Kathmandu, Balatkaar birudh rashtriya abhiyaan. Nationwide campaign against rape, led by women human rights defenders, has begun from Sunday. The campaign that would go on till December 10 would primarily make efforts to amend rape related laws and establish fast track court to deal with rape cases. A rally with people chanting slogans and carrying placards was taken out from Ratnapark to Basantapur. Most of the placards said: “Real men don´t resort to rape. Those who do it are cowards.” According to Dr Renu Raj Bhandari, president of National Alliance of Women Human Rights Defenders (NAWHRD), it is very important to amend the laws regarding sexual violence against women without further delay. Currently, the law slaps a man with 8 to 12 years of imprisonment for raping 14 to 16 year old girl, 5 to 8 years of imprisonment for doing it against 16 to 20 year-old, and just 5 to 7 years of jail term when the victim is above 20 years of age. Similarly, raping someone below 10 years of age fetches a convict 10 to 15 years of jail term. However, if victims fail to file case against perpetrators within 35 days, the case is not pursued by the law. “Data says that three women get raped in the country every two days and the truth is only few rape cases are reported. If we are serious about the issue, we all need to come forward to challenge it while the state must amend the laws and implement it strictly,” Raj Bhandari said. Several NGOs across the country would join the campaign led by NAWHRD to make it effective, she added.