Organized by WOREC Nepal:

 Facilitated by Sunita Mainali; Executive Director of WOREC

   13 April 2026 (30 Chaitra 2082BS)

Executive Summary

This report documents the proceedings of a virtual panel discussion organized by the Women’s Rehabilitation Centre (WOREC) Nepal, focused on the intersection of digital platforms, democracy, and gender-based violence. The discussion brought together a researcher and feminist activist, a journalist, an artist-activist, and a legal practitioner, each offering a distinct vantage point on an increasingly urgent concern: the systematic use of online spaces to silence, shame, and surveil women and marginalized communities in Nepal.

The discussion surfaced a pattern that extends well beyond individual incidents of online harassment. Panelists documented how the same power structures that constrain women’s participation in public life politically, socially, and culturally are now finding potent expression in digital spaces. The mechanisms differ; the intent does not. Whether through coordinated trolling of women politicians, the circulation of manipulated videos, or the routine dismissal of women’s intellectual contributions as fodder for body-based commentary, these acts share a common logic: to establish the terms on which women may, or may not, speak.

The panelists called for digital violence to be treated as a state emergency, and for a feminist movement that is as active and organized in digital spaces as it is in physical ones.

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Over the decades, the feminist movements have demanded space for women in public spaces in contrast to traditional norms of women (ActionAid, 2019). However, poor infrastructure, lack of policing, and unplanned urbanization increased the risk of women, girls, and SGM experiencing forms of violence, due to which women, girls, and SGM experience sexual harassment and other forms of violence in public spaces – on streets, means of transport, and even schools and offices – regularly. Harassment and intimidation in public places such as schools and workplaces, eve-teasing, and online harassment are someways women, girls, and SGMs are violated in public spaces. Thus, it is imperative that these spaces must be critically scrutinized to protect and promote women’s, girls’, and SGM’s rights since such experiences impact their physical and mental well-being and hinder their professional lives. Furthermore, it is also essential to deconstruct gender identities, roles, and the need to decipher the impact of masculinity, femininity, and SGM identities on societal norms and values.

However, public spaces do not just function as a site of violence but can serve as a space for resistance and aid in preventing GBV. Therefore, the existing conditions of public spaces must be studied to better inform the relevant bodies (various service and security providers, policymakers, and the larger community) and develop approaches to respond to and prevent violence against women and girls in public spaces