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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:#F8F9FA">Asian Development Bank</span></b><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.adb.org/results/police-and-community-partnership-nepal-tackling-violence-against-women"><span style="color:blue">https://www.adb.org/results/police-and-community-partnership-nepal-tackling-violence-against-women</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333">Nepal - Police & Community Partnership Tackling Violence Against Women<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#8C8C8C">Project Result / Case Study | 18 March 2019</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#333333"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:0cm;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2;background:white">
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</span></span></span><![endif]><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><img border="0" width="614" height="346" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image002.jpg@01D540CB.53E20DC0" alt="https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/styles/content_media/public/content-media/33476-nepal-women-violence-police-community-1.jpg?itok=uxNB-yf4"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#333333"><a href="https://facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://www.adb.org/results/police-and-community-partnership-nepal-tackling-violence-against-women&t=Police%20and%20Community%20Partnership%20in%20Nepal%20Tackling%20Violence%20Against%20Women%20" target="_blank" title="Share on Facebook"><span style="font-size:1.0pt;color:white;background:#3A579B">Facebook</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:#F2F2F2">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">At the women and children service center in Bajhang (photo by Binita Shah Khadka).</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">Thirty-six-year-old Harina from Bajhang in western Nepal suffered domestic violence for more than 10
years. One day she decided enough was enough. After enduring regular beatings and psychological abuse by her husband, she complained to Sita Singh, who runs a safe shelter for women, from her local Gender-Based Violence (GBV) control network.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">This is a huge step forward in a country where, according to a survey by the United Nations Population
Fund (UNFPA), 61% of women who face domestic abuse never report it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">The police established the GBV network in 20 districts across the country in coordination with civil
society organizations and with support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Bajhang was selected due to the high levels of violence against women and children in the area.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">The network helps women feel more comfortable reporting gender-based crime and domestic violence. Police
in these districts are trained to deal with such crimes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:11.25pt"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#007CB8">Earlier women were intimidated by the uniform and would hesitate to reach out to the police. But since they started interacting
with them as members of the network, they realized the police are the same as them – humans with emotions. Sita Singh, member of the GBV control network<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">“Earlier women were intimidated by the uniform and would hesitate to reach out to the police,” says Sita
Singh. “But since they started interacting with them as members of the network, they realized the police are the same as them – humans with emotions.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">This change in attitude has happened because the police have reached out to the communities they serve.
“The networks in each district run community awareness campaigns and preventative strategies to reduce violence and abuse, encourage reporting of cases to improve access to justice, and encourage confidence in the legal system,” says Kiran Rana, a police superintendent
in the Women and Children Service Directorate.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">“Our efforts are beginning to bear fruit. Reporting cases of gender-based violence has increased by more
than 46% in the districts with the program, indicating growing trust in the justice system,” Rana added.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:15.0pt"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#007CB8">These centers are really important as they can improve access to services and information for women and children affected
by violence. Rurik Marsden, Head of DFID in Nepal<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">The Bajhang facility where Harina reported the violence she suffered, is fairly typical. It is staffed
with women police officers and kept separate from other facilities. There are private spaces for interviews and counseling rooms where women who cannot return home immediately can stay for a few days.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">The project was initially piloted in five districts, backed by a $950,000 grant from the ADB-administered
Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction. To expand this project into 15 additional districts, the UK contributed $3.5 million in grants, while ADB’s Gender and Development Cooperation Fund contributed $300,000. The Government of Nepal contributed $380,000. Due to
its success, there are plans to extend the project throughout the country.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">“These centers are really important as they can improve access to services and information for women
and children affected by violence. They are also placed where civil society and people who work on violence can come together and better coordinate,” says Rurik Marsden, head of DFID in Nepal.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:11.25pt"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#007CB8">At one time we managed to stop a child marriage just as it was about to happen. We had to enter a very volatile community,
and this would not have been possible if we had not created a good rapport with civil society there through our network. Prabin Dhital, Head of Bajhang district police<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">But it has not been easy to convince women to report domestic abuse. Meena, who runs a popular FM radio
program and produces street theater, says she never misses an opportunity to drive home the message that domestic violence is a crime.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">“We are there to support women, not only on an emotional level, but also advise them on legal action,
if required,” she says.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">There have been wider community benefits to the GBV control network project. People’s confidence in the
police has risen by 60% in districts where the program is being implemented, according to a survey. Prabin Dhital is head of Bajhang district police. “At one time we managed to stop a child marriage just as it was about to happen,” he says. “We had to enter
a very volatile community, and this would not have been possible if we had not created a good rapport with civil society there through our network.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">“This was ADB’s first ever project in Nepal on domestic violence, a very important issue with serious
implications on society and the economy,” says ADB’s Country Director for Nepal Mukhtor Khamudkhanov. “We are glad to see that the program is helping to minimize and prevent violence against women and children in the districts where it is being implemented.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">Sita Singh says the network is changing social attitudes by giving women like Harina the confidence to
speak out against domestic violence.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">“It’s a long battle, but I feel we are in the right direction with our partnership with the police in
the fight against domestic violence,” she says.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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