Why?
Two years on from the People’s Movement, the Comprehensive Peace Accord November 2006 and the uprising of marginalized groups in the Terai district throughout 2007, there has been little delivery on promises of improved human rights protection in Nepal.
The reach of the state in many rural areas remains weak and there is no accountability of police at the district level, particularly in the Terai district, for investigating human rights abuses.
The resulting security vacuum has allowed the proliferation of armed groups that are engaged in a number of human rights abuses such as abductions, unlawful killings etc.
In this context victims of violence against women are particularly vulnerable and crimes against women are going unquestioned and unpunished. Many women and girls are afraid to report rape and other forms of violence, not only because of hostility and stigma from their community, but also due to state inaction in ensuring the investigation, prosecution and punishment of perpetrators through the justice system.
