In the the quiet corners of Dipayal, Silgadi and Purbichauki in Doti district in Sudurpaschim Province, a group of teenagers is learning to ask difficult questions.
Not in a classroom with grades, but in Rupantaran [meaning transformation in Nepali] sessions which are safe, reflective spaces where change begins not with protest, but with understanding.
Rupantaran classes are part of a broader movement to challenge harmful practices like child marriage, chhaupadi, and caste-based discrimination. These classes aren't just about information; they're about identity.
Who are we? What do we deserve? What are we willing to question?
Sometimes, these questions meet resistance.
Like when Hira, 14 years old, and Jun, 15 years old, eloped. They had met at a local cultural event, drawn together by the energy of adolescence and the promise of something more. But their decision ran counter to Nepal’s laws, and more importantly, it challenged the very lessons Hira had been learning in her Rupantaran class.
It wasn’t that she didn’t know better. She did. The sessions had opened her eyes to the realities of early marriage; the risks, the consequences, the stolen potential. But knowing isn’t always enough. And when love feels urgent, even the clearest messages can blur.
Her Rupantaran classmates tried to intervene. They reached out, reasoned, offered help. But neither Hira nor Jun would budge. The community too -parents, neighbors, elders stood by in silence. Some out of confusion, others out of fear of confrontation.
That’s when the Rupantaran members did something unusual for young people: they refused to let it go. They reached out to the District Police Office, local ward representatives, and community leaders. Not to punish, but to protect.
In the days that followed, a quiet reckoning took place. The families of both adolescents acknowledged their mistake. The children were counseled. And slowly, with the guidance of local authorities and the insistence of their peers, Hira and Jun returned to school. Together, but not as husband and wife.
“Everyone says our ward is child-marriage-free,” says 17-year-old Bishna Luhar, a Rupantaran participant. “But unless we’re serious about it, unless the whole community is ready to speak up, it’s just a label. What happened made us more aware. It made us stronger.”
It’s not a perfect ending. But it’s an honest one. It speaks to the messiness of real change—the kind that doesn’t happen overnight, but in moments of courage, conversation, and collective action.
Social behaviours often take time to change, but with the right support from peers, persons with authority, and members of the society, it is gradually possible. Empowered Women Prosperous Nepal funded by the European Union and implemented by UNFPA with partner UN agencies – ILO, UNICEF, and UNWOMEN and other implementing partners strives to do just that – try to change mindsets so that every young girl can secure an empowered future free from violence, not just dream about it.
