‘We Help Each Other Survive’: Survivor leadership is building hope and safety for women in Nepal

Originally posted on the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women and Girls website

I was among 500 women who were rescued from a brothel in India in 1996 [...] Traffickers had told me I was going to Pokhara, but instead they took me to Delhi and locked me in a hotel. When the police raided the hotel, they were bribed to give us girls back.”

At 13 years old, Natisara Rai was twice trafficked and adrift for 6 months before she could return home. In Kathmandu, Natisara learned literacy skills at a rehabilitation center; within a few years, she set up a group to help women and girls who shared a similar experience.

Natisara’s path took an unexpected and difficult turn when she found out that she had contracted HIV.

“The doctor told me that I was only going to live for 5 years [...] When people knew about my status, they didn’t want to talk to me,”, she recalled, “but I still decided to continue to help other women like me.”

That is how Shakti Milan Samaj organization was born - a home for survivors like Natisara, and as a testament to her resilience and unwavering commitment to other women.

Lifeline and Tangible Support

Founded in 1996, Shakti Milan Samaj (SMS) has now grown to serve community members across multiple structurally marginalized populations, including women survivors of sex trafficking, wives of migrant workers, women working in the entertainment sector, and women living with HIV. SMS has achieved significant victories in advocacy, most notably their successful youth-led campaign for universal access to antiretroviral treatment (ART) and complementary medicine to address ART side effects. The organization is a key player in the National HIV and AIDS Federation, and has created a specialized network specifically supporting women and children living with HIV.

With a small grant from the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women and Girls (UN Trust Fund)[1], is scaling up its efforts to provide specific support to survivors of sex trafficking and those in the lowest income group, in Kathmandu and the Bagmati Province in Nepal.

Since inception, SMS has reached 400 women and girls living with HIV/AIDS (WLHA) through counselling and shelters, training and community dialogues. In addition, SMS has provided specialist services, including group and individual psychosocial counseling medical and ART adherence to 63 women and girls living with HIV, as well as food, medication, and shelter in safe homes for 11 girls. Family engagement has also grown: 44 family members attended structured dialogue sessions to foster empathy, mutual understanding, and reduce in-home violence—tracking toward a long-term target of 200 family units reached.

Building Capacity and Coalitions Amidst Challenges

SMS also works directly with service providers, government officers, and community members. In the last 6 months, SMS has coordinated several networks, convening cross-sector dialogue sessions with over 25 leaders from different sectors, including LGBTIQ collectives, the entertainment industry, sex workers, and women-led businesses, to address issues of violence against women and girls in Nepal.

In 2025, SMS is among countless smaller, community-based organizations affected by funding cuts and socio-political instability. Its unique access and trust point for community means that some of the most vulnerable women and girls will directly lose access to life-saving medications and services. However, SMS quickly adapts, ranging from smaller training groups to adding virtual counseling option, todeepening collaborations with healthcare professionals and dialogues with families and communities to strengthen a comprehensive support ecosystem for survivors and women and girls living with HIV.

"While the loss of certain funding streams has forced us to adapt, it has also strengthened our resolve to build more integrated, community-driven solutions that reflect the real needs of survivors.”, said Natisara.

Digital World: Promise and Peril

But in today’s world, violence seeps into communities through digital means. For women already marginalized by HIV, poverty, or trafficking, online violence carries devastating consequences, sometimes reopening old wounds.

“Some of our survivors have also faced online threats, including attempts to expose their or their children’s HIV status, and many don’t always recognize this as digital violence.”, said Natisara.

But just as they have done for decades, women’s rights organizations are responding — with ingenuity, care, and solidarity. SMS is now working to educate women about digital safety, teaching them how to recognize manipulation and protect their privacy online, and engaging youth to lead awareness campaigns to debunk misinformation about HIV/AIDS.

Looking ahead

Across Kathmandu and Bagmati Province, SMS’s presence not only means lifeline support to women and girls, but proof that small organizations are giving visibility to women’s realities. With each family meeting, each coalition, each counselling session that SMS facilitates, women’s lives are reimagined with hope and safety.

[1] Small Grants are currently provided to organizations managing annual operational budgets below USD 200,000, which are eligible for a UN Trust Fund grant of up to USD 150,000.