With a total of 34 Participants, a 3 days workshop was held at Peace Point Boarding school, Mid Baneshwor, Kathmandu on16th,17th and 18th of February 2025 proving to be insightful, informative and transformative as well as engaging for empowerment and social change for all the participants.
16th February marks the opening of the training with an Ice breaking session where all the sessions were led by Ms. Neha Das on gender and sexuality. The discussion covered deep rooted traditions and systems that creates inequality between female and male, social exclusion, gender stereotypes, and structural inequalities, enabling deeper reflection and dialogue. The session further explored gender-based oppression, highlighting lived experiences of patriarchal norms, marital struggles, and social stigma surrounding menstruation. An environment of discussion opened up participants suffering such as lack of freedom, a responsibility to nurture and upbring the children through quality of life, oppression and discrimination from the society.
“I would prefer to be born as a bird so that I won't be tied up to anyone and anywhere and I can fly freely.” A participant perspective during the discussion on the following topic.
The further sessions examined the intersection of GBV, health, and nutrition. The session highlighted the importance of health, causes of stress, intake of healthy diet, the necessity to balance personal and private life. A captivating activity where the participants have to mark in a body poster where whey have more problem. The majority of the people indicated Brain, back pain and vagina. The facilitator creatively engaged participants as well as provided remedies for the problems as well as technique to mitigate it.
With a previous day recap, the session move further on 2nd day i.e. 17th February. The first session provided a comprehensive overview of HIV/AIDS and sexual violence, emphasizing their links to gender inequality. An interactive ice-breaking activity using chart games illustrated modes of HIV transmission. Myths and misconception regarding HIV/ Aids were clarified. The session also covered the challenges faced by transgender individuals, particularly regarding discrimination and the risk of HIV transmission within the LGBTQ+ community. The facilitator stressed the importance of self-advocacy and awareness of legal protections as well.
The afternoon session shifts on Legal frameworks addressing GBV which was facilitated by our legal expert DPS Mrs.Kopila Chudal of Kathmandu Metropolitan city. She provided the informative session regarding legal framework in the context of Nepal as per the queries of participants.
The final day of the training, 18th February was all about Advocacy, referral mechanism, and Survivor-Centered Services. The session began with energetic balloon activity to connect them with their young version.
Yoga and Mediator instructor Mrs.Benju Thapa provided a session to highlight the importance of Yoga and mediation in one’s life. The facilitator engaged the participants in different yoga practice that will keep them healthy and reduce different health problems. Singing bowl session was included where participants were relaxing and enjoying the inner peace.
The afternoon session turned the table towards Referral mechanism which was led by Mrs.Sadikshya Parajuli. In a comprehensive manner she highlighted what is OCMC, What is it’s objects, their target group, service they provide, treatment support, major work area, how it operates in an engaging slides. She shared the real life cases that she had deal in her work maintaining the privacy of victim.
On the ending note she requested all the participants to visit OCMC if any kind of problem related to Gender arises and she also requested to share the information with others so that the one who needs the service gets it.
The training concluded on a note of empowerment and solidarity, equipping participants with the knowledge and tools necessary to challenge gender-based violence and support survivors effectively.