Durga Sob (सहसंयोजक सोब in Nepali,[1] born July 3, 1966) is a Nepalese feminist activist and politician. Sob also identifies as a Dalit and is the founder of the Feminist Dalit Organization (FEDO) in Nepal. Sob works as a human rights activist in the country and is associated with Nepal Socialist Party.

Durga Sob
Deputy chairman of Nepal Socialist Party
Assumed office
28 July 2022
Preceded byPosition established

Biography

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Durga Sob was born on July 3, 1966.[2] She grew up in Silgadi, in western Nepal where she faced discrimination for being a Dalit.[3] Her family was polygamous, with her father having two wives and several children, though many of Sob's siblings died in childhood.[2] Sob went to school with her brother, who had convinced her parents to give her an education.[2] Sob later used her education to teach girls in her neighborhood how to read and write.[4]

When Sob was 19, she moved to Kathmandu and worked for ActionAid and later met Robin Morgan who encouraged her to start an organization to help Dalit women.[3] In 1994, she found the Feminist Dalit Organization (FEDO).[3] Between 2002 and 2004, Sob served as the president of the Dalit NGO Federation (DNF).[5] Sob led an Asia Dalit Rights Forum in Kathmandu in 2014.[6] The forum included activists from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and members decided to work together to end discrimination.[6] In 2015, Sob participated in a hunger strike to protest the citizenship laws of Nepal that only allowed a father to pass down citizenship by descent.[7]


References

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  1. ^ "देशको समृद्धिका लागि उत्पादन र आर्थिक विकासमा जोड दिनु पर्छ :सहसंयोजक सोब". Hetauda Khabar (in Nepali). Retrieved 2018-08-27.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ a b c "Interview with Durga Sob" (PDF). Liverpool John Moores University. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  3. ^ a b c "Durga Sob: Nepal's trailblazing Dalit feminist". New Internationalist. 2010-05-01. Retrieved 2018-08-27.
  4. ^ Stalleland, Asle (29 September 2014). "Kjemper for dalitkvinners rettigheter i Nepal". Dalit Solidarity Network Norway (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 2018-08-31. Retrieved 2018-08-27.
  5. ^ "Durga Sob" (PDF). International Dalit Solidarity Network. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  6. ^ a b "Regional Forum to Fight for Dalit Rights". The Kathmandu Post. 28 February 2014. Archived from the original on 18 November 2018. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  7. ^ "Rights Activists Begin Hunger Strike". The Kathmandu Post. 3 September 2015. Archived from the original on 18 November 2018. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
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