Abolition of Chhaupadi — Ending Menstrual Exile Huts in Nepal's Far- and Mid-Western Districts

Chhaupadi is a traditional practice in Nepal's Far-Western and Mid-Western regions that exiles menstruating women and girls to sheds or huts, based on beliefs that menstruation is impure. Despite a 2005 Supreme Court ban and 2017 criminalisation, it persisted widely in rural communities, with documented deaths from exposure, smoke inhalation, animal attacks and sexual assault.

Restless Development Nepal, funded by a USD 417,880 grant from the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women (administered by UN Women), aimed to shift community attitudes and practices around menstruation in Kailali and Doti districts between January 2015 and December 2017.

The project trained 404 peer volunteers, community leaders and traditional faith healers (dhami-jhankri) to engage communities directly.

It reached 45,990 women and girls (above a 28,000 target), plus 20,706 men and boys and 14,461 community leaders. Hut-sleeping during menstruation fell from 19.4% to 5.5%, belief among male community leaders that chhaupadi should end rose from 71% to 100%, and Restless Development's own retrospective reports an 84% reduction in restricted dairy access during menstruation.

A parallel government hut-demolition campaign in nearby Achham district, needing to be repeated through 2024 with 11.4% of households still using huts covertly, shows that community-based behaviour-change work is a necessary complement to legal bans and physical demolition, not a substitute.