Untitled - Care Nepal

Background
Nepal, a South Asian land-locked
country has a population of 28.6
million. The population growth
rate is just over of 2 percent (CBS, 2003).
The female population is about half of the
total population of Nepal (Census 2001)
The literacy rate of Nepalese increased from
39.6 percent in the 1991 census to 53.74
percent in 2001. Hinduism is the major
religion, followed by Buddhism, Islam and
other religions. Amongst Hindus;
Brahmins, Chettris and Dalits are the major
caste groups and there are a multitude of
ethnic groups, often referred to as ‘Janajatis’.
Although women are equal to males in
number in Nepal, in social and economic
terms this is certainly not the case. Gender
discrimination against women is a profound
factor that increases vulnerability to a range
of psychosocial and mental health problems.
The Gender Development Index and
Gender Empowerment Index are 0.452 and
0.391 respectively, both at the low end
globally. This reflects the difference
between women and men in burden of labor.
Less than half of adult women (48.9 percent)
receive compensation for their labor
whereas 67.6 percent of men are involved
in compensation-related activities (CBS/
HMG, 2004).
Gender discrimination can be observed at
all socioeconomic levels and across all
ethnic and religious groups. However,
gender discrimination is most profound
among conservative hindu groups and may
be less severe in other ethnic groups.
Women describe greater mental health
problems compared to men in numerous
studies conducted in Nepal (Kohrt et al.,
2005b; Tausig et al., 2004; Thapa & Hauff,
2005).
In terms of accessibility, women have much
lower ownership of property. According
to the 2001 Census, only 5 percent women
have ownership of a house, 11 percent of
land and 7 percent of livestock. Ownership
of house and land are higher amongst the
women of urban areas and ownership in
livestock is higher of women in rural areas
(2001 census)
Due to discrimination, lower access to the
services and family restrictions women are
likely to have more psychosocial problems.
It has been found that women who are the
victims of violence are more likely to suffer
from different psychological difficulties
such as depression, anxiety, and post
traumatic stress disorder. Similarly, women
who are victims of discrimination, injustice
are likely to have the problems of
personality disorder, substance abuse, sexual
dysfunction and low self esteem. Violence
against women can have negative effects for
families, communities and economy (DE
Stewart - World Psychiatry, 2006).
6
Psychosocial Issues of
Women affected by conflict