From the UNICEF report Children and Women in Nepal 2006

Women and the conflict

Women have long borne the brunt of poverty and social injustice in rural Nepal, and many were initially willing to support the aims of the insurgency with its focus on fighting alcoholism, gambling and polygamy. In an effort to mobilize women’s support for the movement, the widows of Maoist militiamen are helped and their ‘sacrifice’ is publicly lauded. It is believed that women make up almost a third of the Maoist fighting forces. However, women are also the victims of insurgency-related violence. They have to contend with the separation of family members, the extortion, the fear and reprisals, the disruption to health and education services, and in some cases the death of husbands and sons.

Displacement

The Maoist insurgency in Nepal continues to affect the lives of children in many ways. The most obvious and widespread is the migration of families or parts of a family from areas of conflict. It is normal for people who feel that their lives or livelihoods are threatened to move away from the perceived danger to places where they hope to find greater physical and economic security. Although some form of migration has long been practiced by rural families in Nepal, since the start of the insurgency in 1996, and particularly since the escalation of violence in 2001, it has become much more widespread. Rather than one or two members of a family migrating, whole families have been moving from village settlements to urban areas within Nepal and beyond. Migration can increase a child’s vulnerability to rights violations, particularly when a child is separated from his or her family.

Download the complete article: UNICEF report: Situation Analysis on the Children and Women in Nepal 2006 (1.7 MB, .pdf)

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