Two-year project launched in Karnali and Province 2 to tackle gender-based violence

Kathmandu / Oct 14: A two-year project has been launched in Province 2 and Karnali Province to help minimize the instances of gender-based violence in the provinces.

The project has been jointly launched by the Delegation of European Union to Nepal, the United Nations Population Fund and the Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens, Government of Nepal.

According to a press statement issued by the Delegation of EU to Nepal on Wednesday, the project is expected to support the livelihood of the survivors of gender-based violence and extend support to people hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to helping those advocating for the cause of eliminating gender-based violence, the project also aims to support One Stop Crisis Management Centres (OCMC) and provide psychological services, shelters and other immediate response services to the survivors of gender-based violence. The project is financed by the EU with 700,000 Euros.

According to the latest data from the Central Bureau of Statistics, one in every five women aged 15 to 49 experience physical violence since the age of 15 and at least one in four married women are subjected to physical, sexual, or emotional violence by their partner in Nepal.

Similarly, around 40% of women nationwide were married by age of 18 as compared to 11% men in 2016 despite the legal age of marriage for both sexes being 20 years.