The baseline study report will be available at the UNFPA Nepal website nepal.unfpa.org in 2023.

UNFPA Nepal, UN House, Pulchowk, Lalitpur, PO Box 107, Kathmandu, Nepal nepal.office@unfpa.org | @UNFPANepal GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE

PREVENTION AND RESPONSE

PHASE II PROJECT (GBVPR II):

BASELINE STUDY BRIEF

Decemb

er 2022

Background

Key Highlights

1 in 10 married women disclosed the abuse in the past 12 months Gender-based violence (GBV) is One in five ever-married women (21.7%) pervasive in Nepal. Women and girls Key data sources

experienced intimate partner violence continue to face various forms of (IPV) or in law-abuse or both in the past violence throughout their life, regardless Surveys (Total: 3,293) 12 months, while levels of agency among of their caste, ethnicity and socio-1,070 married men and women enrolled in women are also low, with 33.3% of Even fewer women disclosed the abuse to a formal support service economic status.

couple programming

married women deciding on their own 1,207 men and women from communities in healthcare only. The limited bodily To address the problem of GBV, UNFPA project sites integrity and autonomy of women is implements the Gender-based Violence 593 adolescent boys and girls in school intricately linked to the presence of Prevention and Response Phase II (2020-enrolled in life skills programming gender-inequitable attitudes and norms, 2024) project, in partnership with the 216 GBV survivors served by One-Stop Crisis especially among men and boys.

Swiss Agency for Development and

Management Centers (OCMCs) and shelters Of all the study participants, 53.3% agreed that a woman/girl should ask a male household member for Cooperation (SDC) and the Royal supported by the project

permission before she leaves the home, and 43.4% agreed that a woman’s most important role is to take care Norwegian Embassy (RNE) in Nepal. The 207 multi-sectoral GBV service providers of her home and children and cook for her family. Furthermore, a third of the participants (33.4%) reported at project seeks to reduce all forms of GBV

getting trained from project sites

least one justification for physical IPV or psychological abuse perpetrated by the mother-in-law against their and discrimination against women and daughter-in-law, whereas acceptability for help-seeking by GBV survivors is moderate on average.

girls in 19 municipalities of Province 1

Interviews (Total: 114)

and Sudurpaschim Province through

16 married men and women enrolled in couple Awareness of available GBV response services, especially essential services supported by the project focused interventions to change harmful programming such as community psychosocial workers (CPSWs), One-Stop Crisis Management Centres (OCMCs) and social and gender norms that 15 GBV survivors served by OCMCs and shelters, is low among both community members and GBV service providers. CPSWs, OCMCs and perpetuate gender inequality and GBV, shelters supported by the project shelters were recognized as a source of support for GBV survivors by no more than 12% of the study sample.

enhance access to quality, multi-sectoral 64 multi-sectoral GBV service providers getting Awareness of available support for GBV survivors (N = 3,077) services for GBV survivors, and trained from project sites

strengthen gender-responsive policies 19 local government officials involved in Police 85.0%

and budgeting.

budgeting processes

Family/Relatives/Neighbours

44.9%

Ward/Municipality Office

44.9%

The purpose of the baseline study was Focus group discussions (Total: 115) Court 31.6%

to provide a benchmark against which 115 adolescent boys and girls in school enrolled in life skills programming Friends/Peers/Co-Workers/Teachers

progress can be measured over the

29.9%

course of the project implementation Judicial Committee 21.9%

and to provide evidence-based

Desk reviews (Total: 94)

Women Human Rights Defenders

20.6%

recommendations to inform

1 federal government budget

Community-based Organization Members 15.6%

programming.

2 provincial government budgets

Health Posts/Facilities

19 local government budgets

14.9%

72 research studies and other documents Safehouse/Shelter Homes 12.0%

Methodology

Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHV) 11.4%

The baseline study adopted a mixed-

One-Stop Crisis Management Centers (OCMC) 10.8%

method approach to collect data on key Community-based Psychosocial Workers (CPSW) 10.4%

indicators of the project’s logical

Legal Service Providers

7.0%

framework. Quantitative and qualitative Religious and Traditional Elders 5.3%

data were collected through various

Hotlines

methods which was complemented by

3.5%

secondary data from a desk review of 0

25

50

75

100

existing literature.

These gaps in awareness may partially explain the low levels of help-seeking among women and girls subjected to violence. Only 10.4% sought help or told anyone about the violence that they experienced in the past 12 months, while 22.6% ever disclosed violence. Reporting to GBV response services is especially low at 4.3%. Furthermore, lack of awareness of available services and incomplete knowledge of GBV forms among informal sources of support, such as family members and friends to which violence is disclosed most commonly, limits their ability to facilitate access to formal support for GBV survivors.

Background

Key Highlights

1 in 10 married women disclosed the abuse in the past 12 months Gender-based violence (GBV) is One in five ever-married women (21.7%) pervasive in Nepal. Women and girls Key data sources

experienced intimate partner violence continue to face various forms of (IPV) or in law-abuse or both in the past violence throughout their life, regardless Surveys (Total: 3,293) 12 months, while levels of agency among of their caste, ethnicity and socio-1,070 married men and women enrolled in women are also low, with 33.3% of Even fewer women disclosed the abuse to a formal support service economic status.

couple programming

married women deciding on their own 1,207 men and women from communities in healthcare only. The limited bodily To address the problem of GBV, UNFPA project sites integrity and autonomy of women is implements the Gender-based Violence 593 adolescent boys and girls in school intricately linked to the presence of Prevention and Response Phase II (2020-enrolled in life skills programming gender-inequitable attitudes and norms, 2024) project, in partnership with the 216 GBV survivors served by One-Stop Crisis especially among men and boys.

Swiss Agency for Development and

Management Centers (OCMCs) and shelters Of all the study participants, 53.3% agreed that a woman/girl should ask a male household member for Cooperation (SDC) and the Royal supported by the project

permission before she leaves the home, and 43.4% agreed that a woman’s most important role is to take care Norwegian Embassy (RNE) in Nepal. The 207 multi-sectoral GBV service providers of her home and children and cook for her family. Furthermore, a third of the participants (33.4%) reported at project seeks to reduce all forms of GBV

getting trained from project sites

least one justification for physical IPV or psychological abuse perpetrated by the mother-in-law against their and discrimination against women and daughter-in-law, whereas acceptability for help-seeking by GBV survivors is moderate on average.

girls in 19 municipalities of Province 1

Interviews (Total: 114)

and Sudurpaschim Province through

16 married men and women enrolled in couple Awareness of available GBV response services, especially essential services supported by the project focused interventions to change harmful programming such as community psychosocial workers (CPSWs), One-Stop Crisis Management Centres (OCMCs) and social and gender norms that 15 GBV survivors served by OCMCs and shelters, is low among both community members and GBV service providers. CPSWs, OCMCs and perpetuate gender inequality and GBV, shelters supported by the project shelters were recognized as a source of support for GBV survivors by no more than 12% of the study sample.

enhance access to quality, multi-sectoral 64 multi-sectoral GBV service providers getting Awareness of available support for GBV survivors (N = 3,077) services for GBV survivors, and trained from project sites

strengthen gender-responsive policies 19 local government officials involved in Police 85.0%

and budgeting.

budgeting processes

Family/Relatives/Neighbours

44.9%

Ward/Municipality Office

44.9%

The purpose of the baseline study was Focus group discussions (Total: 115) Court 31.6%

to provide a benchmark against which 115 adolescent boys and girls in school enrolled in life skills programming Friends/Peers/Co-Workers/Teachers

progress can be measured over the

29.9%

course of the project implementation Judicial Committee 21.9%

and to provide evidence-based

Desk reviews (Total: 94)

Women Human Rights Defenders

20.6%

recommendations to inform

1 federal government budget

Community-based Organization Members 15.6%

programming.

2 provincial government budgets

Health Posts/Facilities

19 local government budgets

14.9%

72 research studies and other documents Safehouse/Shelter Homes 12.0%

Methodology

Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHV) 11.4%

The baseline study adopted a mixed-

One-Stop Crisis Management Centers (OCMC) 10.8%

method approach to collect data on key Community-based Psychosocial Workers (CPSW) 10.4%

indicators of the project’s logical

Legal Service Providers

7.0%

framework. Quantitative and qualitative Religious and Traditional Elders 5.3%

data were collected through various

Hotlines

methods which was complemented by

3.5%

secondary data from a desk review of 0

25

50

75

100

existing literature.

These gaps in awareness may partially explain the low levels of help-seeking among women and girls subjected to violence. Only 10.4% sought help or told anyone about the violence that they experienced in the past 12 months, while 22.6% ever disclosed violence. Reporting to GBV response services is especially low at 4.3%. Furthermore, lack of awareness of available services and incomplete knowledge of GBV forms among informal sources of support, such as family members and friends to which violence is disclosed most commonly, limits their ability to facilitate access to formal support for GBV survivors.

Considerable gender differences exist in Critical gaps in survivor-centered care Yet, the survivors demonstrated Percent of day (24 hours) spent on multiple research areas, including exist. Significant deficits in training of moderate scores on a safety-related 25%

unpaid care and domestic work

acceptability of IPV, knowledge of GBV service providers and empowerment scale assessing their

discriminatory social and gender norms as a 22%

workplace preparedness hinder the ability to achieve safety goals (2.1 out of root cause of GBV, recognition of OCMCs and provision of quality services and 4), support needed to move towards 20%

shelters as GBV services, and the share of appropriate referrals for GBV

safety (2.0 out of 4), and perceived household chores. These differences highlight 17%

survivors. While there is variation trade-offs that must be made to keep the importance of focusing on men and boys across service providers and sectors, a safe (1.8 out of 4). They also expressed 15%

as target groups of prevention interventions.

tendency to encourage reconciliation, concerns about future violence, Even though 97.5% of men and boys in the study insist on information that survivors do especially those accommodated in the sample agree that men and women should share not wish to disclose and not involve shelters during the study.

10%

household chores, they spend about two times survivors in decisions about care was 8%

less time on unpaid care and domestic work than 7%

7%

most consistently observed. In terms of Budget allocations of local women and girls. In terms of attitudes towards workplace preparedness, inadequate governments for programs and

5%

4%

domestic violence, gender disparities are space to ensure privacy and policies to promote gender equality particularly pronounced among adolescents.

confidentiality during interactions with and women’s empowerment (GEWE) While 53.0% of boys in the adolescent sample survivors and insufficient language are scant relative to the scope of 0%

agreed that a husband or mother-in-law is capabilities were found to be crucial GBV. In the targeted municipalities of justified in abusing a woman for at least one challenges.

the project, they range from 0.09% to specified reason, only 26.9% of girls agreed. It is 1.13% of the total budgets for the fiscal clear that harmful attitudes held by men and Coordination across multi-sectoral year 2021-2022. Even when budget is boys not only contribute to the persistence of Married men (N = 536) GBV response services is weak, which secured and allocated, local Married women (N = 534)

Community men (N = 604)

GBV, but also to limited help-seeking.

hinders the ability to fully respond to governments often cannot fully utilize Community women (N = 603) Adolescent boys (N = 296)

Adolescent girls (N = 297)

the needs of survivors. While formal the funds allocated for GEWE due to and informal sources of support play a limited personnel, lack of awareness of There are crucial disparities in key measures among districts, including GBV prevalence, crucial role in connecting survivors to procedures for spending funds and the acceptability of help-seeking and knowledge of GBV, but strong trends were difficult to discern OCMCs and shelters, there is a lack of redirection of funds to prioritize other given the high degree of variability across indicators within districts. The observed differences onward referral from those service development issues.

may also be confounded by the socio-demographic characteristics of the study participants in the delivery points to legal support, civil and targeted districts of the project, necessitating further analysis. There is insufficient evidence to assess vital registration, and economic Some outcome indicators in the

if clustering of risk for GBV exists.

empowerment opportunities, which

project’s logical framework may need were recognized as unmet needs of further consideration or refinement survivors by all types of GBV service Married women enrolled in couple programming reported less IPV (16.9%) than other married to ensure credible and useful providers and survivors.

women in their communities (19.4%), suggesting that the prevention interventions may not evidence is generated to track reach the most vulnerable couples. The criteria for selecting couples to participate in the prevention progress. It is challenging to correctly GBV survivors seeking help in the interventions may not be adequate or strictly applied. The low risk of violence also makes it difficult to and precisely identify the percentage of OCMCs and shelters report mostly determine change over time as there is little room for improvement. This finding may relate only to the government budget allocated to positive outcomes following service first group of couples engaged in the prevention interventions.

programs and policies to promote GEWE

utilization. However, the benefits due to a lack of standardization.

seem tentative. 50.7% of the survivors Survivor satisfaction with services seeking help in the OCMCs and shelters provided by OCMCs and shelters is also in the past 5 months reported that the difficult to monitor given very high violence had stopped. The majority of baseline ratings (99%), which will not the survivors who accessed services in provide a meaningful benchmark for the OCMCs and shelters also reported measuring progress over time.

that their situation was better, they had more self-esteem and confidence, and they knew better how to protect themselves.

Considerable gender differences exist in Critical gaps in survivor-centered care Yet, the survivors demonstrated Percent of day (24 hours) spent on multiple research areas, including exist. Significant deficits in training of moderate scores on a safety-related 25%

unpaid domestic work

acceptability of IPV, knowledge of GBV service providers and empowerment scale assessing their

discriminatory social and gender norms as a 22%

workplace preparedness hinder the ability to achieve safety goals (2.1 out of root cause of GBV, recognition of OCMCs and provision of quality services and 4), support needed to move towards 20%

shelters as GBV services, and the share of appropriate referrals for GBV

safety (2.0 out of 4), and perceived household chores. These differences highlight 17%

survivors. While there is variation trade-offs that must be made to keep the importance of focusing on men and boys across service providers and sectors, a safe (1.8 out of 4). They also expressed 15%

as target groups of prevention interventions.

tendency to encourage reconciliation, concerns about future violence, Even though 97.5% of men and boys in the study insist on information that survivors do especially those accommodated in the sample agree that men and women should share not wish to disclose and not involve shelters during the study.

10%

household chores, they spend about two times survivors in decisions about care was 8%

less time on unpaid care and domestic work than 7%

7%

most consistently observed. In terms of Budget allocations of local women and girls. In terms of attitudes towards workplace preparedness, inadequate governments for programs and

5%

4%

domestic violence, gender disparities are space to ensure privacy and policies to promote gender equality particularly pronounced among adolescents.

confidentiality during interactions with and women’s empowerment (GEWE) While 53.0% of boys in the adolescent sample survivors and insufficient language are scant relative to the scope of 0%

agreed that a husband or mother-in-law is capabilities were found to be crucial GBV. In the targeted municipalities of justified in abusing a woman for at least one challenges.

the project, they range from 0.09% to specified reason, only 26.9% of girls agreed. It is 1.13% of the total budgets for the fiscal clear that harmful attitudes held by men and Coordination across multi-sectoral year 2021-2022. Even when budget is boys not only contribute to the persistence of Married men (N = 536) GBV response services is weak, which secured and allocated, local Married women (N = 534)

Community men (N = 604)

GBV, but also to limited help-seeking.

hinders the ability to fully respond to governments often cannot fully utilize Community women (N = 603) Adolescent boys (N = 296)

Adolescent girls (N = 297)

the needs of survivors. While formal the funds allocated for GEWE due to and informal sources of support play a limited personnel, lack of awareness of There are crucial disparities in key measures among districts, including GBV prevalence, crucial role in connecting survivors to procedures for spending funds and the acceptability of help-seeking and knowledge of GBV, but strong trends were difficult to discern OCMCs and shelters, there is a lack of redirection of funds to prioritize other given the high degree of variability across indicators within districts. The observed differences onward referral from those service development issues.

may also be confounded by the socio-demographic characteristics of the study participants in the delivery points to legal support, civil and targeted districts of the project, necessitating further analysis. There is insufficient evidence to assess vital registration, and economic Some outcome indicators in the

if clustering of risk for GBV exists.

empowerment opportunities, which

project’s logical framework may need were recognized as unmet needs of further consideration or refinement survivors by all types of GBV service Married women enrolled in couple programming reported less IPV (16.9%) than other married to ensure credible and useful providers and survivors.

women in their communities (19.4%), suggesting that the prevention interventions may not evidence is generated to track reach the most vulnerable couples. The criteria for selecting couples to participate in the prevention progress. It is challenging to correctly GBV survivors seeking help in the interventions may not be adequate or strictly applied. The low risk of violence also makes it difficult to and precisely identify the percentage of OCMCs and shelters report mostly determine change over time as there is little room for improvement. This finding may relate only to the government budget allocated to positive outcomes following service first group of couples engaged in the prevention interventions.

programs and policies to promote GEWE

utilization. However, the benefits due to a lack of standardization.

seem tentative. 50.7% of the survivors Survivor satisfaction with services seeking help in the OCMCs and shelters provided by OCMCs and shelters is also in the past 5 months reported that the difficult to monitor given very high violence had stopped. The majority of baseline ratings (99%), which will not the survivors who accessed services in provide a meaningful benchmark for the OCMCs and shelters also reported measuring progress over time.

that their situation was better, they had more self-esteem and confidence, and they knew better how to protect themselves.

Recommendations

1. Ensure that the most vulnerable couples 8. Further investigate differences in key indicators across project sites to provide more are recruited to participate in the prevention nuanced insights into differences according to location and potential clustering of risk for interventions, with an emphasis on persons of GBV.

a marginalized caste or ethnicity, particularly those with a history of IPV or other form of GBV.

9. Integrate communications work targeted at adolescent girls, women, and family Assess if the current selection criteria are members with the power to influence reporting by GBV survivors to publicize availability adequate and applied consistently.

of multi-sectoral GBV response services, with a particular emphasis on CPSWs, OCMCs and shelters. Conduct a mapping to identify the most appropriate format and channels for 2. Enhance engagement with men and boys communication with the different target audiences.

to address gaps in knowledge of root causes and harmful consequences of GBV, as well as 10. Include information to enhance the acceptability of GBV reporting and minimize formal support services, attitudes about the stigma of help-seeking in the prevention interventions and community outreach of service acceptability of GBV and help-seeking, and providers. Highlighting stories of help-seekers who received support from their behaviors such as dominant decision-making communities can be useful to shift expectations of negative social sanctions.

and low contribution to unpaid care and domestic work.

11. Develop case studies of successful gender-responsive budgeting in Nepal for use in advocacy with government, highlighting its social and economic benefits.

3. Expand family members’ knowledge of the forms, root causes and harmful 12. Advocate with and build the capacity of local governments to improve standardization consequences of GBV, as well as the available of budget forms and specificity in budget categories to enable more precise estimation services for GBV survivors.

of GEWE budget allocations.

4. Make survivor rights visible at service 13. Explore the use of mystery client observations for routine monitoring to assess delivery points, in particular OCMCs and survivor-centered care and/or replace the indicator on survivor satisfaction in the logical shelters, to establish a benchmark against which framework with survivor empowerment.

services might be judged and establish expectations for survivor-centered care.

5. Address deficits in training within and across different types of service providers and advocate for more survivor-centered workplace elements to enhance quality of care for GBV survivors.

6. Enhance knowledge and use of referral pathways among service providers, and involve the police in gender-transformative training to minimize unmet needs for survivors, especially those related to income generation, legal support, and civil and vital registration.

7. Establish linkages to existing economic empowerment programs for GBV survivors and participants of prevention interventions, including men to alleviate pressures to migrate and facilitate their engagement in prevention programming. Advocate with project donors for the inclusion of economic empowerment support or coordinate with other development partners to work on these issues.

Recommendations

1. Ensure that the most vulnerable couples 8. Further investigate differences in key indicators across project sites to provide more are recruited to participate in the prevention nuanced insights into differences according to location and potential clustering of risk for interventions, with an emphasis on persons of GBV.

a marginalized caste or ethnicity, particularly those with a history of IPV or other form of GBV.

9. Integrate communications work targeted at adolescent girls, women, and family Assess if the current selection criteria are members with the power to influence reporting by GBV survivors to publicize availability adequate and applied consistently.

of multi-sectoral GBV response services, with a particular emphasis on CPSWs, OCMCs and shelters. Conduct a mapping to identify the most appropriate format and channels for 2. Enhance engagement with men and boys communication with the different target audiences.

to address gaps in knowledge of root causes and harmful consequences of GBV, as well as 10. Include information to enhance the acceptability of GBV reporting and minimize formal support services, attitudes about the stigma of help-seeking in the prevention interventions and community outreach of service acceptability of GBV and help-seeking, and providers. Highlighting stories of help-seekers who received support from their behaviors such as dominant decision-making communities can be useful to shift expectations of negative social sanctions.

and low contribution to unpaid care and domestic work.

11. Develop case studies of successful gender-responsive budgeting in Nepal for use in advocacy with government, highlighting its social and economic benefits.

3. Expand family members’ knowledge of the forms, root causes and harmful 12. Advocate with and build the capacity of local governments to improve standardization consequences of GBV, as well as the available of budget forms and specificity in budget categories to enable more precise estimation services for GBV survivors.

of GEWE budget allocations.

4. Make survivor rights visible at service 13. Explore the use of mystery client observations for routine monitoring to assess delivery points, in particular OCMCs and survivor-centered care and/or replace the indicator on survivor satisfaction in the logical shelters, to establish a benchmark against which framework with survivor empowerment.

services might be judged and establish expectations for survivor-centered care.

5. Address deficits in training within and across different types of service providers and advocate for more survivor-centered workplace elements to enhance quality of care for GBV survivors.

6. Enhance knowledge and use of referral pathways among service providers, and involve the police in gender-transformative training to minimize unmet needs for survivors, especially those related to income generation, legal support, and civil and vital registration.

7. Establish linkages to existing economic empowerment programs for GBV survivors and participants of prevention interventions, including men to alleviate pressures to migrate and facilitate their engagement in prevention programming. Advocate with project donors for the inclusion of economic empowerment support or coordinate with other development partners to work on these issues.

The baseline study report will be available at the UNFPA Nepal website nepal.unfpa.org in 2023.

UNFPA Nepal, UN House, Pulchowk, Lalitpur, PO Box 107, Kathmandu, Nepal nepal.office@unfpa.org | @UNFPANepal GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE

PREVENTION AND RESPONSE

PHASE II PROJECT (GBVPR II):

BASELINE STUDY BRIEF

Decemb

er 2022

Document Outline

Baseline-GBVPRII-Front

Baseline-GBVPRII-1

Baseline-GBVPRII-2

Baseline-GBVPRII-3

Baseline-GBVPRII-4

Baseline-GBVPRII-5

Baseline-GBVPRII-6

Baseline-GBVPRII-Back