Help Stop Violence Against Women in Nepal

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a significant public health issue that affects 1 in 3 women globally1 and approximately 32% of Nepali women in their lifetime, and yet little is still know about what kind of interventions work to prevent IPV.

Change Starts at Home was created to address this.  Focused on an innovative radio program, an interactive voice response (IVR) platform and weekly group meetings, the intervention is using media and peer to peer support to address social norms, attitudes and behaviours that perpetuate women and girls’ low status in Nepal.

The impact of the project is being rigorously evaluated using a Randomised Control Trial to examine potential pathways of change and over the three years, we hope to identify what works and how when tackling IPV through media. The result will be tested activities that are effective, replicable and scalable creating a change in the status of women and girls that can be sustained over time.

The project is the first of its kind in Nepal to take a multi-pronged approach to IPV, working simultaneously with couples, families and community leaders to drive a change in community attitudes towards violence against women and girls.

Whilst the project’s main objective is to give married couples the knowledge, skills and space to safely address power imbalances in their relationships, the impact is reinforced by activities that aim to bring couples and their family members and community leaders together in a movement to change social attitudes and practices towards girls and women in Nepal.

Although there have been vast social and political advancements in Nepal, the country still remains one of the poorest countries of the world. Many Nepalis live on $1 per day or less and have limited skills to sustain themselves or their families.

The majority of Nepal’s population lacks access to the internet, telephones or electricity. With high levels of print illiteracy, Nepal’s dominant form of communication is oral tradition, which communities have utilized for thousands of years. Recent political changes and the end of the monarchy provide new opportunities for civic participation in the “New Nepal”.

Equal Access produces multiple award-winning radio series that empower listeners with critically needed information about early childhood development, youth issues, sustainable livelihoods, women’s rights, education, HIV/AIDS prevention, reproductive health, safe migration and peacebuilding. A recent survey by AC Nielsen indicates that an aggregate audience of 9 million Nepalis (over 30% of the population) listens to Equal Access programs on a weekly basis.

Moreover, Equal Access manages leadership training and support for community radio producers and reporters, NGO workers, youth educators and other community-based leaders to build the capacity of large numbers of rural Nepalis to advocate for change at their local level.