The Nepalese Constitution of 1990 guarantees all citizens basic human rights and fundamental freedom. However, statutory laws that discriminate against women still exist in the areas of property rights and family law.
The social status of Nepalese women, as well as their relative equality with men, varies amongst ethnic groups. In most communities, women’s position is governed by patriarchal traditions and conventional assumptions of women’s role in society have been slow to change. In general, it is believed that a woman’s place in Nepal is in the home, where her main duties include childrearing and household chores. Nepalese women have only limited access to education; as a result, they have very few opportunities to engage in activities that would provide a greater degree of economic freedom. Employment outside of the home is typically tied to the agricultural sector or the textile and weaving industries.
Legislation in Nepal provides women with substantial rights in relation to family matters, but day-to-day reality presents a different picture. The legal age of marriage is 16 years for women and 18 years for men, with parental consent; without consent, the age rises to 18 for women and 21 for men. Despite the law, early marriage is a common practice: many parents encourage their daughters to marry in their early teens or even younger. A 2004 United Nations report estimated that 40 per cent of Nepalese girls between 15 and 19 years of age were married, divorced or widowed, and cited 2001 data showing that approximately 7 per cent of girls under the age of ten years were married.
Polygamy is illegal in Nepal and is subject to two months’ imprisonment and a fine. But the law does not invalidate the second marriage itself: once the polygamist has served his prison term, the second marriage remains officially recognised. A 2001 survey by the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) estimated that 4.4 per cent of women in Nepal were living in polygamous marriages.
Legally, parental authority rests with both parents. They are considered equally responsible for raising children, and for providing education and health care.
Recent legal amendments have improved inheritance rights for women in Nepal: daughters, widows and divorced women are now recognised as being rightful inheritors. Still, many discriminatory provisions remain and actual inheritance practices are closely linked to marital status. For example, daughters can inherit tenancy rights from their father or mother, but only once they have reached the age of 35 and only if they remain unmarried at that point.
Legislation protecting the physical integrity of Nepalese women is quite effective in theory, but women’s rights are poorly enforced. Female genital mutilation is not a general practice but violence against women is a serious problem. Domestic violence is common and the custom of dowry is the cause of many incidents. In 2004 a bill against domestic violence against women was drafted by the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MWCSW). More recently, women have been offered free legal aid following domestic violence.
As in most South Asian countries, several pieces of evidence suggest that the occurrence of missing women is widespread in Nepal. The country’s population sex ratio is high, reflecting preferences for sons that lead to sex-selective abortions, relative neglect of girls compared to boys in early childhood and high maternal mortality ratios. Nepal is one of the few countries in the world in which the life expectancy of women is lower than that of men.
Legislation in Nepal provides women with a relatively high degree of financial independence, but lack of finances often prevents them from achieving full autonomy. Women make up more than 65 per cent of the agricultural labour force but the majority are unpaid family workers. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) reports that women’s access to land is consequently limited. Women account for only 6 per cent of total landowners and hold a combined share of only 4 per cent of arable land.
Recent amendments to the Country Code of Nepal have improved women’s access to property other than land. Unmarried daughters now have the right to ancestral property (other than land) irrespective of age, whereas previous conditions required that they be above the age of 35. The CEDAW reports ongoing restrictions in relation to women’s independent use of their property: women are often required to receive permission from a male relative before disposing of any immovable property.
Women in Nepal have legal access to bank loans and other forms of financial credit. The Ministry of Local Development and the Ministry of Agriculture offer loan programmes that target women and the Contract Act (enacted in 2000) allows women to enter into financial contracts of any form, including to establish private firms or companies.
Women’s civil liberty in Nepal is relatively low. Their freedom of movement varies between different groups and communities. Women belonging to the Tibeto-Burman group enjoy a relatively high degree of freedom, whereas their counterparts in the Indo-Aryan group often face restrictions on their movements outside of the household.
Nepal’s Constitution guarantees freedom of religion to all and, as such, there are no legal restrictions on women’s freedom of dress. It should be noted that Muslims make up 4 per cent of the population and some conservative Indo-Aryan communities observe traditions of purdah, requiring women to cover at least their hair.
CEDAW (Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women) (1998), Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties Under Article 18 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women: Nepal, Initial Report of States Parties, CEDAW/C/NPL/1, CEDAW, New York, NY.
CEDAW (2003), Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties Under Article 18 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women: Nepal, Combined Second and Third Periodic Reports of States Parties, CEDAW/C/NPL/2-3, CEDAW, New York, NY.
Klasen, K. and C. Wink (2003), “Missing Women: Revisiting the Debate”, Feminist Economics, Vol. 9, No. 2-3, Routledge, London.
Laligurans Women Skill Development Centre (n.d.), www.laliguranswomenskill.org.np, accessed May 2008.
UN (United Nations) (2006), In-depth Study on all Forms of Violence Against Women, Report of the Secretary-General, A/61/122/Add.1, UN, New York, NY.
UN (United Nations) (2004), World Fertility Report 2003, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, New York, NY.
UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) (2005), Early Marriage: A Harmful Traditional Practice, A Statistical Exploration (original data from DHS), UNICEF, New York, NY.
UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) (2001), “Early Marriage, Child Spouse”, Innocenti Digest, No.7, UNICEF, New York, NY.
