A/HRC/16/23 case-based research and analysis of patterns and international law relevant to unlawful killings, disappearances, torture and sexual violence. V. The fight against discrimination A. General overview 41. There continue to be considerable gaps in the enforcement and implementation of anti-discrimination laws; marginalized groups, including the Dalit4 caste, and victims of gender-based violence face many obstacles to access justice. Caste-based and ethnicitybased discrimination in Nepal is broadly recognized as one of the root causes of the 10-year conflict, and such practices persist throughout Nepali society, particularly in less developed and more remote areas. The Government reports that it has increased expenditure on social measures at the local government level and implemented awareness-raising programmes in addition to enforcing legal safeguards. Nevertheless, Dalits are often denied access to vital resources, such as public water taps, and to temples and other public places. Occupational segregation impairs Dalits’ access to employment, restricting them to traditionally assigned jobs and creating societal bars to alternative employment. Those who oppose the practices not only face the risk of being further ostracized, but are also subjected to acts of violence. OHCHR-Nepal has catalogued examples of physical assaults, arson, forced displacement, sexual violence and labour exploitation targeting individuals who have opposed such traditional discriminatory practices. 42. Sexual and gender-based violence also remain prevalent in Nepal. While the Government, civil society and other stakeholders are placing greater focus on these issues, a number of factors, including religious and cultural customs, discriminatory legal provisions and a patriarchal institutional approach to the status of women, inhibit access to justice. Consequently OHCHR-Nepal has found that many alleged cases of gender-based violence are not even reported to the authorities concerned, as victims, fearing rejection by their family and reprisals, are unwilling to register a complaint. 43. The lack of access to justice for victims of caste-based discrimination and sexual and gender-based violence is often a result of the failure by State authorities to treat criminal cases in the manner prescribed by law, and the propensity to resort to “mediation” processes outside the criminal justice system. Such an approach contributes to widespread impunity for the perpetrators of discriminatory acts. B. Institutional and structural challenges 1. Lack of access to justice: failure to treat offences as criminal acts 44. Under current laws, caste-based discrimination constitutes a criminal offence, subject to imprisonment or fines, as do offences related to violence against women, including rape and the victimization of persons accused of practicing “witchcraft”. However, while discriminatory practices remain widespread across Nepal on grounds of caste, gender and sexuality, the paucity of prosecutions of these offences demonstrates both the lack of access to justice for victims and the failure on the part of State authorities, particularly the police, to adequately deal with such offences as crimes. 4 According to beliefs in Hindu culture, Dalits are considered to be “impure and polluting” and stigmatized as “untouchable”. 11