Abstract
A decade of civil war commenced in Nepal in 1996 when the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) initiated military action against the government. A Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was reached in 2006, which saw the end of the People’s War. Establishing a high-level Truth and Reconciliation Commission was one of the main agendas of the CPA and a requirement of the Interim Constitution (2007), nonetheless it was over a decade before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was established in 2015, alongside the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP). This chapter critically examines gender justice in post People’s War Nepal, and argues that despite a very successful women’s movement, women still have not been able to receive justice. Although Nepal has shown some sensitivity towards gender by engaging with some of the gendered human rights violations, gender has largely been instrumentalised within the transitional justice process to achieve other political goals. Despite constant pressure from women’s rights organisations, gender sadly remains a side issue in Nepal’s transitional justice process.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Change history
28 November 2018
This chapter was inadvertently published with an error. Correction was made to the order of the author’s name in the references.
Notes
- 1.
See 40-point demands that Maoist submitted to the government in February 2006, http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/nepal/document/papers/40points.htm
- 2.
Government of Nepal, National Action Plan on the Implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 and 1820, (2011–2016) (Kathmandu: Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction, 2011), http://www.kpsrl.org/uploads/debatten_discussies/nepals_national_plan_of_action_english.pdf.
- 3.
The Interim Constitution of Nepal 2007, available at http://un.org.np/node/10500 (Accessed on 27 March 2017).
- 4.
See http://www.trc.gov.np/ and also see http://www.ciedp.gov.np/index.php.
- 5.
See interview with Dr Madhabi Bhatta, a member of TRC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQZJ5USZP6I&feature=share.
- 6.
- 7.
Interview 10 June 2012.
- 8.
See for the name list of the missing people http://www.ciedp.gov.np/uploads/files/bepatta%20name%20list%202073-8-13.pdf.
- 9.
See for details about why IDPs have not return to their villages and risk associated with their displacement IDMC and NRC. NEPAL: Failed implementation of IDP Policy leaves many unassisted: A profile of the internal displacement situation 28 January, 2010, available at http://www.internal-displacement.org/assets/library/Asia/Nepal/pdf/Nepal-January-2010.pdf (accessed 6 April 2017).
- 10.
Interview 11 December 2006.
- 11.
Interview 16 October 2006.
- 12.
Interview 22 November 2006.
- 13.
Cabin restaurants are registered as restaurants. However, they have small cabins where customers can sit and eat. Although they are called restaurants and bars, they function as semi brothels, where women and girls who work there are forced to serve the clients (see Yadav 2017b).
- 14.
Interview 25 November 2006.
- 15.
For details about NPTF, see http://www.nptf.gov.np/index.php.
- 16.
See the details about the NPTF-supported projects under the Security and Transitional Cluster’ http://www.nptf.gov.np/content.php?id=242.
- 17.
- 18.
Interview 18 July 2016.
- 19.
Interview 18 July 2016
- 20.
Interview 12 June 2012.
- 21.
See ICTJ, Background: 10 Years After Civil War, Victims Continue Demand for Justice, available at https://www.ictj.org/our-work/regions-and-countries/nepal (Accessed 6 April 2017).
- 22.
ICTJ https://www.ictj.org/our-work/regions-and-countries/nepal (accessed on 27 March 2017).
- 23.
Also listen to the Radio Interview of Dr Madhavi Bhatt, member of TRC, 20 September 2017 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQZJ5USZP6I&feature=share.
- 24.
Interview 2 October 2017.
- 25.
Interview 2 October 2017.
- 26.
References
Abdela, Lesley. 2011. Nepal and the Implementation of UNSCR 1325. In Women, Peace and Security: Translating Policy into Practice, ed. Funmi Olonisakin, Karen Barnes, and Eka Ikpe, 66–86. London and New York: Routledge.
Aguiree, Daniel, and Irene Pietropaoli. 2008. Gender Equality, Development and Transitional Justice: The Case of Nepal. The International Journal of Transitional Justice 2 (3): 356–377.
Ahmad, Nesar, and Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt. 2006. Engendering Mining Communities: Examining the Missing Gender Concerns in Coal Mining Displacement and Rehabilitation in India. Gender, Technology and Development 10 (3): 313–337.
Baniya, Jeevan, Sambriddhi Kharel, Deepal Thapa and Alexander Ramsbotham. 2017. Gender and Nepal’s Transition from War. Conciliation Resources, September 2017. http://www.c-r.org/resources/gender-and-nepals-transition-war. Accessed 4 Oct 2017.
Bisset, Alison, Lucy Moxham, and Jan van Zyl Smit. 2014. The Rule of Law and Transitional Justice in Nepal: Options for Co-ordinating a Truth Commission, Criminal Justice Mechanisms and Personnel Reforms. Bingham Centre Working Paper 2014/02, London: Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law. https://www.biicl.org/files/6912_nepal_transitional_justice_-_bingham_centre_working_paper_2014-02.pdf.
Chauhan, Pooja. 2017. Women in Nepal Army: Challenges and Opportunities. My Republica, March 29. http://www.myrepublica.com/news/17294/?categoryId=132.
eKantipur. 2017. Nepal’s Transitional Justice Mechanisms Have Failed to Ensure Justice for Victims: ICJ. Kathmandu Post, August 8. http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2017-08-08/nepals-transitional-justice-mechanisms-have-failed-to-ensure-justice-for-victims-icj.html.
El Jack, Amani. 2003. Gender and Armed Conflict. Overview Report. BRIDGE (development – gender). Brighton: University of Sussex.
Human Rights Watch. 2014. Silenced and Forgotten: Survivors of Nepal’s Conflict-Era Sexual Violence. New York: Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/report/2014/09/23/silenced-and-forgotten/survivors-nepals-conflict-era-sexual-violence.
ICRC. 2009. Families of Missing Persons in Nepal: A Study of Their Needs. International Committee of the Red Cross. https://www.icrc.org/eng/assets/files/2011/families-of-missing-persons-nepal-report.pdf.
IDMC. 2006. Nepal: IDP Return Still a Trickle Despite Ceasefire. Geneva: Norwegian Refugee Council. http://www.internal-displacement.org/south-and-south-east-asia/nepal/2006/nepal-idp-return-still-a-trickle-despite-ceasefire.
———. 2015. Nepal IDP Figure Analysis, February. http://www.internal-displacement.org/south-and-south-east-asia/nepal/figures-analysis. Accessed 5 Apr 2017.
IDMC and NRC. 2010. NEPAL: Failed Implementation of IDP Policy Leaves Many Unassisted: A Profile of the Internal Displacement Situation, January 28. Geneva: IDMC and Norwegian Refugee Council. http://www.internal-displacement.org/assets/library/Asia/Nepal/pdf/Nepal-January-2010.pdf.
INSEC. 2008. Nepal, Human Rights Yearbook 2008. Kathmandu: INSEC. http://insec.org.np/pics/publication/1239611319.pdf.
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ). 2017. Nepal’s Transitional Justice Process: Challenges and Future Strategy. A Discussion Paper. Geneva: ICJ. https://www.icj.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Nepal-TJus-Process-Advocacy-2017-ENG.pdf.
IRIN. 2008. Cabin Waitresses Subject to Sexual Exploitation. IRIN News, June 20. http://www.irinnews.org/report/78846/nepal-cabin-waitresses-subjected-sexual-exploitation.
K.C., Luna, Gemma Van Der Haar, and Dorothea Hilhorst. 2017. Changing Gender Role: Women’s Livelihoods, Conflict and Post-conflict Security in Nepal. Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs 4 (2): 175–195.
Lwambo, Desiree. 2013. ‘Before the War, I Was a Man’: Men and Masculinities in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Gender & Development 21 (1): 47–66 https://doi.org/10.1080/13552074.2013.769771.
Nayak, Nihar. 2011. The Madhesi Movement in Nepal: Implications for India. Journal of Strategic Analysis 35 (4): 640–660.
Pandey, Nishchal Nath. 2010. New Nepal: The Fault Lines. New Delhi: Sage Publications.
Pariyar, Kamal. 2016. Women Promoted to Major for First Time in NA Infantry. My Republica, August 24. http://www.myrepublica.com/news/4357/.
Pathak, Bishnu. 2005. Politics of People’s War and Human Rights in Nepal. Kathmandu: BIMIPA Publications.
Shackel, Rita, and Lucy Fiske. 2017. Effects of Conflict-Induced Displacement on Women in DRC, Kenya and Uganda. Presented at UN Women: Families on the Move, New York, December 2. http://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/news/stories/2017/families-on-the-move-shackel-fiske-idps-drc-kenya-uganda.pdf?la=en&vs=1530.
Shah, Ram Manohar. 2017. The Middle Country: The Traverse of Madhesh through War, Colonisation & Aid, Dependent Racist State. New Delhi: Adroit Publishers.
Thapa, Ganga B., and Jan Sharma. 2009. From Insurgency to Democracy: The Challenges of Peace and Democracy-Building in Nepal. International Political Science Review 30 (2): 205–219.
Thapa, Deepak, and Bandita Sijapati. 2003. A Kingdom Under Siege: Nepal’s Maoist Insurgency, 1996 to 2003. Kathmandu: The Printhouse.
UNOHCHR. 2006. Report of Investigation into Arbitrary Detention, Torture and Disappearances at Maharajgunj RNA Barracks, Kathmandu, in 2003–2004. Kathmandu: OHCHR. http://nepal.ohchr.org/en/resources/Documents/English/reports/IR/Year2006/Pages%20from%202006_05_26_OHCHR-Nepal.Report%20on%20Disappearances%20linked%20to%20Maharajgunj%20Barracks_Eng.pdf.
Yadav, Punam. 2007. Gender Dimension of Conflict-Induced Internal Displacement in Nepal. Unpublished Masters thesis. Thailand: Asian Institute of Technology.
———. 2016a. White Sari—Transforming Widowhood in Nepal. Gender, Technology and Development 20 (1): 1–24.
———. 2016b. Social Transformation in Post-Conflict Nepal: A Gender Perspective. London and New York: Routledge.
———. 2017a. 1325—Is that a Taxi Number? Implementation of the National Action Plan on 1325 and 1820 in Nepal. LSE Women, Peace and Security Working Paper Series, 4. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/.
———. 2017b. Can IDP Women in the Entertainment Sector Be Part of the WPS Agenda? LSE Women, Peace and Security blog, September 28. http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/wps/2017/09/28/can-idp-women-in-the-entertainment-sector-be-part-of-the-wps-agenda/.
Yami, Hisila. 2007. People’s War and Women’s Liberation in Nepal. Kathmandu: Janadhwani Publication.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Yadav, P. (2019). Speaking from the Ground: Transitional Gender Justice in Nepal. In: Shackel, R., Fiske, L. (eds) Rethinking Transitional Gender Justice. Gender, Development and Social Change. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77890-7_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77890-7_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-77889-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-77890-7
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)