Gender inequality in Nepal refers to disparities and inequalities between men and women in Nepal, a landlocked country in South Asia. Gender inequality is defined as unequal treatment and opportunities due to perceived differences based solely on issues of gender. Gender inequality is a major barrier for human development worldwide as gender is a determinant for the basis of discrimination in various spheres such as health, education, political representation, and labor markets. Although Nepal is modernizing and gender roles are changing, the traditionally patriarchal society creates systematic barriers to gender equality.

Global rankings According to the World Economic Forum, the 2016 Global Gender Index reveals that Nepal ranks 110th out of 144 countries on gender parity. Nepal score for this index is 0.661, with 1 representing gender parity. The United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) Gender Inequality Index gave Nepal a score of 0.497 in 2015 with 0 representing equality. In this index, which measures reproductive health, empowerment and economic status, Nepal ranks 115th out of 188 countries for gender equality. In addition, United Nations Women found that Nepal ranks 110th out of 145 countries in the Global Gender Gap Index.

Recent history

The People's War Recent political conflict in Nepal, known as the People's War from 1996 to 2006, was initiated by the Maoist Communist Party, the CPN-M, in opposition of the monarchy. Additional factors contributing to political conflict at this time were economic stagnation, high unemployment, poor education, impoverishment, continuing discrimination and an increasing gap between the elite and the rest of the country. The political infighting, corruption and slow progress drew in support from disenfranchised groups, including women, because the CPN-M promised to end the feudal monarchy, nationalize the state's resources and redistribute wealth. The CPN-M submitted a 40-point set of demands to the government in 1996, with one demand specifically calling for the equality of women: "Patriarchal exploitation and discrimination against women should be stopped. Daughters should be allowed access to paternal property."

The opposition became an insurgent movement, causing an armed conflict. The All Nepal Women's Association (Revolutionary) was formed through the CPN-M to organize grassroots campaigns against caste and gender discrimination throughout the war, encouraging women to become action oriented and participants in the insurgency. Many women believed that a struggle for democratic rights should also be a struggle for women's rights, demanding for legal equality, political participation and socioeconomic empowerment. Throughout the People's War, women were political activists and guerilla soldiers, making up 40 percent of the militia, as well as victims of sexual violence. After a decade of conflict, over 13,000 people died and over 200,000 were displaced.

The insurgency ended with the November 2006 Comprehensive Peace Agreement by the Government of Nepal and the CPN-M. Eventually, an interim government that included the Maoists was established. In December 2007, Nepal abolished the traditional monarchy and was declared a republic. When elections were held in April 2008, this was the first vote in Nepal for over nine years. CPN-M representatives won a majority of the seats, which qualified them as the largest party in the constitutional assembly at the time. The new constitutional assembly held in May 2008 officially ended the 240-year rule of monarchy in Nepal. An unprecedented number of women and people from marginalized communities won seats in this new constitutional assembly.

2015 Constitution The Constitution of Nepal 2015 was established in response to the decade-long conflict of the People's War, claiming that Nepal will adopt federalism. The ratification of the constitution was fast-tracked in order to fulfill a decade old peace commitment and focus on reconstruction in response to the 2015 Nepal Earthquake. The new document established the boundaries of seven states, but controversy surrounds whether Nepal should be ethnically delineated. Deependra Jha, a Supreme Court lawyer based in Kathmandu, claims that there is unequal representation of ethnic groups, stating that "the electoral system needs to be reformed. State No. 2, with a population of 5.4 million, and state No, 6, with a population of 1.5 million, will each have equal representation of eight seats. The hill-dominated political class has gerrymandered on boundary issues to ensure that Khas Arya, upper caste hill people, remain a majority in six out of seven federal states." In addition, parliament is now elected by a smaller proportional representation than before, 45 percent compared to 58 percent after the People's War. However, the proportional representation system has promoted equal representation of indigenous and low-caste groups get elected and the new constitution threatens equal representation.

In regards to women, the constitution denies the ability for women to pass citizenship onto their children, but men have virtually no barriers to pass citizenship onto their children. A foreign spouse of a Nepali man can obtain Nepali citizenship soon after the marriage; however, there is no such provision for foreign spouses of Nepali women. Thus, single Nepali women or those married to a foreign spouse are not able to pass citizenship onto their children, which creates a growing group of stateless children without guaranteed access to rights and privileges such as education and health care. Therefore, 2.1 million people will remain stateless in Nepal, and because of the new constitution, that number is expected to grow.

Economic inequalities

Occupational distribution

Although the population of working-age females in the country is higher than that of males, females still lag far behind when it comes to employment and the pay gap between the genders is also huge. Out of the total paid employees in Nepal, only 22 percent are women. Only 8.3 percent of women in the labor force are paid. Women disproportionally represent low skill occupations such as craft work and service work because of their high levels of illiteracy and few years of schooling. Families' gender stereotypes and cultural norms also shaped women's participation in labor markets. Men overrepresent employment in occupations that demand more education after primary school, such as technicians and engineers. Women represent around 12 percent of the population engage in migrant labor to places like the Gulf and Malaysia. Their limited mobility to work abroad is a product of historic and patriarchal ideas that women should remain in the household. The wage gap in Nepal is stark: women earn 60 percent of what men earn in formal economic sectors.

Nepal's major economic activity is agriculture, providing a livelihood for over 75 percent of the total population. Unless women work in agriculture, employment prospects for women in other sectors are limited. Furthermore, in recent years Nepal has been experiencing a feminization of agriculture. While men are increasingly moving into nonagricultural work or migrating to urban areas or outside of Nepal for employment, women are taking over agricultural activities traditional shared between men and women. Women constitute around 52 percent of Nepal's total population and around 75 to 80 percent of women are engaged in agriculture as their primary occupation. Regardless, only a fraction of these women are paid and the rest are self-employed by working on their families' subsistence farms.

Although workforce participation for women is low due to religious and traditional values, more women are entering the workforce because of improvements in education, later marriages, declining fertility rates, shifts in cultural attitudes toward women and economic needs.

Unpaid work

Unpaid work means the production of goods or services in a household or community that are not sold on a market such as child care, caring for the elderly, and housework. Women outperform men in unpaid work and all forms of labor in Nepal. On average, women spend four hours a day performing unpaid work, while men spend less than an hour. When considering all forms of labor, paid and unpaid, ActionAid found that Nepali women work 1.4 hours for every one hour worked by Nepali men. Because unpaid work is non-monetary and privatize labor in the household, it is difficult to quantify the economic contribution of such work; thus, unpaid work is typically seen as less valuable than paid labor.

Married women are typically more responsible for caring for their husband's parents than her own. Many Nepali women move in with their husband's parents after marriage and usually do not have say in the matter. Therefore, sons are viewed as security for their parents during old age while their wives are viewed as unpaid care takers. To prepare for their responsibilities after marriage, sons are then more likely to be sent to school in order to earn money for the future and daughters stay at home to perform housework. Such patriarchal norms lead to less female participation in household decision-making processes.

Education inequalities

School enrollment

Gender is the single strongest determinant of school participation among rural youth in Nepal. Furthermore, education inequality based on gender reflects social inequality in Nepal. Young girls are more likely to obtain less years of schooling than boys because their parents view their children's preparation for their adult marital roles differently based on gender. Women are expected to leave their families' household for their husbands' after marriage. Additionally, non-agricultural employment is more common for men than women and cultural traditions expect more domestic work to be fulfilled by women than men. High priority to boys' education is also attributed to the fact that girls have less time to do school work in order to complete their household chores. Girls are more likely to fail national examination than boys due to a difference in available time to study outside of class and, ultimately, are less likely to enroll in education after primary school. Therefore, young girls are less likely to receive a formal education. Families are also more likely to enroll sons in private schools and enroll daughters in public schools. It is not surprising then that there are less men who never attended school (23 percent) compared to women who never attended school (44 percent).CBS. 2012, National population and housing census. Kathmandu, National Planning Commission. UNESCO also found that 50 percent of students in primary school will drop out before secondary school. High drop out rates for females is mainly caused by child marriages. Too much schooling for women can also result in less marriage opportunities.

In addition to gender differences, there are also caste and ethnic differences in school participation and attrition from primary school. As in other major regions of South Asia, caste and ethnicity are closely linked to socioeconomic status. Studies show that caste stratification reflects education attainment. Thus, there are greater disparities in school enrollment for children from the poorest families than the richest families. Literacy rates are much lower for lower-caste families than higher-caste families. In addition, children from lower-castes are more likely to drop out of school than children from higher-castes.