SOCIETY
May 9-15, 2014
After violations
As more and more funding is directed to INGOs and NGOs for combating sexual violence against women, the involvement of the common
PRAKASH MATHEMA/AFP
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very other day, we hear and read news about the rape of women and girls. The Nepali media, thankfully, has become more gender sensitive than in the past while reporting such incidents. The activism of international nongovernment organisations (INGOs) and nongovernment organisations (NGOs) working on the issue has also gained momentum. Nevertheless, there are several problems in the ways in which sexual violence against women is currently addressed.
Nepalese Hindu women dressed in red dance after paying homage to Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction, as they celebrate the Teej festival at the Pashupatinath temple area in Kathmandu.
people is decreasing. The issue is thus mistakenly understood as an agenda of the INGOs and NGOs alone. Even though other organisations are also engaged in this issue, they have a very narrow spectrum of work. Their major focus is on things to do after a woman has been violated instead of preventive measures to stop violence.
Project reports of INGOs and NGOs all focus on amending the law, making police reporting mechanisms swifter, establishing fast-track courts and providing shelter to survivors of violence. These issues are undoubtedly important but they are all concerned with the necessary actions that need to be undertaken after a woman or girl is raped by a perpetrator.