Rita Mahato () is a Nepali

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

activist. She works for the Women's Rehabilitation Centre (WOREC) and received the

Per Anger Prize Per Johan Valentin Anger (7 December 1913 – 25 August 2002) was a Swedish diplomat. Anger was Raoul Wallenberg's co-worker at the Swedish legation in Budapest during World War II when many Jews were saved because they were supplied with Swed ...

in 2014.

Early life

Rita Mahato was subject to a

forced marriage Forced marriage is a marriage in which one or more of the parties is married without their consent or against their will. A marriage can also become a forced marriage even if both parties enter with full consent if one or both are later force ...

at the age of 14. She had her first child one year later and experienced

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

from her spouse.

Career

Mahato works for the Women's Rehabilitation Centre (WOREC) in

Siraha district Siraha District (; ), a district in Madhesh Province, is one of the List of districts of Nepal, seventy-seven districts of Nepal. It is situated in the Terai#Outer Terai, Terai belt of Nepal. The district, with Siraha as its district headquarters ...

. The group assists survivors of sexual violence. In June 2007, after WOREC had supported two survivors of rape, some members of the local community intimidated Mahato. The office where Mahato worked was attacked and she was seriously threatened by a group of men. She was then supported by the

International Federation for Human Rights The International Federation for Human Rights (; FIDH) is a non-governmental federation for human rights organizations. Founded in 1922, FIDH is the third oldest international human rights organization worldwide after Anti-Slavery International ...

, the

World Organisation Against Torture The World Organisation Against Torture (''Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture''; OMCT) is the world's largest coalition of non-governmental organisations fighting against arbitrary detention, torture, summary and extrajudicial execution ...

and

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

. Mahato received the

in 2014 for her activism against sexual violence. She won 15,000 euros, which she said she would put towards founding an old people's home.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahato, Rita Per Anger Prize Year of birth missing (living people) Nepalese women activists Nepalese feminists 2007 in Nepal Living people