Gender Fact File - Nepal
Rigid patriarchal norms dominate the Nepalese society. Women are subject to physical, sexual and psychological violence on a daily basis.
It includes domestic violence, rape, incest, harassment for dowry, public stripping, trafficking and forced prostitution (deuki).
See http://www.unescobkk.org/fileadmin/user_upload/arsh/Country_Profiles/Nepal/Chapter_5.pdf
Women have lately become victims of the political conflict within the country. Violence against women in "normal times" has been exacerbated by the crisis. See Nepal Human Rights Yearbook 2005, Informal Sector Service Centre, Nepal; 2005
International Labour Organization (ILO) says Nepal is a source country for internationally trafficked women and children as they are viewed as family commodities that, like property, can be bought and sold.
Published figures suggest that between 5,000 and 7,000 Nepali are trafficked for sex work each year, and 200,000 Nepali women and girls are working in the sex industry in India.
However, the extent of the problem is far more but difficult to measure. Statistics are unreliable as the activity is illegal.
Trafficking could either be hard or soft. The former is conducted through force and false promises. In the case of the latter, the nuclear and/or extended family members play a role. For more details, see United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and Institute for Integrated Development Studies (2004) Status and Dimensions of Trafficking within the Nepalese Context, Kathmandu, Nepal.