Khilendra Basnyat

Under a broad definition, violence against women includes women trafficking, rape, marital rape, incest, mental torment, gender discrimination, rough treatment of women, physical torture, verbal and sexual abuse. Generally, violence is an impediment to accomplish the objectives of quality, development and peace. It violates, impairs and nullifies human rights and basic freedoms.
Since time immemorial, violence against women is proving to be an effective weapon in the hands of men through which they can exploit women and establish their supremacy. It is unseen and perpetuated; it is insidious but a pervasive instrument of oppression of women.
The abuse of women by their male partners is among the most pervasive and dangerous forms of gender-based violence which causes problems such as anxiety, depression and sleeplessness. It generates extreme state of dependency and severe symptoms that comprise the traumatic stress disorders experienced by the victims of violence.
Men, who engage in wife abuse, are more likely to have a history of alcohol and of witnessing physical abuse in the family as children. However, it was discovered from research that not all men violently attack their wives when they drink alcohol. A research has also shown that unemployed and lower income men abuse their wives more than employed and higher income men do. Actually, frustration or stress might explain why unemployed and blue collar workers have higher rate of violence than others.
The patriarchal thought of society is still in vogue in many countries especially in developing and least developed ones. Such thought gives men higher value than women. In such type of thought, it is taken for granted that men should dominate women in all sectors including family life and interpersonal relationship. Such thought is still found as normal and natural in various aspects of modern society. In recent times also, failure to protect violence against women has been a matter of great concern to most countries. Actually, in order to confront violence in a patriarchal society, women should be able to use their own discretion and strength continuously.
Still now, in many countries low enrollment of girls in schools, high level of failure and dropout rates are generally attributed to household work burden, irregularity of school operation, poverty, physical distance to school, caste and ethnic discrimination, negligence of mother tongue in schooling and their parents' disinclination towards education. This is why the literacy rate of women is still low in these countries.
Actually, most evils that beset the world today are the consequences of inequality the women find themselves in exploitation and abuse of their rights by women themselves. When gender biases favour males, there is the necessity of specific approaches to eradicate the special barriers that prevent girls from enjoying educational opportunities. In this context, the propagation of formal and non-formal education is of immense importance. Moreover, mass media, both audio and print materials, should play a significant role to keep the public informed about the enormity and proportion of this inhuman problem.