Kathmandu, February 24

Experts today said old forms of violence against girls and women were gradually decreasing and new forms of violence were emerging in society, hindering the physical and mental growth of adolescent girls.

Speaking at a workshop ‘Transforming Lives of Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Nepal’ organised by Nepal Institute for Social and Environmental Research today, Prof Puspa Ghimire from Gender Studies Department at Padma Kanya College said the patriarchal mindset earlier found only within a family has now become pervasive.

“The socio-cultural setup is gradually changing but new forms of challenges in the form of violence against women is emerging,” she said.

Sexual harassment in public transport, gang rape, acid attack, trafficking, exposure to pornography, sexual abuses through social networking sites, among other forms of violence, are increasing in our society.

“Adolescent girls are more vulnerable to such kinds of violence at present,” she said.

She also suggested to the government, NGO’s and other organisations to come up with a specific intervention programme.

She identified education, exposure to various forms of media, women’s movement in the past, government, civil society and other NGOs/INGOs movement as key drivers in empowering and uplifting the status of adolescent girls.

Shubha Kayastha, executive director of LOOM Nepal, said adolescent girls should find ways to bring a change within themselves and society on their own.

Adolescent girls namely Nirmala Singh from Sahajpur, World Vision beneficiary, Ganga Kimala from Chaumala, Women Development Programme beneficiary, and Saddikchya Rajbhandari from Kathmandu said they learnt a lot after participating in the training programmes.

Rajbhandari said, “I learnt communication skills by participating in the training programmes launched by various organisations.”