Jasvinder Sanghera
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Dame Jasvinder Kaur Sanghera, (born
Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...
, England September 1965) is a British author and campaigner against forced marriages and abuse.


Early life

Sanghera was born into a traditional
Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...
Indian family. Her sisters were all forced to marry at ages as young as 15. Aged 14, she was told she was to marry an older man under an
arranged marriage Arranged marriage is a type of Marriage, marital union where the bride and groom are primarily selected by individuals other than the couple themselves, particularly by family members such as the parents. In some cultures, a professional matchmaki ...
agreed upon when she was 8 years of age. At first she refused, and was locked in her room, but eventually regained more freedom by appearing to consent, and then was able to escape and live her own life, and was disowned by all her family, which never reconciled. She has two adult daughters and an adult son, and is a grandmother.


Career

Her memoir ''Shame'' (2007) was a Times Top 10 Bestseller and described in the
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as a "political weapon". She is widely recognised for publicising the problem of
forced marriage Forced marriage is a marriage in which one or more of the parties is married without their consent or against their will. A marriage can also become a forced marriage even if both parties enter with full consent if one or both are later force ...
. The then Prime Minister,
David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...
, said her work "turned my head on the issue of forced marriage". Her work is recognised as a key contributory factor to the creation of a specific UK forced-marriage criminal offence in 2014. Dame Jasvinder is an expert witness in courts in child, civil and criminal proceedings. She is the Independent Chair of the Leeds Safeguarding Children Partnership and chair of Domestic Homicide Reviews. She was a member of the three-person Independent Safeguarding Board for the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
, until all three appointments were terminated by the
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in June 2023. She was awarded an
honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...
(HonDUniv) by the
University of Derby The University of Derby, formerly known as Derby College, is a public university in the city of Derby, England. It traces its history back to the establishment of the Derby Diocesan Institution for the training of schoolmistresses in 1851. It ...
in 2009. She was awarded The Pride of Britain Award in 2009 and was named Cosmopolitan Ultimate Woman of the Year in 2010. In 2011, she was listed in the Guardian’s top 100 Most Inspirational Women in the World and in 2012 received the Global Punjabi Award. In the 2013 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was appointed
Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(CBE) for services to victims of forced marriage and honour-based violence and promoted to a Dame Commander (DBE) in the same order in the
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. In 2014, was awarded Legal Campaigner of the Year. Dame Jasvinder is also listed in the 2016 edition of the book ''Who's Who'' and in the same year received the International Woman Award for human rights from the Italian media. In 2018, she was awarded Honorary Doctor of Law by
De Montfort University De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) is a public university in the city of Leicester, England. It was established in accordance with the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, Further and Higher Education Act in 1992 as a degree awarding body ...
, Leicester and Woman of the Year by Leeds City Council and in 2019 she was awarded the
Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the be ...
Humanitarian of the Year Award and also the Sikh Woman of Substance Award.


Publications

# ''Shame '' (25 January 2007) # ''Daughters of Shame '' (6 August 2009) # ''Shame Travels'' (2011) # ''The Women Writers Handbook'', Contributor. (2020) `


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanghera, Jasvinder 1965 births Living people 21st-century English memoirists 21st-century English women writers People from Derby Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire English people of Indian descent English activists English women activists English Sikhs