Farida Shaheed is a Pakistani sociologist and

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

activist. In 2012, she was appointed the United Nations Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights. She heads the

Shirkat Gah Shirkat Gah women's resource centre, is a women's rights organization in Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dep ...

women's resource centre in Pakistan, and is known for her extensive work on gender and class analysis, both in Pakistan and more globally.

Work

Shaheed has over 25 years of research and activist experience, using a gender and feminist lens on issues of

rural development Rural development is the process of improving the quality life and economic well-being of people living in rural areas, often relatively isolated and sparsely populated areas. Rural development has traditionally centered on the exploitation of ...

, labour, culture, religion and the state. She has particularly focused on promoting and protecting

cultural rights The cultural rights movement has provoked attention to protect the rights of groups of people, or their culture, in similar fashion to the manner in which the human rights movement has brought attention to the needs of individuals throughout t ...

through policies and projects for marginalised communities, including women, the impoverished, religious and ethnic minorities. Shaheed is also an expert in international, regional and national negotiations, including within the United Nations and Pakistan. Shaheed is a founding member of the Pakistan women's rights network,

Women's Action Forum Women's Action Forum (WAF) is a women's rights organization in Pakistan. History Women's Action Forum (WAF) was established in Karachi in September, 1981transnational feminist network

Women Living Under Muslim Laws Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) is an international solidarity network established in 1984. It does academic and advocacy work in the fields of women's rights and secularism, focusing on the impact on women of laws inspired by Muslim reli ...

(WLUML).

Awards and recognition

On 12 November 2014, Shaheed was awarded the ''International Award UCLG – Mexico City Culture 21'', for her work on gender, culture, religion and the state. She had previously received several other awards, including the Pakistan Prime Minister's Award for her co-authored book, ''Two Steps Forward, One Step Back''.

Selected publications

In 2010, Shaheed authored the article ''Contested Identities: Gendered Politics, Gendered Religion in Pakistan'' for the special edition of

Third World Quarterly ''Third World Quarterly'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Routledge, established in 1979. , its editor-in-chief is Shahid Qadir. It was published eight times per year until 2011 when publication increased to ten times per year. ...

. In 1998, Shaheed edited with Sohail Akbar Warraich, Cassandra Balchin and Aisha Gazdar, the book ''Shaping Women's Lives: Laws, Practices and Strategies in Pakistan''. It was published by Shirkat Gah. In 1987, she wrote the book ''Women of Pakistan: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back?'' with

Khawar Mumtaz Khawar Mumtaz (born 29 June 1945) is a Pakistani women's rights activist, feminist author and university professor. She is the Former Chairperson of the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) who served for three consecutive terms from ...

, chronicling Muslim women's movements in South Asia from the turn of the 20th century up till the mid-1980s. In 2004, with Aisha L F Shaheed, she wrote ''Great Ancestors: Women Asserting Rights in Muslim Contexts''. The book was conceived of as a training module for women's human rights activists with a companion book of historical and biographical information. The two volumes were published by Shirkat Gah and was republished as a stand-alone monograph by Oxford University.

References

External links

Special Rapporteur on Cultural Rights

Shirkat Gah website

Women Living Under Muslim Laws
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaheed, Farida Pakistani sociologists Pakistani women sociologists Pakistani feminists United Nations special rapporteurs Pakistani human rights activists Living people Pakistani women's rights activists Year of birth missing (living people) Pakistani officials of the United Nations

Work

Awards and recognition

Selected publications

See also

References

External links