Violence Against Women in Three Districts of Nepal: Assessment of Services and Needs

In Nepal, violence against women (VAW) is widespread and significantly impacts women’s health and well-being. Objectives: HealthRight International, an organization that works to build lasting access to health and human rights  for excluded communities, including women in developing countries, commissioned New York University’s Global Public Health Capstone team to conduct a multi-component study with three main goals: 1) assess existing services and community needs to address VAW; 2) analyze current policies affecting VAW programming and services; and 3) develop strategic program interventions based on the findings. Methods: Informed by a systematic review of the literature semi- structured interview and focus group guides were developed. 25 semi-structured interviews and seven (7) focus groups were conducted with a purposive sample of key stakeholders and community members within three districts in Nepal. Using modified grounded theory, data was coded, analyzed and interpreted, identifying main themes using Dedoose software. Results: Gaps identified by stakeholder groups included lack of implementation of current policies, weak VAW reporting mechanisms, low levels of VAW awareness, the need for VAW-related training and lack of coordination between government, NGOs and the healthcare system in order to protect women. Conclusions: Four key areas of interventions were identified: the need to raise awareness among all stakeholders including the community; to enhance coordination and partnership in relation to VAW reporting and implementation of policies and case referral services; to improve advocacy in terms of strengthening the criminal justice system and creating a VAW case reporting data system; and to bolster VAW healthcare-related services.