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NEPAL - JOINT PRESS RELEASE

Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, Government of Nepal

Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights, Nepal

25 November 2009

Office of the Prime Minister and OHCHR jointly launch media campaign to raise awareness on violence against women

25 November, Kathmandu

The Office of the Prime Minister and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal (OHCHR), on the occasion of International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, have jointly launched a one minute television clip highlighting the violence against women who are alleged to be practicing witchcraft. This is one of the worst forms of violence against women in Nepal.

A large number of women alleged to be practicing witchcraft mostly in the rural Terai have been ill-treated, tortured, brutally beaten up, and forced to eat human excreta. Deeply-rooted in superstition and entrenched discriminatory practices especially widows, the violence against women allegedly involved in the practice of witchcraft is a gross human rights violation and a crime punishable under national and international human rights laws.

This television clip will be aired on Nepal Television for one month, starting this evening.

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