From Digital Safety to Economic Power: How CP Nepal Marked the 16 Days of Activism in Nepal 💜📱

Executive Summary

To mark the global 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence (Nov 25 – Dec 10), Creating Possibilities Nepal (CP Nepal) led an integrated awareness campaign in Gadhwa Rural Municipality focused on digital safety, family engagement, youth empowerment, and women’s economic independence. Targeting marginalized and underprivileged groups, the initiative examined how responsible technology use and financial literacy can, together, prevent violence and promote equality in both digital and physical spaces.

Introduction

The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence is more than a symbolic campaign — it is a global movement to end all forms of violence against women and girls.

At Creating Possibilities Nepal (CP Nepal), we recognize that violence evolves with time. In a world increasingly shaped by digital connections, abuse too has found its way online. This understanding led us to embrace this year’s national theme:

“Let’s use technology wisely — End Gender-Based Violence.”

In Gadhwa Rural Municipality, where CP Nepal works closely with underprivileged families from the Tharu and other marginalized groups, digital literacy has become an urgent issue. For many illiterate or semi-literate women and youth, mobile phones are both a lifeline and a risk — essential for communication, but also exposing young girls to online exploitation, misinformation, and pressures that can even contribute to early marriage.

Through this campaign, CP Nepal sought to address these intertwined challenges — promoting safe technology use, strengthening family awareness, and advancing women’s economic empowerment as tools of prevention and protection.

Inspector Dabal Bahadur Bam, Chief of the Area Police Office in Gadhwa, highlighted the connection between domestic disputes and digital risks, including cybercrime and technology misuse, particularly affecting teenagers.

The Approach: From Awareness to Action

Over two weeks, CP Nepal implemented a multi-dimensional campaign addressing the root causes of gender-based violence across three critical domains:

1️⃣ The home – where values and power dynamics originate

2️⃣ The school – where awareness and digital habits form.

3️⃣ The economy – where empowerment transforms dependence into age

1. Engaging Men & Families: Breaking the Silence 🤝

Ending domestic violence requires engaging entire families — not just women. CP Nepal facilitated interactive community sessions with mothers’ groups and their husbands, encouraging shared dialogue on respect, rights, and responsibility.

• Legal Insight: Advocate Shubharaj Chaudhary simplified complex legal provisions, explaining justice mechanisms and the rights available to survivors.

• Law Enforcement Perspective: Inspector Dabal Bahadur Bam, Chief of the Area Police Office, Gadhwa, highlighted the intersection between domestic disputes and digital risks, including cybercrime and the misuse of technology.

Analytical Observation: Engaging men proved crucial. The discussions revealed that a lack of digital literacy and awareness among both genders often perpetuates misunderstanding and conflict. Involving men in prevention efforts helped shift the conversation from blame to shared accountability for change.

Advocate Shubharaj Chaudhary is talking about legal provisions

2. Empowering Youth: Navigating the Digital World 💻

Adolescents today live as much online as offline — yet often without guidance on safety, rights, or self-respect. In collaboration with the Area Police Office Gadhwa, CP Nepal conducted Digital Safety and Gender-Based Violence Prevention training for its scholarship-supported students.

The training focused on:

• Cyber Safety: Understanding and reporting online harassment, bullying, and exploitation.

• Digital Literacy: Encouraging responsible use of the internet and social media.

• Health & Rights: Facilitator Sunita Chaudhary led powerful sessions on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), helping youth — particularly girls — challenge myths and claim their autonomy.

Analytical Observation: Field insights indicated that unmonitored phone use among adolescents, especially in rural areas, is indirectly contributing to rising child marriage and online manipulation. Providing correct information, digital skills, and safe spaces for discussion has proven to be a preventive mechanism against both online and real-world exploitation.

3. Economic Independence: The Shield Against Violence 💰

Economic dependence often traps women in cycles of abuse. To counter this, CP Nepal organized a Cooperative Education and Management Training focused on financial literacy, leadership, and transparent governance.

Facilitated by Ashok Kumar Yadav and Begam Gahtarai, participants learned about:

• Cooperative governance and accountability.

• Financial record-keeping and transparency.

• Leadership, collective decision-making, and solidarity.

Analytical Observation: Strengthening women’s roles in cooperative management not only enhanced their financial skills but also boosted their confidence to negotiate power and respect within families and communities. Economic empowerment, thus, became both a protection mechanism and a path to equality.

Why This Matters

Technology should be a pathway to opportunity, not a platform for exploitation. In the context of rural Nepal, where literacy gaps persist, and digital access expands rapidly, the intersection of technology, gender, and poverty demands urgent attention.

By integrating digital literacy, legal awareness, and economic empowerment, CP Nepal is building a holistic safety net for women and girls — one that protects their rights in both digital and physical spaces.

This initiative also demonstrates how local action can align with global advocacy, turning awareness into tangible transformation at the community level.

A Collective Effort

CP Nepal extends heartfelt appreciation to:

• Gadhwa Rural Municipality for its continuous partnership and coordination.

• The Area Police Office Gadhwa for technical support and community engagement.

• Our donors and supporters for making such initiatives possible.

• And most importantly, to the women, men, and youth who participated with openness, courage, and commitment to change.

Together, we are Creating Possibilities for a safer, smarter, and more equal Nepal. 💜