KATHMANDU, Dec 5: Stakeholders have said that the role of religious teachers is important for controlling violence against women.
During a 16-day campaign against gender violence, National Inter-religious Network held an interaction program with religious gurus and stakeholders. The discussion concluded that the role of stakeholders is important for changing other traditional beliefs in the society along with violence against women.
Sarmila Bhattarai, spokesperson of the National Commission for Women, said during the interaction program that the role of religious leaders is important in controlling violence against women as the society listens to the religious leaders. She said that public awareness about violence against women has not yet reached in villages and women are forced to endure violence. She said that the commission has been helping women who are facing violence and will continue to do so effectively in the coming days.
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Kalpana Acharya of the National Human Rights Commission said that the commission is working with various agencies to end violence against women and religious gurus also have a role in that campaign. He said that parents and families have a big hand in controlling violence in the society. She mentioned that religious gurus need to work together with other stakeholders to control this kind of violence.
Maheshwari Bista, head of the women's development wing of Lalitpur Metropolis, said that our our society considers what religious gurus say as sacred, and if such gurus speak on topic of violence against women, violence can be controlled. Sharing her experience, Bista said that there is still a lack of awareness about what violence is and that violence happens even in well-to-do and well-educated families.
Deepak Acharya, manager of the Community Radio Broadcasting Association, said that the media is raising issues from its own place to end violence against women and has also engaged religious leaders in recent days. Stating that the role of religious guru is important to control violence, he said that the media should prioritize such issues in the coming days.
Nanda Tamrakar, secretary of a Lalitpur-based non-governmental organization, said that religious gurus need to see what the state and concerned agencies do not see. She said that while discussing gender violence, reproductive health should also be linked to it.
Dr Sreejana Kuwar, head of the One-door Crisis Management Center, Patan, said that since women who have been subjected to violence come out only at the last moment, they should act in advance to prevent that situation from happening.
Other people participating in the program said that there are various forms of violence in the name of religion in the society and the religious gurus have an important role to control them. National Interreligious Nepal has been working with religious gurus to control violence in the society.
