Nepal authorities should instead ensure full monitoring and accountability of recruitment agencies in the country. At the same time governments in the Gulf should adopt long overdue labour protections and immigration reforms, the rights group said.
It asked the Nepali government to improve training of migrant workers, to monitor recruitment agencies rigorously, and to ensure migrant women know where to get help if they need it.
Nepal's cabinet on August 9 approved a ban on women under the age of 30 from travelling to the Gulf for work.
The ban is a response to several publicised cases of abuse of Nepali domestic workers, including long work hours, unpaid wages, and in some cases physical or sexual abuse.
This recent move comes two years after Nepal lifted a 12-year ban on any women working in Middle Eastern countries.
"Nepal is right to be concerned about its migrant domestic workers, but imposing a ban on women under 30 from travelling to the Gulf does not solve the problem and discriminates against young women," senior women's rights researcher at Human Rights Watch Nisha Varia said.
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"A better strategy would be to crack down on abusive recruitment practices, ensure that women migrate with an enforceable contract in hand, and equip embassies to respond quickly to complaints of abuse," Varia said.
Official Nepali emigration figures state that as many as 1,000 migrants pass daily through Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu; many others leave by land through the porous Indian border.
A ban on work in the Gulf may drive women, desperate for work, to migrate through irregular channels, putting them at greater risk of exploitation and trafficking, Human Rights Watch said.