About CPCL & Our Fellows
CPCL (Countering Protectionist and Criminalized Legal Framework in Nepal around online sexual expression of women & Queer Individual (CPCL)Program)
Existing legal frameworks surrounding online violence, privacy, and freedom of expression have proven to be regressive and often guided by protectionist ideas towards certain communities. Such laws are ambiguous and further criminalize sexual expression, leading to self-censorship and control over individuals’ bodily autonomy. This Countering Protectionist and Criminalized Legal Framework in Nepal around online sexual expression of women & Queer Individual (CPCL)Program seeks to highlight these concerns, advocate for policy change, and question the regressive process of law-making. It also aims to address gaps in identifying people’s needs and ensure public engagement and interventions with the state system around online violence and digitization.
With broader policy advocacy at its core, the CPCL program will directly impact women and human rights defenders, lawyers, and feminist activists who will be actively engaged in program activities. Additionally, Body & Data’s core constituencies, including women, queer individuals, people with disabilities, female sex workers, and women’s rights activists, will be at the center of the interventions which will take form of legal and policy research, report and articles publication, online and offline campaigns, and strategic litigation, among others. The legal and judicial system will also be a core component of the advocacy projects, with individuals within the system being reached at different stages.
Why CPCL?
In Nepal, laws designed under the banner of protection often serve as tools of punishment. Under the guise of morality and safety, outdated legal frameworks are used to control how people, especially women and queer individuals, express themselves, connect with others, and take up space online. These laws do not safeguard; they surveil, censor, and reinforce existing hierarchies of power.
For communities that already face discrimination, such as queer individuals, sex workers, people with disabilities, and gender-diverse people, the digital space becomes a site of fear and surveillance instead of freedom and connection. This environment silences voices that need to be heard and pushes people into further marginalization.
CPCL emerged as a response to these urgent realities. It is more than a legal program. It is a political and cultural shift toward justice, inclusion, and freedom. By pushing back against criminalization and advocating for progressive, inclusive policies, CPCL envisions a digital and legal landscape where autonomy, expression, and safety are guaranteed for everyone.
The Body & Data Legal Fellowship
Launched in 2023, the Body & Data Legal Fellowship was the first initiative under the CPCL program. It was created in response to the increasing misuse of harmful laws to control the online expression of women, queer individuals, and other marginalized communities. The goal was clear: to build a network of young legal minds committed to justice, human rights, and freedom of expression.
The fellowship brought together 10 lawyers and advocates from diverse backgrounds, including feminists, queer individuals, people with disabilities, sex workers, and grassroots activists from across Nepal. Each participant carried their own lived experiences and worked towards understanding the grey areas and loopholes in policies and laws surrounding online sexual expression and digital rights. Over the course of seven months, the fellowship became a space for learning, reflection, solidarity, and collective imagination.
Together, the fellows unpacked the laws that silence people, especially those related to sexuality and digital rights. They engaged with experts, community and movement leaders who are actively shaping Nepal’s legal and social landscapes. The fellowship was not just about understanding the law, but about exploring how the law affects real lives and how it can be reimagined to be fairer, safer, and more inclusive.
From legal research to creative advocacy, the work produced by the fellows does not sit quietly on a shelf. It challenges norms, sparks conversations, and opens new possibilities to understand the realm of online sexual expression in Nepal.
