ABSTRACT:
Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) remains a culturally sensitive and often stigmatized topic among youth in Nepal. Despite growing access to formal education and digital platforms, young people continue to face significant barriers in acquiring accurate SRH knowledge, accessing services, and engaging in open dialogue. This qualitative study explores the lived experiences of 40 Nepali youth across diverse genders and socio-cultural contexts to identify the key factors shaping their SRH understanding and practices. The results suggest that young people knowledge is shaped by myths and anecdotes, with limited formal education on SRH topics and their preference for informal and digital sources, such as family, peers, and online platforms, is often driven by privacy concerns and mistrust in formal systems. There is a strong influence of gendered cultural and social norms, including menstruation-related restrictions and stigma surrounding premarital sex that creates barriers to open discussion and healthcare access, and constantly rooted in shame, fear, and social taboos. There is an aspiration for youth-driven solutions that focus on community engagement, family-inclusive approaches, and youth-friendly, culturally sensitive SRH education. This study highlights the urgent need for multi-level interventions that integrate formal education, digital literacy, and community-based support. Centering youth voices is essential to dismantling harmful norms and fostering inclusive, equitable SRH outcomes in Nepal and similar socio-cultural contexts.