In the winter of 1998 WF began researching the situation of women in the Kailali district in the far western part of Nepal. This district is mostly rural, particularly ethnically diverse as it includes a range of terrain from the Terai to the Himalayas, and representative of the situation of many women in Nepal. A core research team made of WF members first developed a thorough questionnaire that addressed violence from mental and emotional torture, to abuse associated with menstruation, to spousal abuse with the help of other Nepali organizations who had also done large research studies. After a test distribution of the questionnaire and appropriate changes, the research team went to the Kailali district to meet with district officers and advisors to help them carry out their research.
They divided the district into regional categories and randomly chose villages to visit where they would give their questionnaires. With the help of translators, who had been trained in an orientation program run by WF, to read the questionnaires and record the women's answers, we amassed a large amount of data on the area. (Translators were necessary because almost all women in this district are illiterate and many do not speak much Nepali, but retain their native tongue.)
The findings show that violence in the Kailali district is widespread to the point where the women almost assume that they, or someone they know, will be the subject of violence. Many women have been violently beaten, and some have been driven to commit suicide. The report for this project has been released in Nepali but is currently being completed in English.