Sapana Pradhan Malla ( Nepali: सपना प्रधान मल्ल) (born November 15, 1963 -) is a

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

ese Supreme Court Judge since August 1, 2016 and a former member of the

Nepalese Constituent Assembly The Second Constituent Assembly of Nepal, later converted to the Legislature Parliament ( ne, व्यवस्थापिका संसद), was a unicameral legislature of Nepal. It was elected in the 2013 Nepalese Constituent Assembly elec ...

. As a lawyer and politician, she is a well-known figure in Nepal due to her work to advance women's rights and increase inclusive language in the country's constitution. She is a former president of the Forum for Women, Law & Development. In 2008, she was a joint winner of the

Gruber Prize for Women’s Rights The Gruber Prize for Women's Rights, established in 2003, was one of five international prizes worth US$500,000 awarded by The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation, an American non-profit organization. The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation Wom ...

. Born in Nawalparasi district, Malla has a master's degree in Comparative Law from the

University of Delhi Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and is recognized as an Institute of Eminence (IoE) ...

. She also has a Mid-Career Masters from

Harvard Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the public policy school, school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in p ...

. She was a member of the

Committee Against Torture The Committee Against Torture (CAT) is a treaty body of human rights experts that monitors implementation of the United Nations Convention against Torture by state parties. The Committee is one of eight UN-linked human rights treaty bodies. Al ...

(CAT) 2014–2017 term.

Early life

Malla was born on November 15, 1963 in Nawal Parasi in Nepal.

Education

Malla received a master's degree in Comparative Law (MCL) from the University of Delhi, India in 1990 Mid Career Master in Public Administration dministration(MC/MPA) from Harvard University, USA and a bachelor's degree in, Law from

Tribhuvan University Tribhuvan University (TU; ne, त्रिभुवन विश्वविद्यालय) is a public university located in Kirtipur, Kathmandu. Established in 1959, TU is the oldest university in Nepal. In terms of enrollment, it is t ...

in Kathmandu, Nepal in 1987.

Career

Malla served as a member of the Nepalese Constituent Assembly, or parliament, from May 2008 to May 2012, during which time she advocated for women's rights in all areas—from

reproductive rights Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to reproduction and reproductive health that vary amongst countries around the world. The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights as follows: Reproductive rights rest on t ...

to citizenship. When asked about the challenges she faces as an advocate for women's rights, she told PassBlue: ''"When I started working on women’s rights, I decided to take up this work because it wasn’t just social, cultural bias against women that existed in the country, but even the law was problematic. But when you want to reform the law, you need to challenge everything: the state, the biases against women, culture, religion and a majority of patriarchal views."'' She is a former Senior Advocate of Nepal. In 2008, Malla and

Yanar Mohammed Yanar Mohammed ( ar, ينار محمد; born 1960) is a prominent Iraqi feminist who was born in Baghdad. She is a co-founder and the director of the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq, and serves as the editor of the newspaper '' Al-Mousawa ...

were joint winners of the

Gruber Prize for Women's Rights The Gruber Prize for Women's Rights, established in 2003, was one of five international prizes worth US$500,000 awarded by The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation, an American non-profit organization. The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation Wo ...

(given by the Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation) for her work related to "public interest litigation in

epal Enterprise Privacy Authorization Language (EPAL) is a formal language for writing enterprise privacy policies to govern data handling practices in IT systems according to fine-grained positive and negative authorization rights. It was submitted by ...

including equality in inheritance, legalization of abortion, criminalization of marital rape, equality in marriage and family law."

UN and WHO Engagement

Malla was a member of the

(CAT) during the 2014 to 2017 term. She has extensive experience as an advisor to the UN and WHO. Please see her complete curriculum vitae for complete details.

Criticism

Malla recently received social media backlash when she presided over a bench of the Honorable Supreme Court of Nepal which granted interim-bail on medical grounds, during COVID-19, to an accused who was involved in a fatal drunk driving car accident in the capital in December 2019.

References

External links

* http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cedaw/docs/elections/PRADHAN_MALLA.pdf
Human rights campaigners elected
Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC) {{DEFAULTSORT:Malla, Sapana Pradhan Nepalese activists Nepalese women activists Living people 21st-century Nepalese women politicians 21st-century Nepalese politicians Harvard Kennedy School alumni 1963 births Members of the 1st Nepalese Constituent Assembly