Cassandra Marlin Balchin (24 May 1962 – 12 July 2012) was a British journalist and women's rights campaigner.
Early life and education
Balchin was born in England on 24 May 1962. Her mother Yovanka (later Jane), Tomich, was a Yugoslavian refugee and a journalist; her father was psychologist and writer
Nigel Balchin (1908–1970). She spent some of her childhood with her mother's family in Yugoslavia,
and also spent time in
Glemsford
Glemsford is a village in the Babergh district in Suffolk, England, near the town of Sudbury. Glemsford is located near the River Glem and the River Stour also flows nearby. Glemsford is surrounded by arable farmland and is not far from histori ...
, Suffolk.
Balchin graduated from the
London School of Economics
, mottoeng = To understand the causes of things
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £240.8 million (2021)
, budget = £391.1 mill ...
in 1983 with a B.Sc. in government, having studied Russian government and history.
Career
After graduating, Balchin moved to Pakistan to work as a journalist, and lived there for 17 years. During this time she became involved in women's rights, wrote ''Women, law and society: an action manual for NGOs'' and edited ''A handbook on family law in Pakistan''. She returned to the UK in 2000, and helped to establish the UK office of
Women Living Under Muslim Laws. She was a co-founder and chair of the
Muslim Women's Network UK
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraham ...
and a co-founder of
Musawah, "Sisters in Islam", in Malaysia.
She was involved with Women Against Fundamentalism, and was a senior research consultant with the
Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID) on their "Resisting and Challenging Religious Fundamentalism" project from 2007 until her death.
Death
Balchin died from cancer on 12 July 2012, aged 50.
She was survived by her two adult sons and her mother.
Selected publications
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References
1962 births
2012 deaths
British women activists
Alumni of the London School of Economics
{{UK-activist-stub