Just few months ago the government of Nepal issued a statement that they would be banning the distribution and broadcasting of pornographic content through any medium including though websites. As per the statement, it was an act against the increasing women violence in the country in forms of sexual harassment and rape. Since then more than 24,000 of such websites has been blocked by the ISP as per the order of the government.

Data reveals an alarming increasing in cases of rapes in Nepal. About 60 percent of rape victims are found to be children of below 16. There were numerous reports of rape, acid attacks and violence, some severe than other. However the one that caught the most attention was the case of a 13 year old girl who was raped and murdered. It triggered mass movement all across the country and the hastag #justicefornirmala was trending.

So is porn the root cause of all these violence?

It is purely speculative decision by the government to ban porn to fight against women violence. Like most decisions by the government of Nepal, this one too was carried out without proper consulting from the experts and research. Many have even mentioned that it’s just a diversionary tactic of the government to cover up its incompetence to catch the criminals.

The banning of the porn websites violates our right towards access of information on internet. In 2015, the government of India attempted to ban porn websites but had to quickly uplift it due to public outrage and concerns about free expression. I am not saying that watching porn will prevent sex crimes either. What is worth to note that there isn’t definite connection between the two of them. What is clear that the root cause of the rape is not the consumption of porn. It is due to lack of education, awareness, empowerment, encouragement. It is due to the inability of the government to give justice where needed and not giving severe punishments to such horrendous crimes. The country where rich can bribe and get away with anything is to be blamed.

A lot of people are against this rule not because that they are fond of porn, but because of the fact the government clearly missed the actual thing that needs to be done, and that is to provide justice to the victims and prevent such thing from happening in the future.

Women should i be empowered and taught to be cautious. They should be taught to speak up if they face any kind of harassment. Many of the rape cases are not reported because they are afraid to face society. Not reporting will escalate the situation further. We can understand that it is unfair for the women to walk around carefree, however, it is advisable that women take certain precautions in order to prevent such things happening to them.