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

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

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 (), was a unicameral legislature of Nepal. It was elected in the 2013 Constituent Assembly elections after the failure of the first Constituent Assembly (CA ...

under proportional representation system from the CPN-UML party. Malla is also currently serving as the president of Judges Society, the professional organisation of Nepalese judges.

Early life and education

Malla was born on November 15, 1963, in

Nawalparasi Nawalparasi District (, ), part of which belongs to Gandaki Province and part to Lumbini Province, was one of the 75 districts of Nepal before being divided into Parasi District and Nawalpur District in 2015. The district, with Parasi as its ...

district in Nepal. She holds a Master in Comparative Law (MCL) from the

University of Delhi The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...

. She also has a Mid-Career Masters in Public Administration (MC/MPA) from

Harvard Kennedy School of Government The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

. She also has a bachelor's degree in law from

Tribhuvan University Tribhuvan University (TU; ) is a public university located in Kirtipur, Kathmandu Valley, Kathmandu, Nepal. Established in 1959, TU is the oldest and the largest university in Nepal. It offers 1,000 undergraduate and 500 postgraduate programs a ...

in Kathmandu, Nepal in 1987.

Career

Malla is also a former Senior Advocate of Nepal. Malla also served as a member of the

, from May 2008 to May 2012, during which time she advocated for women's rights in all areas—from reproductive rights 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."'' In 2008, Malla and Yanar Mohammed were joint winners of the

Gruber Prize for Women's Rights Gruber is a German surname from Austria and Bavaria, referring to a person from a geological depression, mine, or pit. It may refer to: Places * Gruber, Manitoba, former settlement in the Canadian province of Manitoba, Canada * Gruber Mountain ...

(given by the Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation) for her work related to "public interest litigation in epal including equality in inheritance, legalization of abortion, criminalization of marital rape, equality in marriage and family law." Malla 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. A ...

(CAT) during the 2014 to 2017 term. She is also the former president of the Forum for Women, Law & Development.

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 Harvard Kennedy School alumni 1963 births Members of the 1st Nepalese Constituent Assembly