International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences, 5(4)

Jul-Aug 2020 |Available online: https://ijels.com/

Provincial Situation of Gender Status in Nepal

Gopal Khadka

Lecturer, Department of Rural Development, Patan Multiple Campus, Tribhuvan University, Nepal.

Abstract— The socio-cultural difference between male and female is termed as gender. Gender is a social
construct, which is different from time to time, person to person and place to place. Gender is the cross cutting
issue. Gender discrimination has simple cause and event but huge and long-term impact. Gender inequality
creates negative multiplier effects on all dimensions of human society. To assess the situation of gender status
and to identify causes, consequences and measures of gender inequality, this article is prepared as the title
‘provincial situation of gender status in Nepal”. It is mainly based on the secondary data of Nepal Multiple
Indicator Cluster Survey, which was conducted by the Central Bureau of Statistics in 2019. Information
regarding objectives was collected through various search engines by simple literature review. The status of
gender is found unequal at provincial level in Nepal. Among eight indicators, men are in good situation than
women in educational status, exposure to mass media, condition of child marriage and knowledge of human
trafficking,. The situation of better life and perception of domestic violence have a zigzag result. It shows
somehow a better situation for both men and women. In health conscious matters i.e. use of tobacco and drink
of alcoholic products, the situation of females is better than male. To meet national commitment in gender
mainstreaming and to fulfill the target of sustainable development goals, it is essential to perform effective joint
efforts of all concerned authorities as soon as possible with the visionary and coordinating leadership of the
federal government.
Keywords— province, gender, gender equality, gender mainstreaming, human trafficking.

I. INTRODUCTION distributes its fruit for all section of society without any
Women and girls, everywhere, must have equal rights and discrimination. Article 43 of the federal constitution of Nepal
opportunities, and be able to live free of violence and 2015 deals with the rights of women that include rights to
discrimination (UN, 2018). In goal-5, Sustainable lineage, right to safe maternity and reproduction, right
Development Goals focus to achieve gender equality and against all forms of exploitation, and equal rights in family
empower all women and girls. Women empowerment boosts matters and property. The Government of Nepal is
up economic production and productivity. It gears up socio developing a gender responsive development plan and
cultural transformation. Provision of gender equality respects policies to maintain gender equality in all dimensions of
and treats male and female in equal manner. It guaranteed the social life. Gender responsive budget system, gender
basic human right. Gender equality by 2030 requires urgent auditing, gender mainstreaming etc. are some of the notable
action to eliminate the many root causes of discrimination endeavor of Nepal government to fulfill the gender related
that still curtail women’s rights in private and public spheres commitment in national and international forum.
(UN, 2018). While more women have entered political positions in recent
The human right protection and promotion of gender equality years, including through the use of special quotas, they still
requires more than numerical equilibrium, it also requires hold a mere 23.7 percent of parliamentary seats, far short of
conceptual equilibrium and conscientious effort to redress parity. The situation is not much better in the private sector,
inequality, as it exists (Wilson, 2004). Gender equality is the where women globally occupy less than a third of senior and
need of time. It is the vital concern of women all over the middle management positions (UN, 2017).Women lack
world. Development requires equal efforts from two halves access to decent work and face occupational segregation and
of world population. Development becomes successful, if it gender wage gaps. They are too often denied access to basic

ISSN: 2456-7620
https://dx.doi.org/10.22161/ijels.54.68 1282
International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences, 5(4)
Jul-Aug 2020 |Available online: https://ijels.com/

education and health care. Women in all parts of the world measures. It provides valuable information for the concerned
suffer violence and discrimination. They are under- agencies and personnel to understand the current situation of
represented in political and economic decision-making gender status on selected variables in Nepal.
processes. (UN, 2018)
Gender is a social construct and discrimination on this basis II. OBJECTIVES
is consequently difficult to assess and address. Gender
The article is based on following two objectives:
differentials entail more subtle distinctions on male and
female roles (Wilson, 2004). Gender is the subjective term.  To assess the situation of gender status of Nepal at
The cause and consequences of gender inequality are the provincial level.
different in different times and places. Nepal adopted  To identify cause, consequences and measures to
patriarchal values and principles highly in all dimensions of maintain gender equality in Nepal.
social and family life. There is limited access to social
opportunity for women. Gender bias social norms, values
and practices are responsible to create adverse effects on III. MATERIAL AND METHODS
women’s life form. Nepal is a new federal democratic Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) is the central
country on this globe. It introduces federal system of governmental agency for the collecting, processing,
governance to remove all types of discrimination and create analyzing, publishing and disseminating various data and
egalitarian society to maximize equal opportunity for all. information of Nepal. It is under the National Planning
Nepal has 7 provinces i.e. province-1, province-2, Bagmati Commission Secretariat of Nepal and serves as a national
province, Gandaki province, province-5, Karnali province statistical organization of the Government of Nepal. By
and sudoor pashchim province. Three tiers of government i.e. conducting censuses and surveys, it generates timely, reliable
federal government, provincial government and local and valid statistics of multiple dimensions. The Multiple
government are jointly fighting against gender related Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) is an international
discrimination. It is essential to assess the government effort household survey program developed and supported by
in this field to provide feedback and monitor the UNICEF. MICS is designed to collect estimates of key
governmental initiation. indicators that are used to assess the situation of children and
The current periodic plan of Nepal also recognizes the need women. Nepal MICS 2019 was conducted by the Central
to adopt an inclusive development process that ensures the Bureau of Statistics from May to November 2019 as a part of
access and participation of excluded groups and has set sixth-round of the global MICS household program, with the
quantitative targets to achieve this. Yet, genuine inclusion technical and financial support from United Nations
and effective implementation of inclusive policies remain Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Nepal. NMICS-2019 provides
key development challenges .Nepal has also taken on a valuable information and the latest evidence on the situation
number of international commitments to nondiscrimination, of children and women in Nepal. (CBS, 2020).This article is
gender equality, and social justice. These include the mainly based on the secondary data of Nepal Multiple
Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Indicator Cluster Survey (NMICS-2019). Information
Discrimination against Women, The Beijing Platform for regarding objectives was collected through various search
Action (1995), The Millennium Development Goals (2000), engines by simple literature review. Data is analyzed
The Sustainable Development Goals (2015) and United descriptively through the use of tables.
Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, International
conventions such as the Convention on the Elimination of
IV. RESULT AND DISCUSSION
All Forms of Discrimination etc (ADB,2010).
4.1 Educational status
By considering the role of gender status in socio economic
life, this article tries to reveal the provincial situation of Education is considered as life blood in the human body,
gender status in Nepal based on secondary data of the central which circulates to deliver essential things and dispose
bureau of statics. It is mainly based on the key indicators of unnecessary things from our body. Education aware about
Nepal Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey .it tries to analyze the causes, consequences and preventive measures of
the notable factors responsible for gender inequality and its personal and social problems related to human life.

ISSN: 2456-7620
https://dx.doi.org/10.22161/ijels.54.68 1283
International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences, 5(4)
Jul-Aug 2020 |Available online: https://ijels.com/

Education is the backbone and inner light of human life. By education paved the way of development and civilization.
creating positive and constructive changes in human life,

Table -1: Literacy Rate of Men and Women

MICS Category Nepal Provinces
Indicator Province1 Province2 Bagmati Gandaki Province5 Karnali Sudoor pashchim
Literacy Total 90.3 92.9 77.1 96.1 97.1 87.6 94.3 93.9
Rate Women 88.2 91.4 70.6 94.6 97.1 87.3 92.8 92.3
Men 92.7 94.9 84.8 97.5 97.2 87.9 96.4 96.1
Data Source: NMICS- 2019, CBS

Table-1 indicates the Percentage of women and men aged 15- school, gender responsive education policy, provision of
24 years who are able to read a short simple statement about Qualified female teacher, gender friendly classroom etc are
everyday life or who attended secondary or higher education. the main issues to be addressed for the promotion of
The educational status of a country is measured by literacy educational status in Nepal.
rate. Literacy rate is the component of human development 4.2 Exposure to Mass Media
index and SDGs. According to table-1, the literacy rate of
Mass media is the main source of information for the people.
male is higher than female in all provinces. In province-2,
The media acts as the message and the messenger. It can
the literacy gap between male and female is wider and in
push gender discrimination to complicated level. It can play
Gandaki province, it is narrower. Concerned authority should
the catalytic role to eradicate the issues of gender
focus to uplift the overall status of education especially girl
inequalities. Mass media can play vital role for the
education in province-2.
empowerment of women. Today’s world is the world of
Girl education is the long term investment of the nation to tackle communication and information. Through mass media,
poverty and backwardness. Girl education is directly proportional to women can get information about job opportunities, career
sustainable development. Public awareness about the advancement, education and training, health and hygiene,
importance of girl education, control of child marriage, strict nutrition and diseases, legal provision about gender biased
regulation of child labor, safety concerns of girls, separate activities like sexual harassment, social injustice, domestic
girl toilet, various scheme of incentives, Informal education violence, dowry system etc.
system, education through mother tongue, Remoteness of

Table -2: Exposure to Mass Media

MICS Category Nepal Provinces
Indicators Province1 Province2 Bagmati Gandaki Province5 Karnali Sudoor pashchim
Exposure Total 8.0 8.3 5.0 12.3 8.8 5.4 3.4 7.6
to Mass Women 4.1 3.8 1.8 8.0 6.8 1.9 O.8 1.7
Media
Men 12.9 13.9 8.9 17.2 12.o 10.1 7.1 16.0
Data Source: NMICS- 2019, CBS

Table-2 reveals Percentage of women and men age 15-49 According to this table, we can observe that there is vast
years who, at least once a week, read a newspaper or difference between male and female. Male has more access
magazine, listen to the radio, and watch television. and control over mass media. The gender gap with access to

ISSN: 2456-7620
https://dx.doi.org/10.22161/ijels.54.68 1284
International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences, 5(4)
Jul-Aug 2020 |Available online: https://ijels.com/

mass media is wider in sudoorpashchim province and 4.3 Domestic Violence

narrower in Gandaki province. The women of Bagmati Violence against women, is widespread, occurs in nearly
province have more access and Karnali province have low every country and every culture. In many parts of the world,
access in mass media. the marital relationship has the dominance of husband,
Mass media is the informal means of education. It is an dependence and obedience of wife who submits/surrenders at
effective and efficient mechanism of public awareness about the cost of own advancement, self-esteem, and even health.
almost all issues of society. To increase women literacy rate; Gender inequalities in everyday life, work, responsibilities,
to empower women; to increase women awareness; to and a form of violence remain invisible. Violence means
eradicate gender inequality; to uplift the low status of ‘Act that causes or has the potential to cause physical, mental
women, Necessary action must be performed in Nepal to harm and is rooted in gender inequality (Chhabra, 2018).
increase the access and control of women in mass media.

Table-3: Attitudes towards Domestic Violence

MICS Category Nepal Provinces
indicators Province1 Province2 Bagmati Gandaki Province5 Karnali Sudoor pashchim
Attitudes Total 29.5 27.3 40.2 25.9 25.4 28.3 22.5 32.8
towards Women 29.5 30.2 33.7 29.5 28.0 26.4 17.5 35.0
Domestic
Violence Men 29.4 23.7 48.2 21.7 20.8 30.8 29.6 29.7

Data Source: NMICS- 2019, CBS

Table-3 reveals that Percentage of women and men aged 15- status and economic independence and the threat of violence
49 years who state that a husband is justified in hitting and against them decreases. It is important, therefore, to engage
beating his wife in at least one of the following both men and women and boys and girls in interventions that
circumstances: (1) she goes out without telling him; (2) she promote gender equality and prevent violence against
neglects the children; (3) she argues with him; (4) she refuses women. (Archer, 2006).
sex with him; and (5) she burns the food. Due to the unequal 4.4 Human Trafficking
socio, economic, political and cultural status, the attitude
Human Trafficking is an emerging issue of Nepal. It is a
towards domestic violence between men and women are
complex issue. It emerges due to the economic, social and
unequal in all provinces .Women in province-1, Bagmati
environmental crisis. Mainly poverty is responsible to create
province, Gandaki province and Sudoor pashchim province
the complexity of human trafficking. The main cause of
are more tolerated than province-2, province-5 and Karnali
human trafficking is extreme desire of people to escape from
province in terms of domestic violence.
vicious circle of poverty. In the context of Nepal Domestic
Gender responsive activities help to control the violence in work, agricultural work, construction labor, carpet and
family and society. Family, community, school, mass media garment industries, organized begging, forced marriage and
etc can play an active and interventionist role to control prostitution are listed as common factors responsible to
violence and promote gender equality. When gender roles increase human trafficking.
become more flexible, most women enjoy greater power,

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International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences, 5(4)
Jul-Aug 2020 |Available online: https://ijels.com/

Table-4: Perception towards Human Trafficking

MICS Category Nepal Provinces
indicators Province1 Province2 Bagmati Gandaki Province5 Karnali Sudoor pashchim
Perception Total 79.4 82.5 63.7 91.1 88.1 73.3 66.9 82.6
towards Women 72.2 80.5 48.1 87.2 85.3 64.4 55.1 77.4
Human
Trafficking Men 88.4 85.1 82.9 95.7 92.2 85.1 83.4 90.2

Data Source: NMICS- 2019, CBS

Table-4 reveals that Percentage of women and men aged 15- 4.5 Child Marriage
49 years who have heard about human trafficking. In case of The practice of union between boy and girl formally and
human trafficking, men are more aware than women .This informally before the age of 18 is termed as child marriage.
situation is the result of high literacy rate and more control of The rate of child marriage is very high in Nepal compare to
mass media by men than women in Nepal.Women are other Asian countries. The number of girls is higher than
adversely victimized in human trafficking. It is anti-human boys in the case of child marriage. It affects girls more badly
and illegal activities. Women in province-2 and province-5 than boys. Child brides are at greater risk of experiencing a
are less aware then other provinces about human trafficking. range of poor health outcomes, having children at younger
By realizing negative consequences, Nepal government ages when they are not yet ready to do so, dropping out of
should make effective effort to control human trafficking school, earning less over their lifetimes and living in poverty
with the focus to increase public awareness, increase literacy compared to their peers who marry at later ages. Most
rate, women empowerment, poverty reduction, job creation fundamentally, child brides may be disempowered in ways
in all provinces. that deprive them of their basic rights to health, education
and safety. These dynamics affect not only the girls
themselves, but also their children and households, as well as
communities and entire societies. (Wodon et al., 2017)

Table-5: Percentage of Men and Women Regarding Child Marriage

MICS indicators Category Nepal Provinces
Province1 Province2 Bagmati Gandaki Province5 Karnali Sudoor pashchim
Young people Total 12.8 8.9 15.2 9.6 14.7 13.9 20.5 13.3
age 15-19 years
Women 19.3 14.7 24.9 13.7 23.1 20.1 27.4 18.8
currently
married or in Men 5.3 2.5 4.4 4.8 4.3 6.3 12.1 7.0
union
Data Source: NMICS- 2019, CBS

Table-5 reveals the Percentage of women and men aged 15- implementation of law, gender inequality, illiteracy etc are
19 years who are married or in union. The percentage of the responsible factors of child marriage in Nepal. By
women is four fold than men in terms of child marriage. adopting different formal and informal measures, Nepal
Child marriage of girl is higher in Karnali province followed government struggle to fight against child marriage .Among
by province-2 and Gandaki province. Parental pressure, various measures, public awareness and strict
traditional practices, reducing family burden, low burden of implementation of law play effective role in this case.
dowry, commodity value of girl, social taboos, ineffective
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4.6 Use of Tobacco and Alcohol social, economic and behavioral problems. People reported
Tobacco and alcohol are openly used in Nepal. Both various reasons for starting their smoking and drinking
substances create problems in human health. They create habits.

Table-6: Use of Tobacco and Alcohol

MICS Indicators Category Nepal Provinces
Province1 Province2 Bagmati Gandaki Province5 Karnali Sudoor- pashchim
Use of Tobacco Total 23.3 25.3 23.0 20.3 19.8 26.5 24.1 25.4
Women 6.1 6.0 2.7 5.4 6.2 8.0 11.0 8.0
Men 45.2 49.0 48.2 37.4 40.2 50.9 42.5 50.4
Use of Alcohol Total 23.0 26.8 11.3 29.4 24.9 24.5 14.8 20.3
Women 9.1 13.5 1.0 14.8 9.7 9.4 2.4 3.7
Men 40.6 43.1 24.0 46.1 47.5 44.5 32.2 43.9
Data Source: NMICS- 2019, CBS

Table-6 indicates Percentage of women and men aged 15-49 the gender perspective, necessary steps must be taken for
years who smoked cigarettes or used smoked or smokeless men to reduce the use of tobacco or alcohol.
tobacco products and drink at least one alcoholic product at 4.7 Perception of a Better Life
any time during the last one month. It signifies health
Generally better life requires fulfilling all needs and demands
consciousness. Women of province-2 are more conscious to
of individual life. It indicates life with happiness and
use tobacco and alcohol compared with other provinces.
satisfaction. It concerns basic needs and additional needs of
Women are more conscious of their health than men in all
people. It is directly related with food, cloth, shelter, income,
provinces according to use of tobacco and alcoholic
job, health status, education, love, security, governance etc.
products. There is no correlation between literacy rate and
The situation of a better life creates happiness that leads to a
use of tobacco or alcohol. Literacy rate and rate of tobacco or
successful life.
alcohol use, both are high in men all over the country. From

Table-7: Perception of a Better Life

MICS Indicators Category Nepal Provinces
Province1 Province2 Bagmati Gandaki Province5 Karnali Sudoor
pashchim
Perception of a Total 48.5 36.2 49.1 56.3 56.3 47.5 42.5 46.1
Better Life
Women 45.5 36.3 47.8 46.4 54.2 46.0 39.7 49.1
Men 52.5 36 50.8 67.7 59.6 49.5 46.5 41.7
Data Source: NMICS- 2019, CBS

Table-7 indicates Percentage of women and men aged 15-49 perception of a better life is found higher in Gandaki
years, whose life improved during the last one year and who province for women and in Bagmati province for men. The
expect that their life will be better after one year. The perception of better life is found lower in province-1 for

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International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences, 5(4)
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women and men. Gender gap in the perception of a better [7] USAID. (1999). “USAID Strategic Treatment for the Asia
life is wider in Bagmati province and narrower in province- Regional Anti-Trafficking Initiative.”. May 25, 1999 draft.
1.It is essential to create a favourable environment to Washington, D.C., USA.
[8] Wilson, D. (2004). Human Rights: Promoting Gender Equality
maintain equal and higher perception between men and
in and through Education PROSPECTS 34, 11–27 (2004).
women about the better life by focusing the factors
https://doi.org/10.1023/B:PROS.0000026677.67065.84
responsible for quality of life. [9] Wodon, Q., Tavares, P., Fiala, O., Le Nestour, A., & Wise, L.
(2017). Ending Child Marriage: Legal Age for Marriage,
Illegal Child Marriages, and the Need for Interventions.
V. CONCLUSION
London and Washington, DC: Save the Children and The
On the basis of educational status, exposure to mass media, World Bank.
human trafficking, domestic violence, situation of child
marriage, use of tobacco, drink of alcohol and perception of
better life, this article explore that the status of gender is
unequal in all provinces of Nepal. The cause, consequences
and measures of gender inequality are varied in various
social, economic and cultural contexts of provinces. To meet
national commitment in gender equality and to fulfill the
target of sustainable development goals, it is essential to
perform effective joint efforts of all concerned authorities as
soon as possible. Gender inequality is the root cause of
violence against women. Miserable status of women cannot
pave the way for development. To meet all goals of SDGs,
one simple step of individual and family for gender
mainstreaming can play a giant role. Three tiers of
government in Nepal i.e. federal government, provincial
government and local government must prepare a gender
responsive budget strategically to get rid of sinful acts of
gender inequality. The issue of Gender inequality must be
addressed to ensure overall development of the nation.

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