By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Sept. 3: Access to justice is crucial to discourage all forms of abuse and exploitation meted out to children, and justice should be delivered by keeping the wellbeing of children first during the time of COVID-19 crisis.
However, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, efforts to enhance police and community response in the cases of child sexual abuse and access to justice have been affected in Nepal, a new report shows.
The report by Anti-Slavery International, Children-Women in Social Service and Human Rights (CWISH) and Samrakshak Samuha (SASANE) released here on Wednesday highlighted the need for examining the impact of pandemic through the lens of child rights and ensure justice to the victims of child sexual abuse.
Child sexual exploitation remains widespread in Nepal, driven by discrimination, poverty, lack of education, peer pressure and the necessity of finding employment, the report added.
Prior to COVID-19 pandemic, only five out of 100 cases of child sexual violence used to be reported in police, with even fewer reaching trial, the report stated.
The report showed majority of the victims of the child sexual abuse were unaware of their rights and justice system.
Social stigma, lack of understanding of rights and unfriendliness of the law enforcement bodies have been affecting access to justice to the victims, the report stated. As fears about COVID-19 continue to grip the country, stakeholders are worried that the ongoing COVID-19 crisis in Nepal will further discourage survivors of child sexual abuse from coming forward.
Similarly, mishandling of cases by law enforcement body, vague and poorly implemented legislation and lack of victim protection mechanism highlights that judicial procedures lose sight of those whose rights it is meant to protect, the report added.
Children are still overwhelmingly locked out of the Nepalese justice system and therefore remain unprotected by it in reality, the report findings show.
Nepal’s re-introduced prohibitory orders further restrict victim access to justice as stakeholders are hamstrung from providing support and the implementation of new training programmes are delayed.
Minister for Law and Justice and Federal Affairs Dr. Shiva Maya Tumbahamphe has sought the collaborative efforts of all stakeholders and law enforcement agency to ensure speedy justice to the victims of sexual abuse and human trafficking.
Sally Kilner, Asia Programme Manager at Anti-Slavery International, said, “What is crucial to understand is survivors need the support of their family to see them through the judicial process. But many survivors are stigmatised by family members, preventing them for reporting their experiences.”
Kriti Vaidya, Project Coordinator at CWISH, said the anti-trafficking laws of Nepal are some of the best among South-Asian countries.
“However, the weak implementation and lack of adequate victim support measures has kept Nepal behind. It is high time for Nepal to move beyond the documents and put the legislations in action to tackle the trafficking issues,” she said.
For a Nepali woman, filing a case against her trafficker or abuser is often a traumatic experience which leads to re-victimization, said Jeny Pokharel, Project Coordinator at SASANE.
The report findings show that under various socio-economic conditions, the reporting of violent crimes against women, including human trafficking, is dangerously low, making Nepali women resistant to abuses, she added.
The report reveals that there is a huge gap in ensuring child survivors have fair access to their rights, Neelam Sharma, Nepal Project Office at Anti-Slavery International, said.
The State should consider this fact seriously and implement the recommendations provided, she added.