A/HRC/12/34/Add.3 page 13 43. The previous imposition of a dominant State religion, Hinduism, has had discriminatory effects on indigenous peoples, whose cultural and religious traditions often have been marginalized or altogether suppressed. Even though Nepal was declared a secular State in 2006 and indigenous peoples are now granted linguistic and cultural rights in the Interim Constitution, the effects of the earlier system continue today. For instance, most official festivities align with the Hindu calendar, and a number of discriminatory regulations still persist such as the prohibition of cow-slaughtering, which leads to the prosecution of many indigenous individuals who have traditionally relied on cows for their subsistence or religious practices. 44. Until the adoption of the Interim Constitution, Nepali was the single language of governmental affairs, business and education. Despite the current constitutional protection, linguistic diversity is threatened, with various mother tongues of indigenous peoples endangered or on the verge of extinction. Although the Ministry of Education is now promoting the objective of multilingual education through various plans, many community members interviewed by the Special Rapporteur expressed concern that education in their mother tongues was not available for their children. In order to meet the Millennium Development Goals, Nepal has proclaimed free education at the primary level (grades I to V). Efforts to fulfil this objective are in place, but investment levels need to be sufficient to reach the most marginalized communities, including investment in scholarships, training of teachers speaking indigenous languages, and textbooks in indigenous languages. 4. Indigenous women 45. Positioned in a situation of double discrimination, indigenous women face particularly high levels of vulnerability and exclusion from representation in decision-making processes. In general, accurate data about indigenous women are scarce because their rate of inclusion in data collection is low and the data that exist are not disaggregated to reflect the particular situations of indigenous women. The data that are available show low levels of employment, with indigenous women normally occupying unskilled jobs in the informal sectors. They are often illiterate, which generally excludes them from most civil servant or formalized private sector positions. Indigenous women are particularly under-represented in decision-making structures, not only at the national level, but also at the local levels and within indigenous peoples’ own traditional systems of leadership and justice. 46. On a positive note, indigenous women leaders report a number of achievements in recent years, as the elections to the Constituent Assembly in April 2008 ensured broader representation of previously marginalized groups, including indigenous women. In addition, there is an increase in the availability of legal remedies for violence against women and the ability to file a claim for marital rape. But the widespread implementation of such advances still remains to be seen, and indigenous women expressed the view that they are still lacking in equal decision-making opportunity. The Special Rapporteur received various reports of alarming instances of domestic violence (both physical and psychological), rape and homicide, which to varying degrees seem to go unreported or unprosecuted. Suicide rates were reported to be high among indigenous women. There are also patterns of trafficking of indigenous women and girls. 47. A pervasive factor contributing to abuses against indigenous women is the structural patriarchy and male-dominated political system that has characterized Nepal. Dowry, child marriage, polygamy and polyandry, for example, are not new practices, nor do they occur