Digital Rights Nepal

Safer Digital Spaces: Understanding and Responding to Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV)

Digital Rights Nepal, in collaboration with Sancharika Samuha, is organizing an orientation session on "Safer Digital Spaces: Understanding and Responding to TFGBV."

This session is specially designed for women journalists and young digital rights advocates from Gandaki Province to strengthen their understanding of online gender-based violence and practical digital safety measures.

Topics to be covered:
* Understanding Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV)
* Major Forms of TFGBV
* Digital Safety & Digital Hygiene Tips

📅 Date: 20 July 2026
💻 Format: Online

Digital Rights Nepal (DRN), in collaboration with COCAP and other partner organizations, co-organized the National Conference on Human Rights Defenders on June 21–22. The conference brought together more than 150 participants from across Nepal, including human rights defenders, civil society organizations, the National Human Rights Commission, law enforcement agencies, government ministries, journalists, and other key stakeholders.

The conference provided an important platform for dialogue, advocacy, knowledge sharing, and collective action to strengthen the protection of human rights defenders and foster an enabling environment for their work across the country.

DRN actively contributed to the conference's thematic discussions. DRN Executive Director, Adv. Santosh Sigdel, joined the panel discussion, "Ink Under Siege: Journalists as Human Rights Defenders," facilitated by Advocacy Forum and HRJC. The session explored the threats and challenges faced by journalists, existing legal protections, and the way forward to safeguard journalists and press freedom.

DRN also facilitated a dedicated session on "Digital Safety and Online Harassment of Human Rights Defenders,"moderated by Adv. Sadichchha Silwal, Program Officer at DRN. The panel featured Mr. Yagya Prasad Adhikari, Joint Secretary, NHRC; Ms. Deepa Bhattarai, Inspector, Nepal Police Cyber Bureau; Adv. Anita Neupane Thapalia, Executive Director, LACC; and Ms. Nuva Rai, Program Coordinator, Body & Data. The discussion focused on the digital threats confronting human rights defenders, existing protection mechanisms, ongoing initiatives by different stakeholders, key challenges, and the way forward.

The conference also adopted a declaration that incorporates key digital rights priorities affecting human rights defenders, including online freedom of expression, the protection of digital civic space, and digital safety.

A sincere thank you to all experts, stakeholders, and partners who participated in the Validation Workshop on the Report on the Use and Impact of Digital Space in Nepal Election 2026, held on 15 June 2026.

The workshop provided an important platform to share the study’s key findings and foster discussions on how digital spaces are shaping Nepal’s electoral landscape. The valuable feedback, recommendations, and insights shared by participants will play a crucial role in refining and strengthening the final report.

We deeply appreciate the active engagement and contributions of everyone involved. The final report will be published and made publicly available soon.

Stay tuned!