Outreach for Women and Girls in Post-Quake Nepal

Over the past few months, Aura Freedom’s Outreach program has successfully supported hundreds of vulnerable girls and women. This support has come in several forms.

The backbone and core components of Outreach are education and awareness. These sessions are delivered on a daily basis and are aimed at informing women and girls on their human and legal rights – something many of them are hearing about for the first time.

Key topics include violence against women, gender equality, reproductive and sexual health, and harmful cultural practices, particularly witch-blaming, polygamy, and child marriage. Simply by learning about these rights to which they are entitled, these women have become empowered to demand respect, humanity, and justice.

Trauma counselling is another powerful, significant Outreach activity. Also done daily, counselling is a relatively new service in this region of Nepal, and the need is great – especially for women and girls suffering from violence and abuse. For the first time, with the help of our highly skilled counsellor, they have a safe space to open up, come forward with their stories, and begin their healing process on their own terms.

This program also provides local women with service referrals. In cases when a woman is in need of specialized health or legal assistance, they can easily be referred to the appropriate professional through Outreach. This process is facilitated by the positive working relationships our staff have developed with various stakeholders throughout the communities.

With all of these activities in place, our Outreach program has already begun to create lasting change and transform the lives of countless local women.

Take Sujaya, for instance (photo below). Sujaya is a mother of two. Recently, her husband married a second wife, abandoning both her and their children. Polygamy is a common practice in Nepal.

But Sujaya is a warrior.

With the help of Aura Freedom's Outreach program, she learned about polygamy and filed a case against her husband. Sujaya was successful, gaining full legal ownership of her land along with government compensation. She also secured her own citizenship and a birth certificate for her daughter.

However, for Sujaya, the greatest victory of all is the confidence and strength she now has to fearlessly tackle any obstacle standing in her way. Your donations continue to make this possible for Sujaya and for so many others. It is the difference between a life of violence and isolation, and one of peace and opportunity.

Thank you for your support. Stay tuned for upcoming stories on more women like Sujaya!