to a public interest litigation filed nearly one and half years ago, a division bench
comprising Justices Anup Raj Sharma and Arjun Prasad Singh ordered the Ministry of Women,
Children and Social Welfare to formulate necessary directives within three months to abolish the
`evil practice.

28

Similarly, the apex court asked the Ministry of Health to conduct a study of impact of
Chhaupadi system within three months and report back to the court. The court also asked the
Ministry of Local Development to mobilise local bodies to make people aware against the
Chhaupadi system.
There have been reports of women facing hardships, discrimination and even attack from wild
animals while they spent at least four days every month in unsafe, open cow-sheds.
In 2009, the government of Nepal published a protocol for the eradication of the Chhaupadi
pratha as directed by the Supreme Court of Nepal.
The Supreme Court of Nepal ordered the government to take necessary steps to reform the
system on the particular region of Nepal on the base of national laws and international
instruments of human rights in part of women. In accordance with that the government of Nepal
has made directive on Chhaupadi system in 064 BS.
The directive orders of the Supreme Court have brought a lot of change initiatives regarding the
elimination of discriminatory traditions that are deeply rooted in the society and being practiced
in the name of cultural, customary or religious practices. The Court has also issued a number of
implementation guidelines to be implemented by the Government. The SC also issued directive
order to the Ministry of Health for the formation of a Committee so as to conduct an in-depth
study on the impact of this practice on womens health. The MWCSW was also ordered to
develop the guidelines against it in the line of elimination of violence and discrimination against
women. More importantly, the Court observed the importance of NGOs in carrying out
awareness campaigns against this kind of discriminatory, inhuman and degrading traditional and
customary practices.
Further, the Supreme Courts directive order is being implemented by the Government with a
number of implementation measures. The cabinet decision has already declared Chaupadi as the
worst form of malpractices. Similarly, the MWCSW with a three year pilot project (supported by
-

Save the Children Norway), is conducting various programs followed by three strategies:
generating awareness through different type of media (such as songs in the FM, leaflet, posters,
documentary);

29

Health checkups and safety measures including sanitation under which separate toilet with
sanitary napkins, infirmary, are made available.
These programs have some positive outputs because some changes have been seen after these
interventions. For instance, the mindset of people of far western, where Chaupadi is being
practiced, has undergone a positive change. The confinement period during the menstrual cycle
has been reduced and instead of cowsheds, women are allowed to shelter in places comparatively
hygienic to cowsheds.

2010, March 26th Posted by Ranju Sharma

The Kathmandu Post reported the death of a woman in the district of Achham during her stay in
a Chhaupadi goth. She was found dead in the shed on the fifth day of her stay; her eightmonth-old son, who stayed with her, was found unconscious. Two weeks before this, another
woman from the same district had died during in the same way.
A menstruating woman cannot touch anyone; if anyone touches her, the person needs to be
purified by taking a bath and drinking cows urine. Specifically, she is not permitted to touch
pregnant women or trees, because of the idea that the fruit each are bearing will die or will be
malformed. Menstruating women are not permitted to participate in religious ceremonies,
nutritious food is forbidden, and warm clothing is not allowed. Yet, they are still expected to
participate in hard labor, carrying out the daily chores that they would normally do, such as
working in the fields, fetching firewood, washing clothes, and so on.
A chhaupadi goth is sometimes built within the household premises, but in other cases, they are
isolated from the villages, up to a mile away from the houses. Most sheds can barely fit two
people: they tend to be around six feet wide and four feet high and made of mud, stone and wood
with no windows (Ghimire, SBMJ 2005) Mostly, the women stay in the shed for four or five
days. At the end of the ritual, they take a bath; wash their clothes and bedding and return home.
There are two kinds of chhau (menstruation): minor chhau and major chhau. During minor
chhau, the stay lasts four to five days. During major chhau, which occurs after childbirth and
during menarche, women are obliged to stay in the goth for ten to eleven days.

30

Due to the unhygienic nature of these huts, women tend to suffer from various infectious
diseases. Diarrheal and respiratory diseases are quite common. In severe situations, cases of
malnutrition are also seen. As women are made to stay in the mud shed after childbirth, the
mothers and the babys health is compromised. Laxmi Vilas Ghimire, in a Student BMJ article
entitled Unclean and Unseen, points out that this ritual is a leading reason for high infant and
maternal mortality in the western region of Nepal. Complicating these issues even more, women
are sometimes raped during their stay in the huts, given their physical isolation from the village.
Despite the diseases and deaths that are occurring during or following the stay in the chhaupadi
goth, it is difficult for people to discard the practice as it has been followed by their families for
centuries. A woman in the Ghimire Student BMJ article comments, I cannot leave the system
that has been in practice for hundreds of years just on the grounds of illness and difficulties. We
have to bear that. Moreover, social dynamics play a huge role in reinforcing the ritual.
Recently, another Kathmandu Post news article reported the news of a family being ostracized
from the society for not following Chhaupadi pratha. Gagan Singh B.K. from Chhatiwan
village in Doti district, in a VDC council meeting appraising the women working against the
Chhaupadi pratha, said that his family had been facing hostility from the society for the last
five years because he had asked his wife not to follow the ritual considering the unsafe nature of
the outdoor sheds. Most societies in Nepal are patriarchal where male dominance goes
unquestioned; women are regarded as the secondary citizens. Majority arent empowered
enough to protest if their basic human rights are violated and those who care to do so are detested
by the society, including women who themselves are the subjects of such violations. This ritual
certainly has not sustained solely on the basis of religion or culture. One can argue, what if the
ritual obliged men to spend a few days in a Chhaupadi shed every month by virtue of a naturally
unpreventable biological phenomenon. Would the ritual have still existed? Would the society
have reprimanded those who chose to stop observing such ritual considering the adverse effects
the ritual has on ones well being?
Unfortunately, only a few government and non-government organizations have been involved in
education or advocacy work regarding this practice. Radio Nepal broadcasts awareness programs
addressing the chhaupadi pratha and advocating reproductive health rights of women biweekly
(Ghimire, SBMJ 2005).
31

Though it is not observed so rigidly in the capital and major cities, in the remote villages girls
and women are confined to cowsheds during menstruation. Both girl students and women
teachers are barred from attending school.
August 31st 2012; Violence against the voiceless
Laxmi Kumari Budha was only 16 years old when she lost her life. On the cusp of adulthood, her
life was cut short because shed been banished from her home and forced to sleep in a chhaupadi
shed during the coldest part of winter.
Shed been observing the chhaupadi tradition, where menstruating girls and women are
forbidden contact from their families and must live separately, in quarters that are often
inhospitable and life threatening. The exact cause of her death was never established, but she
reportedly suffocated from a lack of ventilation in the windowless room where she was sleeping.
Yet another young woman was raped while observing the chhaupadi. The anecdotal tales of
tragedy keep multiplying. What is utterly heartbreaking is that these tragedies are completely
avoidable and have no place in an informed and just society, and definitely not in the 21st
century.
To deny a menstruating woman nutritious food, and to force her to sleep in a chhaupadi goth
which is similar to a cow shed; at the mercy of wild animals and the extremes in temperature, is a
cruel testament to the ongoing discrimination against Nepali women.
Nepal is a signatory to many United Nations conventions and treaties that seek to protect and
prevent discrimination and violence against women and children. Although the Government of
Nepal has made significant progress in furthering the rights of children and women, and
outlawing many harmful traditional practices, more has to be done to see this enforced in society.

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8. Child Malnutrition
Food security is a basic human right. However it is also

a prerequisite for sustainable

achievement of all other development aspirations. Although breastfeeding is close to universal in

Nepal (98%), only 1 in 3 women (35%) initiates breastfeeding within one hour of delivery. Only
53% of children are exclusively breastfed for the first six months, and only 57% of infants and
young children are fed in line with WHO advice on what is required for healthy development. 8
The median duration of exclusive breastfeeding is only 3 months. Timely introduction of
appropriate complementary food when a child is 6 months old was only 63%. In response to the
evidence that parasitic infestation being a major problem for school-age children as well as
children under 5 years resulting in deteriorated nutritional status; de-worming to school children
(1-5 grade) in all public schools has been initiated since 2008 and expanded throughout the
country by the F/Y 2067/68 under school health and nutrition program. Nepal has achieved near
universal coverage of some micronutrient interventions, notably Vitamin A distribution. In 2006,
48% of children aged 6-59 months were anaemic, 23% of them moderately to severely. The main
causes of protein-energy malnutrition are low birth-weight and poor feeding practices together
with poor water and sanitation and household food insecurity. Some 34% of babies have low
birth-weight, due to poor maternal nutrition, The prevalence of LBW babies in Nepal was
reported as between 20-32% in hospital-based studies and 14-19% in community-based studies.
Children whose height-for-age is below minus two standard deviations from the median of the
reference population are considered stunted or short for their age. Stunting is the outcome of
failure to receive adequate nutrition over an extended period and is also affected by recurrent or
chronic illness. 41% of children under five are short for their age, and 16 percent are severely
stunted.
In Nepal, 11 % of children are wasted and 3 percent are severely wasted. Children whose
weight-for-age is below minus two standard deviations from the median of the reference
population are considered underweight. The measure reflects the effects of both acute and
chronic under nutrition. Nearly three in ten children (29 percent) are underweight and 8 percent
are severely under weight.
8

(http://siteresources.worldbank.org/SOUTHASIAEXT/Resources/223546-1171488994713/3455847-1232124140958/57489391234285802791/NepalNutritionBrief.pdf)

33

Rural children are much more likely to be nutritionally disadvantaged than urban children. About
half of children in the Mountain are stunted and more than one-third are underweight. Children
whose mothers have no education are more likely to be stunted, wasted, or underweight than
children whose mothers have attended school.
In general, the nutritional status of children in Nepal has improved over the last decade. 57% of
children were stunted in 2001 compared with 41 percent in 2011 and 43 percent of children were
underweight in 2001 compared with 29 percent in 2011. However, the proportion of children
who are wasted declined only slightly from 13 percent in 2006 to 11 percent in 2011.
As malnutrition is an outcome of two most common interrelated causes- inadequate food intake
(in quantity and in the quality and range of foodstuffs consumed), and disease load. Therefore the
strategy to reduce it is concerned with addressing the disease load through health interventions
and micronutrient supplementation, and behavior change to improve child feeding practices
within the constraints of household income. However, as malnutrition is also related to deeper
problems of poverty and food insecurity, it requires a response that is wider than the health
sector.
Key Messages

The first two years of child life is the critical window of opportunity for childs potential

development.
Around 80% of brain development takes place in the first two years of life.
Inadequate nutrition from conception to 2 years leads to stunting - a form of chronic
malnutrition- resulting life style related disease, poor school performance and poor

economic return in later part of life.

Increase in growth monitoring visits at least monthly from 6-24 months yr of age with
improved knowledge of caretakers about the importance of growth monitoring,

promotion and counseling is important to prevent consequences of malnutrition.

Growth monitoring is a tool to assess childs growth pattern. Childs nutritional status and

growth pattern can be improved if growth card is used for counseling.

Child should be weighted every month from 6 to 24 months for growth plotting,

analyzing, interpreting, counseling and taking corrective action for growth promotion.
Primary health care / Outreach clinic (PHC/ORCs) are key units for growth monitoring

(GM) and Counseling.

NDHS has revealed exclusive breast feeding practices at least up to 6 months of age

34

Source- Nepal demographic health survey 2011

REFERENCES
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child protection in Nepal: Unicef / Terredeshhomes, 2008
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adulthood in Nepal: A longitudinal analysis using the Nepal Living Standards Survey.
Working paper No 9, 2010, Population Council
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Disabilities in Nepal
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15. UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), Violence against Children in Nepal - Child Sexual Abuse
in Nepal: Children's Perspectives, 2006, Series)

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