Radha Paudel

Radha is a nurse, author, activist, poet, and entrepreneur. More importantly, she is a survivor of war, sexual abuse, and menstrual restriction. She was born and raised, voiceless, in Chitwan and dedicated herself to educating, empowering and emancipating people in her same position, both in Nepal – especially west and central Nepal – and all around the world.

The specific thematic areas of her engagement are: women in peace and politics, gender-based violence, dignified menstruation, and disaster, and she has acted as a trainer, researcher, advocate and front-line server. She is the first woman in Nepal who advocated for dignified menstruations, safety in public transport and many other gender-based issues. She strongly advocates for equal citizenship, the stop of child marriage and the empowerment of Mahesh women. She founded and worked at more than a dozen organizations, and currently works at the Radha Paudel Foundation for transformation.

She has been campaigning for gender equality since childhood – for example, she left home during her first period in order to break all norms and was the one who put the first fire on pyre during her mother’s funeral. She is a role model in many ways. She quit her permanent government job and other luxuries jobs and has been constantly working as full time voluntarily since 2009.   

She has already published three books: Khalangama Hamala (Jumla in English and ready to publish in German) in 2013, Steps for Peace (Poems, 2018) and `Dignified Menstruation is everyone business (2018) and the Impure Blood, coming soon.  

In 2014, Radha became the third woman to receive the Madan Literature Prize for her book Khalangama Hamala, and was also recognized as an Innovative Social Worker.

 She holds a Bachelor Degree in Community Health Nursing and Master’s degrees in Health Education and Sociology (Tribhuvan University) and another one in Development Management (Asian Institute of Management). Currently, she is a Ph.D. Candidate at Tribhuvan University. She believes in a holistic approach of development for rural transformation through Miteri strategy because humans are not born by their choice at all. Miteri is a non-hierarchical, indigenous tool for peacebuilding and harmony that she and her foundation are implementing.

You can follow Radha on Twitter, Facebook and on her website.