Comparative Study on Freedom and Mobility of Male and Female

Abstract

Sex is the biological origin and gender is the socially constructed terminology. On the basis of sex; concept of gender is developed by the society. The main objective of this study is to describe the status of freedom and mobility of male and female in selected ethnic groups of Nepal. Thestudy had adopted the cross-sectional descriptive design. Simple random sampling was used to select the respondents from five ethnic groups; Newar, Magar, Tamang, Rai/Limbu and Brahmin/Chhetri.  Result of this study shows that not more than 35% male and female of all ethnic groups had right to choose their life partners and around 2% experienced the sexual violence. Perceptually, around 60% believed that women should have equal right of free movement as men. Similarly, around 78% respondents said that women should involve in decision making process as men.  In conclusion, it can be said that because of the long history of social stratification and Hindu philosophy, equality of male and female is still questioned in Nepalese society. So, before doing advocacy of equality, approach of equity (need base approach) should be practiced.