View/save PDF version of this document - La Strada International

Women Workers in Woolen Carpet Industry, Commercial Shops
and Cabin/Dance Restaurants. Kathmandu: ILO. [draft], hereinafter
referred to as the ILO 2008 study) The average of the percentages is
51%. The percentage of girls and women living with their husbands
is stated as 14.3% by the Shakti Samuha 2008 study and 15% by the
NHRC 2006 study.
46 It should be noted that many girls and women refer to their male
partners as “husbands” but while in fact these can be pimps, boyfriends
or married clients who are the fathers of their children.
47 The law affords women some recompense after abandonment, if
it does not punish the husband. A woman may file for divorce after
the husband is absent or does not provide her with subsistence for
3 years as well as for evicting her from the house, inflicting physical
or mental injury or rape. A wife is entitled to get her share of
property from the husband if she is abandoned without being provided
any maintenance by either the husband alone or his parents, if she
is treated cruelly or if the husband has brought or kept a second
wife (No. 4, Chapter on Husband and Wife of the Country Code,
1963).
48 The New ERA 2006 study found that 21% of the husbands of
establishment-based sex workers had a co-wife. Bigamy conducted
by men is illegal under Nepali law, though not bigamy conducted by
women (No. 9, Chapter on Marriage of the Country Code, 1963).
However, the law permits the husband to commit bigamy without
consent of the first wife if she has taken her share of property due
to his abandonment or cruel treatment (No. 10, Chapter on Marriage
of the Country Code, 1963). This creates a situation in which the
woman must choose between her conjugal life or a share of property.
49 The percentage of girls and women with one or more children
is stated as 70% by the Shakti Samuha 2008 study, 66% by the NHRC
2006 study, 54% by the ActionAid 2004 study and 56% by the New
ERA 2006 study, averaging 61%. The New ERA 2006 study found
that the mean number of children per girl/woman was two.
50 NHRC 2004 study.
51 The New ERA 2006 study and the NHRC 2004 study noted
businessmen, service holders, police and soldiers to be the primary
clients of establishment-based sex workers in the Kathmandu Valley.
52 NHRC 2004 study.
53 Shakti Samuha 2008 study, ActionAid 2004 study.
54 During the situation analysis conducted in conjunction with this
document, when phoned with a request for girls, the majority of
guest houses told the researchers that girls could be provided.
55 Shakti Samuha 2008 study.
56 A note on sex workers’ rights: While adult sex workers have the
constitutional right to conduct their profession, in practice every
efforts must be made to ensure that their health and well-being are
protected. At the same time, the discourse on sex worker rights
often overshadows the issues of sexual exploitation. In Nepal’s
entertainment industry, there are three types of girls and women:
those who are admitted sex workers, those who are coerced into
prostitution, and those who do not conduct sex work, but must
submit to groping and sexual harassment in the workplace. The first
2010 Terre des hommes www.tdh.ch 124