This story has been co-published with Kalam Weekly.
ON 7 FEBRUARY, Nisha Adhikari, a first-past-the-post (FPTP) candidate in Nepal’s 2026 general election from the Gatisheel Loktantrik Party, posted a Twitter thread detailing the kinds of derogatory messages and comments she had been receiving on social media. Alongside a collage of sexist and often sexualised remarks, Adhikari shared her thoughts:
“The hateful and derogatory words used against female candidates do not reflect the status of women; rather, they mirror the deeply rooted misogynistic mindset in our society. Such language is not disagreement. This is not debate. It is violence born out of power and fear, aimed at driving women out of public life, making them afraid, and silencing them. These comments are not just directed at me; they target all women in politics, in leadership, who dare to speak out.”
Adhikari’s experience is not unique; it is shared by most women candidates in this election, with voting due on 5 March. Election campaigning has largely moved online, but so has abuse and harassment directed at women candidates, who now contend with sexualised hate speech, threats of sexual violence and derogatory comments targeting their gender, caste, bodies and professions. While social media has allowed candidates – at least those of certain class and caste backgrounds – to reach a broader audience across the country, the same technology has also provided unscrupulous actors with the means to abuse, harass and intimidate women candidates using their gender as the primary vector of attack. Such comments can be deeply demoralising for women candidates, who are already confronting structural barriers to campaigning, including a comparative lack of social and financial capital and deep-rooted patriarchal perceptions that still see politics as a primarily male arena.