Editing Nepal (section)

===Society===
Traditional Nepali society is sometimes defined by social hierarchy. The [[Caste system in Nepal|Nepali caste system]] embodies much of the social stratification and many of the social restrictions found in South Asia. Social classes are defined by more than a hundred [[endogamous]] hereditary groups, often termed as ''[[jāti]]s'', or "castes". Nepal declared [[untouchability]] to be illegal in 1963<ref>{{cite book |last=Bista|first=Dor Bahadur|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JzFROpFVYRAC|title=Fatalism and Development: Nepal's Struggle for Modernization|date=1991|publisher=[[Orient Blackswan]]|isbn=978-81-250-0188-1|language=en|page=44}}</ref> and has since enacted other anti-discriminatory laws and social welfare initiatives. At the workplace and educational institutions in urban Nepal, caste-related identification has pretty much lost its importance.{{Citation needed|date=May 2022}}

Family values are important in the Nepali tradition, and multi-generational patriarchal joint families have been the norm in Nepal, though nuclear families are becoming common in urban areas. An overwhelming majority of Nepalis, with or without their consent, have [[Arranged marriage in the Indian subcontinent|their marriages arranged]] by their parents or other family elders. Marriage is thought to be for life, and the divorce rate is extremely low, with less than one in a thousand marriages ending in divorce.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Bala Ram|last=Acharya|year=2005|title=Sociological Analysis of Divorce: A Case Study from Pokhara, Nepal|url=https://www.nepjol.info/index.php/DSAJ/article/view/284|journal=[[Dhaulagiri Journal of Sociology and Anthropology]]|language=en|volume=1|pages=129–145|doi=10.3126/dsaj.v1i0.284|issn=1994-2672|doi-access=free|access-date=31 March 2020|archive-date=13 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813212247/https://www.nepjol.info/index.php/DSAJ/article/view/284|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Child marriage]]s are common, especially in rural areas; many women wed before reaching 18.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nepal.unfpa.org/en/node/15217|title=Child Marriage|date=30 December 2015|website=[[UNFPA]] Nepal|language=en|access-date=31 March 2020|archive-date=30 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830024316/https://nepal.unfpa.org/en/node/15217|url-status=dead}}</ref>
[[File:Teej.jpg|thumb|Women celebrating Haritalika [[Teej]] in Nepal]]
Many [[Public holidays in Nepal|Nepali festivals]] are religious in origin. The best known include: [[Gadhimai festival]], [[Dashain]], [[Tihar (festival)|Tihar]], [[Teej]], [[Chhath]], [[Maghi]], [[Sakela]], [[Holi]], and the [[Vaisakhi|Nepali new year]].

Gadhimai festival is a Hindu festival held every five years in Nepal at the [[Gadhimai Temple]] and has been described as ''the world's bloodiest festival''. The event involves large-scale slaughter of animals and birds, including buffaloes, goats, sheep, chickens, ducks, pigeons, pigs, rats and white mice, with the goal of pleasing goddess Gadhimai.<ref>{{Cite web|date=3 December 2019|title=World's 'largest animal sacrifice' begins in defiance of ban|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/gadhimai-hindu-festival-largest-animal-sacrifice-nepal-india-buffalo-a9230786.html|access-date=15 March 2021|website=The Independent|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Bariyarpur|first=AFP in|date=3 December 2019|title=World's 'largest animal sacrifice' starts in Nepal after ban ignored|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/02/worlds-largest-ritual-animal-slaughter-goes-ahead-despite-ban|access-date=15 March 2021|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Sharma |first=Bhadra |date=6 December 2019 |title=Nepal's Animal-Sacrifice Festival Slays On. But Activists Are Having an Effect. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/06/world/asia/nepal-animal-sacrifice-gadhimai.html |access-date=24 July 2021 |website=The New York Times |language=en-US}}</ref> Critics say the festival ritual is barbaric, unsanitary and wasteful, but Hindu devotees insist it has deep religious significance.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2019/12/03/world/gallery/gadhimai-festival-intl-hnk-scli/index.html|title=Mass animal sacrifice begins despite outcry from activists|date=4 December 2019 |publisher=CNN}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-50644035|title=Gadhimai: Nepal's animal sacrifice festival goes ahead despite 'ban'|date=3 December 2019 |publisher=BBC}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Power |first=Gabriel |title=What is Gadhimai festival and why is it so controversial? |url=https://www.theweek.co.uk/the-week-unwrapped/104702/what-is-the-gadhimai-festival-and-why-is-it-so-controversial |access-date=24 July 2021 |website=The Week UK |date=4 December 2019 |language=en}}</ref>

Dashain is a major Hindu religious festival in Nepal. Driven by the belief that offerings of fresh blood will appease goddess [[Durga]], thousands of buffaloes, goats, sheep, pigs, chickens and ducks are slaughtered during the festival. Numerous animal welfare activists have expressed their concerns over the issue of [[animal cruelty]] and mass slaughter. The Nepali government have tried to ban the filming of the animal sacrifices. An animal welfare group who witnessed the festival said "We have been violently and physically assaulted. Our equipment and cameras have been ripped from our hands and smashed into pieces." They also said they saw festival goers defecating in public and they had to walk among human faeces. In another case Nepali people carrying machetes chased animal welfare activists down the street.<ref>{{cite web |last=Criveller |first=Gianni |url=http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Buddhists-and-animal-rights-activists-against-animal-slaughter-for-Durga-32254.html |title=NEPAL Buddhists and animal rights activists against animal slaughter for Durga - Asia News |publisher=Asianews.it |access-date=11 November 2015 |archive-date=16 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160116020839/http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Buddhists-and-animal-rights-activists-against-animal-slaughter-for-Durga-32254.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Bibek Bhandari |url=http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1625292/animal-rights-activists-want-nepals-sacrifice-festival-stopped |title=Animal rights activists want Nepal's sacrifice festival stopped &#124; South China Morning Post |date=27 October 2014 |publisher=Scmp.com |access-date=11 November 2015 |archive-date=16 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160116020838/http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1625292/animal-rights-activists-want-nepals-sacrifice-festival-stopped |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.myrepublica.com/news/27990/|title=NFC starts selling goats for Dashain|work=My Republica|access-date=24 September 2017|language=en|archive-date=23 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170923194240/http://www.myrepublica.com/news/27990/|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Witch-hunts in Nepal|Witch-hunts]] are still occurring in Nepal in the twenty-first century. The victims are usually poor elderly women, free-spirited young women, widows,<ref name=af>{{cite web|url=https://asiafoundation.org/2012/08/08/legislating-against-witchcraft-accusations-in-nepal/|title=Legislating Against Witchcraft Accusations in Nepal|last1 =Fernandez|first1=Diana|last2=Thapa|first2=Kirti|date=8 August 2012|publisher=[[The Asia Foundation]]|access-date=7 July 2019}}</ref><ref name=wn>{{cite web|url=https://www.womenepal.org/womens-and-childrens-issues/witch-hunting/|title=Witch hunting|publisher=The Women's Foundation Nepal|year=2019|access-date=7 July 2019}}</ref> women of [[Caste system in Nepal|lower castes]], or any possible combination of the above.<ref name=la/><ref name=tkp/> The perpetrators are usually neighbours or residents of the same village, and occasionally family or close relatives. Politicians, teachers, police officers, army officers and other respected members of the community have also been implicated in various incidents.<ref>{{cite conference|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Do1Kl2OyQdgC&pg=PA280|book-title=Proceedings of the Second International Conference of the South Asian Society of Criminology and Victimology (SASCV)|editor1-first=K.|editor1-last=Jaishankar|editor2-first=N.|editor2-last=Ronel|date=2013|publisher=SASCV & Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University|pages=280–283|title=Demonological theory of crime: A study of witch accusation in Nepal|first=Binita|last=Pandey|isbn=9788190668750|location=[[Tirunelveli]], [[India]]|via=Google Books|access-date= 10 July 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2018-11-19/woman-73-beaten-fed-feces-on-witchcraft-charges-in-dhading.html | title=Woman, 73, tortured over witchcraft allegation }}</ref> Execution may be carried out by [[Death by burning|burning alive]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2012/02/18/world/asia/nepal-witchcraft-burning/index.html|title=Nepalese woman accused of witchcraft and burned alive|first=Manesh|last=Shrestha|newspaper=[[CNN]]|date=18 February 2012|access-date=7 July 2019}}</ref> Many victims succumb to their injuries from torture and assault. Non-murderous witch-hunts usually include beating and feeding of excrement.<ref name=la>{{cite news|url=https://international.la-croix.com/news/nepalese-teen-accused-of-witchcraft-tortured-for-5-hours/7209#|url-access=limited|title=Nepalese teen accused of witchcraft tortured for 5 hours|newspaper=[[La Croix International]]|last=Shahi|first=Pragati|date=22 March 2018|access-date=7 July 2019}}</ref><ref name=tkp>{{cite news|url=https://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/printedition/news/2018-03-28/which-is-witch.html|title=Which is witch|newspaper=[[The Kathmandu Post]]|date= 28 March 2018|last=Rana|first=Purna Kumar|access-date=7 July 2019}}</ref>