Chhauppaudi is the Nepalese tradition whereby women who have just given birth or are menstruating are banished to makeshift huts outside.

The superstitious reasoning behind it is that their blood is considered impure and it is unlucky to be around or touch the women.

“There are very extreme weather conditions in Nepal and some women have died as a result of being exposed to the harsh conditions,” explains documentary maker Elena Dirstaru.

“It is something many people in the West have never heard of or could imagine happening.”

Elena, 23, made a documentary for her degree dissertation about women’s rights in Nepal, including the tradition of chauppaudi, to raise awareness about injustices. The literature, film, and theatre studies PhD student at the University of Essex first came across the plight of women in Nepal during an internship there.

She says: “The documentary came about by chance. I was in Nepal for a five-week internship with the Mountain Trust, making commercial films to encourage medical students to work there.

“At the time I knew I wanted to make a documentary on women’s rights, but I did not have anything specific in mind.”

While she was there Elena was struck by the way women were treated differently to men.

Elena says: “I had first-hand experience of the inequality while I was there. When I went out to a bar with a couple of male friends, who were also on the internship, I noticed people would only speak to them and they would assume it was their film and not mine.

“The civil war lasted 10 years and ended in 2006. Before then, women had been making headway with social rights.

The war set them back and they were in a more subordinate position than before when it ended.”

While in Nepal, Elena spent time with Radha Paudel, the prominent human rights activist and founder and president of Action Works Nepal.

She says: “I had already set up an interview with Radha before I arrived in Nepal and when I came to speak with her I found out a lot about women’s rights.

“Radha is an amazing woman and so dedicated. I have never seen anyone who works as hard as her. She starts at 6am and finishes at 10pm. Her main aim is to educate people about chhauppaudi, because it is so unknown, and she also supports women’s health and education.”

Elena visited local rural villages to film footage for the 50-minute documentary.

She says: “In the towns life is more westernised because of tourism, but cultural traditions continue in the rural villages.

They are internalised and many people do not even question them. There is a culture of violence against women and one in two suffer from domestic violence.

“Things are starting to change though. In the villages Radha has worked with, I found women to be very vocal and outspoken about women’s rights. It shows the work is really making a difference.”

Elena, who is from Romania, has had an interest in women’s rights in previous projects.

She says: “I made a documentary on Romanian gypsy women and their rights and education. It is definitely a subject I am interested in.”