In Nepal, female literacy rate is about 45 % while male literacy rate is 63%. In rural Nepal, most of the women are housewives and play a vital role in running their family. They are entirely responsible for bringing up children, taking care of cattle, providing food for the family and working in the fields.
The occupation for most people is agriculture. The gender gap between men and women in terms of income is huge. In agriculture, income is Nrs 375 per day (around 4 US$) for women and Nrs 725 (around 7 US$) for men (for 6 months per year). There is an increasing trend to employ women in the agricultural labour force and most women in rural Nepal engage in agriculture.
Poverty has a feminine face and women are too often socially excluded and remain excluded from access to economic development
In underprivileged families girls do not receive adequate food, education or health care. Women encounter health issues as they do not have access to hospital and do not have enough money to go to hospital or buy medicine. Most women in rural Nepal tend to deliver in their house and believe that they are able to heal disease themselves.
Unaware about personal hygiene issues, their children may suffer from water born disease and women are affected by the pesticides used in the fields, by not taking any precaution while spraying it in the crop fields and develop serious conditions such as skin and stomach cancer, allergies, eye problems, etc.
Domestic and public violence are common in Nepal and in particular for women from rural areas. Domestic violence includes wife battering, polygamy, marital rape, early marriage, female infanticide and girls’ neglect. Public violence includes rape, sexual harassment, forced prostitution and girl trafficking.
For many women learning to read and count is the first step towards gender equality. Empowering women is one big step toward the development of Nepal.
