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Nuns from the Drukpa lineage of Buddhism are known for their strength, athletic ability and humanitarian relief work. By example, they are teaching conservative villages that girls should be nurtured and supported.
In Nepal, many women still turn to clandestine abortions – via pills sold at pharmacies – rather than visiting doctors for legal procedures. The government and NGOs are now educating pharmacists on how to offer women safer abortions.
In the month of August alone, India has banned instant divorce, Jordan and Lebanon have ended “marry-your-rapist” laws, Chile has lifted its total abortion ban and Nepal has outlawed menstrual discrimination.
Nepal has banned the practice of banishing menstruating women and girls to sheds. Activists have welcomed the new law, but say there is more work to be done to change people’s minds about the tradition, which has led to a number of deaths in recent years.
In Nepal, thousands of women who work in massage parlors, dance bars and live-entertainment restaurants are at a high risk of sexual exploitation. One charity is trying to help women escape this trap – and prevent others from getting into it.
As counselors for the Meri Saathi helpline, midwife Hima Mishra and her team field hundreds of calls a day from people with questions about sex, pregnancy and abortion, helping to shed light on reproductive health rights in Nepal.
Heather Barr Senior Women’s Rights Researcher, Human Rights Watch
While researching child marriage in Nepal, Heather Barr of Human Rights Watch was struck by how little girls knew about family planning. To stop girls becoming young brides, she writes, they need to be empowered to control when – and if – they become mothers.
In Nepal, many children enter into so-called love marriages to escape desperate situations at home. But while these are marriages of choice, activists warn the damage to girls’ prospects is as bad as if they had been forced to marry.
Last year’s 7.8-magnitude earthquake destroyed 600,000 homes in Nepal, leaving many families homeless. The disaster had the biggest impact on women like Lari Tamang, who now have to care for their families in hastily built, temporary one-room tin shacks.
Claire Rogers Research Advisor, Nepal Program of Marie Stopes International
Jaya Dantas Professor of International Health, Curtin University, Western Australia
Shilpa Lohani Public Health Professional
After Nepal’s devastating earthquakes last year, the nation was embroiled in a border conflict with India. Health experts Claire Rogers, Jaya Dantas and Shilpa Lohani explain how these events continue to impact the sexual and reproductive health of Nepali women.
Deaths of babies in their first month of life have been considered an intractable problem – but it’s one that could be prevented by an easy-to-use, inexpensive, everyday antiseptic that’s found in mouthwash.
In Nepal, the stigma surrounding the “time of the month” often means girls are kept apart from their families. In this photo essay, seven girls from a rural district document their lives during their periods.
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