A/HRC/41/42/Add.2 to monitor the implementation of the recommendations made by the Commission on the Investigation of Disappeared Persons and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. 26. The Special Rapporteur noted through her interactions with the various institutions that, as highlighted by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (see CEDAW/C/NPL/CO/6, paras. 12 (b)–(c)), there is limited coordination and a distinct disconnect between the National Women’s Commission, the Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens, the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development and the Ministry for Social Development in their efforts to promote gender equality, while the lack of adequate capacity-building, expertise and resources at the local government level is a barrier to addressing the needs of victims of gender-based violence. V. Manifestations of violence against women, its causes and consequences 27. Violence against women in Nepal is pervasive, occurring in both the private and the public spheres throughout the country, and is further compounded by the persistence of entrenched patriarchal attitudes, gender stereotypes and harmful practices. 28. According to data received by the Special Rapporteur, 149 people, 140 of them female, were killed in incidents of gender-based violence in 2017. Of them, 75 women were killed in intimate partner or domestic violence. This means that, of the 446 total killings in 2017, one third can be attributed directly to gender-based violence, making it the leading identifiable trigger for violent deaths in Nepal that year.3 However, the full extent of the problem certainly exceeds these estimations, in particular as there is no national collection of comparable data on different forms of violence against women, including data on gender-related killings of women or femicide and/or suicides of women, and it is likely that many instances of violence go unreported and unpunished. 29. Despite the adoption in 2009 of the Domestic Violence (Offence and Punishment) Act, domestic violence continues to permeate society. In the first quarter of 2018, there was a spike in gender-based violence against women compared with the final quarter of 2017, with the number of cases doubling from 125 to 251, making up the largest proportion of all recorded violent incidents. 4 Domestic violence was the second most common form of gender-based violence against women, resulting in 24 deaths. 5 Domestic violence, including physical, sexual and psychological abuse, is still considered a private matter and not an issue of public concern in most parts of the country. The incidence of domestic violence is still underreported, owing in part to the lack of public awareness about this societal problem, fear of retaliation and stigmatization, the lack of trust in law enforcement agencies and the low quality of existing services and protection mechanisms for victims of violence. According to the demographic and health survey of Nepal of 2016, the lack of coordinated, gender-friendly and comprehensive essential services for survivors of violence against women has led to a high level of impunity for perpetrators, with 66 per cent of women who have experienced any type of physical or sexual violence opting not to seek help of any kind.6 30. The Special Rapporteur was informed that, despite the increasing attention paid to violence against women, sexual violence, both within and outside the context of domestic and family violence, has become less visible in the combating violence against women agenda and related developments in policy and practice. 3 4 5 6 See www.nepalmonitor.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/CM-GESI-Monitoring-Report-2017Eng.pdf. Collective Campaign for Peace, “The Nepal peace monitor: annual review 2017”, October 2018. Nepal Peace Monitoring Project, “Trends of violence and contestation in Nepal”, sixth quarterly report, April–June 2018. Available at www.nepalmonitor.org/blog/wp-content/ uploads/2018/09/Sixth-Quarterly-Report.pdf. See www.dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/fr336/fr336.pdf. 7