Nepali women and girls are vulnerable to violence at the hands of their husbands and in-laws. The key drivers of women’s vulnerability to violence against women and girls (VAWG) in the migrant communities of Nepal include gender inequitable norms, the lower position of young married women in the family, poor spousal and in-law relations, and poverty. In this context, working with the family has great potential to reduce violence and improve the conditions of women and girls.
Sammanit Jeevan for Teens is designed to develop teenagers’ communication skills, to support their understanding of gender norms and to improve their relationships with parents, friends and other relatives. The workshop series consists of eight sessions which will help teenagers to understand the gender norms that exist in their community and family and improve their communications skills. It will provide them with information about their sexual and reproductive health and help them develop their future goals and ways to achieve these, including improving future career prospects. (Also available in Nepali)
Sammanit Jeevan – EE & IGA Support Manual for Economic Empowerment and Income Generating Activity Support is a workshop series designed to promote families’ understanding of financial management of household budgets and strengthen household economies. Sammanit Jeevan – EE & IGA Support is a complementary manual to the Sammanit Jeevan – EE & IGA Support intervention designed to promote gender equity and harmonious partner and families’ relationships and reduce violence against women and girls in Nepal. (Also available in Nepali)
Sammanit Jeevan is a workshop series designed as a tool to help promote harmony within families and reduce violence. The workshop’s series of 10 sessions address questions of gender, relationships, family conflict, violence, communication, and relationship skills. When families have members that are unhappy or are abused, there is impact on other family members. When children are exposed to unhappy relationships or violence it can affect their relationships later in life. When there is conflict within a family it affects everyone. (Also available in Nepali)
This photo story is part of the Interventional Manual SAMMANIT JEEVAN (Living with Dignity) FOR TEENS, and is one of the sessions for raising awareness on prevention of child marriage.
My name is Parbati*, I am 24-years-old, married, and live in Kathekhola Rural Municipality in Baglung district. This is my story.
I have been married for four years and there are seven people in my family, I live with my in-laws, my husband and my two sons. Before marriage, I always worried about the kind of family I would be getting married into, but I was one of the lucky ones and my new family is very understanding and supportive.
Poverty is a key driver of intimate partner violence (IPV). Women living in poorer places with lower socio-economic status, higher food insecurity, and less access to education and work opportunities are more likely to experience IPV. In addition, women without economic and social resources find it harder to leave abusive relationships. To date, women’s economic empowerment interventions have been central to IPV prevention approaches. This evidence review, however, suggests that women’s involvement in economic interventions has mixed effects on their vulnerability to IPV and can in fact increase the risks of their experiencing IPV, especially in situations where women’s participation in paid economic activity is the exception to the norm. Evidence suggests that interventions that aim to increase women’s access to work need to focus simultaneously on socially empowering women and transforming community gender norms to maximize the positive impact of women’s work on women’s empowerment and help prevent VAWG.
Intersections between traditional gender norms, women’s economic conditions and exposure to violence against women and girls: formative research in migrant communities of Baglung district, Nepal. This report summarises the findings of the formative research phase of the ‘Sammanit Jeevan’ project, based on qualitative field research conducted in two villages in the Baglung district of Nepal. The research focused on the following key areas: