A/HRC/41/42/Add.2 I. Introduction 1. The Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Dubravka Šimonović, conducted an official visit to Nepal from 19 to 29 November 2018, at the invitation of the Government. The main focus of the visit was to assess the overall situation of violence against women in the country and to evaluate the efforts being made to eliminate violence against women, including through relevant laws, policies and services, and the obstacles faced in this regard. 2. The Special Rapporteur expresses her appreciation for the excellent cooperation extended to her by the Government before, throughout and after the visit. During the visit, the Special Rapporteur met with various government representatives, including representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens, the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Human Rights Division of the Nepal police. She met with the Attorney General, the Joint Secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, commissioners of the Law Commission and a principal female Supreme Court judge. In addition, she met with authorities representing the Government and other relevant stakeholders in Dhangadi (Province 7) and Nepalgunj (Province 5). 3. The Special Rapporteur visited two correctional facilities, including Nakkhu prison, and the women’s section of the central prison in Kathmandu. She also visited shelters for women fleeing violence in the various locations to which she travelled. 4. She met with the Chair of the National Human Rights Commission and convened meetings with a broad range of civil society organizations. 5. She is very grateful to the United Nations Resident Coordinator Office and the United Nations country team, as well as other relevant stakeholders, for their invaluable support in facilitating her visit. 6. She wishes to express her heartfelt thanks to all the victims who agreed to relate their personal and often traumatic experiences of violence and gender-based discrimination, allowing her to gain an insight into some of the systematic problems they face when it comes to gender-based violence against women and their right to live a life free from violence. II. General context 7. Over the past 20 years, Nepal has experienced profound political change, including the abolition of its monarchy in 2008, the appointment of the country’s first female President in 2015 and, more recently, its transition to a federal democratic State after 2017. The successful completion of local, provincial and federal elections in 2018 represented a significant turning point in the country’s recent political history and resulted in a record number of women representatives elected to office, including women from Dalit and indigenous communities. 8. Despite these positive steps, the Special Rapporteur’s visit highlighted the major challenges that the country still faces in eliminating violence against women and attaining gender equality in line with its new constitutional and international commitments. Indeed, many government officials and other stakeholders with whom the Special Rapporteur met recognized that violence against women is a disturbingly common occurrence that is deeply rooted in the mindset and patriarchal attitudes that exist throughout the country. Patriarchal social norms, as well as the persistence of discriminatory harmful practices, the normalization of violence and the social stigma attached to reporting violence, continue to pervade society at all levels, disproportionately affecting women and girls, in particular those from marginalized groups, who face intersecting and multiple forms of discrimination. 3