Inspiring Women

In order to get to know the new board members and since we recently celebrated the International Women’s day, we thought of presenting some examples of inspiring women from our international backgrounds. We hope this post will inspire you to tell us about a strong women from your hometown.

Asma Jahangir is a symbol of Pakistan, possessing an unique voice to defend the fundamental aspects of human rights of women, children and the oppressed people. She was a lawyer and activist that fought her entire life against religious extremism and for women’s and oppressed minorities rights.

Her accomplishments were enormous. She was a funder member of  Women’s Action Forum and of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan; she was the first woman president of the Supreme Court Bar Association; she opened the first legal aid centre and refuge for battered women in Pakistan, and she continued fighting as a lawyer for the oppressed, in very complicated cases.

The United Nations has called her Asia’s Joan of Arc: a fighter who represented the weak. It is obvious from this that she really was not simply a woman on the move but she was an entire movement in a woman.

“There have been times that I have cried. But does that mean you give up in the face of brute force? No, never!”

Asma Jahangir, 2010

Ayesha Kousar, Head of Careers and Partnerships