This policy brief examines the legal and other barriers that limit adolescents’ access to sexual and reproductive health and rights, with a particular focus on the criminalization of age mate consensual and non-exploitative sexual relationships between adolescents in Nepal. It highlights how the laws criminalizing such consensual relationships can undermine adolescents’ evolving capacity and their right to bodily autonomy, discourage access to sexual and reproductive health services, and fuel stigma and misconceptions.

The brief further analyzes the rationale for decriminalization, the current amendment process, relevant national and international court decisions, international legal frameworks, and international human rights standards set by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. It also provides recommendations to align domestic law with Nepal’s own constitutional and international human rights obligations, along with ensuring adolescents’ access to Comprehensive Sexuality Education, information, and services.