Nepal’s constitution states that there will be no discrimination of any kind on grounds of sex, caste, religion and race. See Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal.
 
Rights to inheritance, property, marriage and divorce, tenancy and transaction rights, however, favour men.

The Nepal government ratified CEDAW in 1991 and formulated a National Plan of Action to ensure the fulfillment of women’s human rights.
 
The Anti-Trafficking Bill was passed in 2002. It punishes traffickers with a hefty monetary penalty for the offence and an imprisonment of 15 to 20 years.
 
In 2002, the apex court in Nepal stated that sexual intercourse between spouses without the consent of the wife is to be taken as rape.

But while rape carries a seven-year imprisonment in Nepal, marital rape carries a term of just three to six months.

There are as yet no laws on domestic violence as they are still being formulated. The National Code is silent on it. The Kathmandu Women’s Cell and the National Police Academy are the only places of recourse for women. See http://www.mnadvocates.org/sites/608a3887-dd53-4796-8904-997a0131ca54/up...
 
In 2002, an amendment to the Civil Code guaranteed equal property rights on parental property; conditional abortion rights to women; bans on child marriage and polygamy.

The House of Representatives has now empowered women to be legal guardians of their children and reserved 33 percent representation for them in all state affairs since May 30, 2006. But there is a long way to go before women can be equal in the state.