Sara Hossain is a Bangladeshi lawyer. She is a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

in the

Supreme Court of Bangladesh Supreme Court of Bangladesh () is the highest court of law in the country. It is composed of the High Court Division, Supreme Court of Bangladesh, High Court Division and the Appellate Division, Supreme Court of Bangladesh, Appellate Division, ...

. She is the honorary executive director of the Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST), a major

legal aid Legal aid is the provision of assistance to people who are unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system. Legal aid is regarded as central in providing access to justice by ensuring equality before the law, the right ...

provider. She has been at the forefront of advocating for

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

in Bangladeshi courts and played a key role in drafting legal reforms to protect women. She was the

amicus curiae An amicus curiae (; ) is an individual or organization that is not a Party (law), party to a legal case, but that is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. Wheth ...

in the landmark case of ''Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association (BNWLW) v. Bangladesh'', in which the Supreme Court supported the judicial practice of referring to

international human rights law International human rights law (IHRL) is the body of international law designed to promote human rights on social, regional, and domestic levels. As a form of international law, international human rights law is primarily made up of treaties, ag ...

in the absence of domestic legislation. She is known for her role in challenging

fatwa A fatwa (; ; ; ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (sharia) given by a qualified Islamic jurist ('' faqih'') in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist issuing fatwas is called a ''mufti'', ...

violence when a fatwa is issued to mete out punishment to women and girls. She co-edited ''Honour': Crimes, Paradigms and Violence Against Women'' with Lynn Welchman. Hossain was awarded the

International Women of Courage Award The International Women of Courage Award, also referred to as the U.S. Secretary of State's International Women of Courage Award, is an American award presented annually by the United States Department of State to women around the world who have ...

in 2016 by the

United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the ...

Early life and family

Sara Hossain is the eldest daughter of the statesman

Kamal Hossain Kamal Hossain (born 20 April 1937), better known as Dr. Kamal, is a founding leader, lawyer and politician of Bangladesh. He is known as the "Father of the Bangladeshi Constitution" and regarded as an icon of secular democracy in the Indian subc ...

and the human rights advocate Hameeda Hossain. Her father's family is part of a

Bengali Muslim Bengali Muslims (; ) 'Mussalman'' also used in this work./ref> are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising over 70% of the global Bengali population, they are the second-largest ...

zamindar A zamindar in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semi-autonomous feudal lord of a ''zamindari'' (feudal estate). The term itself came into use during the Mughal Empire, when Persian was the official language; ''zamindar'' is the ...

'' family of Shayestabad in

Barisal Barisal ( or ; , ), officially known as Barishal, is a major city that lies on the banks of the Kirtankhola river in south-central Bangladesh. It is the largest city and the administrative headquarter of both Barisal District and Barisal Divi ...

which claims descent from

Ali Ali ibn Abi Talib (; ) was the fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from until his assassination in 661, as well as the first Shia Imam. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Born to Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib an ...

, the fourth

Caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

. Her mother's family is from

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

, Pakistan.

Education and work

Hossain completed her Bachelor of Art and Master of Arts in Law (jurisprudence) from

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street, Oxford, Broad Street and Parks Road ...

in 1988. She was then called to the Bar at

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

. She enrolled in the High Court Division of the

in 1992 and went on to Appellate Division in 2008. Hossain also worked as a Legal Officer with INTERIGHTS for the

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

division from 1997 to 2003. She was involved in supporting human rights litigation before national and international courts including the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

and the

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (the IACHR or, in the three other official languages Spanish, French, and Portuguese language, Portuguese CIDH, ''Comisión Interamericana de los Derechos Humanos'', ''Commission Interaméricaine des ...

and the Human Rights Committee on the use of international and comparative human rights law. She also worked on a multi-country study on honour crimes with the Centre for Islamic and Middle Eastern Law at SOAS. Currently, Hossain is a partner in the law firm Dr. Kamal Hossain and Associates. In July 2018, the

United Nations Human Rights Council The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a United Nations Regional Gro ...

appointed Hossain to co-chair (alongside David Crane and Kaari Betty Murungi) a three-person Commission of Inquiry into the killing of at least 140 Palestinians by the Israeli army. In 2022, she was appointed as the chair of the UN fact finding mission on violence against women during the 2022 Iran protests.

Organisations

Apart from BLAST, Hossain is a member of the Executive Committee of the Dhaka-based human rights organisation Ain o Salish Kendra. Formerly, she was a board member of the South Asia Women's Fund (SAWF). Hossain has also served as a Commissioner of the

International Commission of Jurists The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) is an international human rights non-governmental organization. It is supported by an International Secretariat based in Geneva, Switzerland, and staffed by lawyers drawn from a wide range of jurisdi ...

(ICJ). She is currently a member of the Human Rights Committee of the

International Law Association The International Law Association (ILA) is a non-profit organisation based in Great Britain that — according to its constitution — promotes "the study, clarification and development of international law" and "the furtherance of international ...

(ILA) and the Advisory Committee of the Women's International Coalition on Gender Justice (WICG), Hossain is a well-known figure in the international human rights arena.

Awards and achievements

In 2016, Hossain was awarded the International Women of Courage Award by US Secretary of State,

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...

for "empowering women and girls and for giving voice to the voiceless in Bangladesh through your relentless legal advocacy." Hossain was also named "Young Global Leader" by the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

in 2008 and as "Asia 21 Fellow" by

Asia Society The Asia Society is a 501(c)(3) organization that focuses on educating the world about Asia. It has several centers in the United States (Manhattan, Washington, D.C., Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle) and around the world (Hong Ko ...

, New York, USA in 2007. She received the Anannya Top Ten Awards in 2005 as well as the Human Rights Lawyer Award by The Lawyers Committee for Human Rights (now Human Rights First).

Personal life

Sara is married to British

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

activist David Bergman who is an investigative journalist known for his reportage on

war crime A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hostage ...

s committed during the

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War (, ), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalism, Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which res ...

Publications

Books and reports

* ''Handbook on Legal Remedies for Forced Marriage'' (2014) * ''Bangladesh UPR Forum’s Submission to the Human Rights Council'' (2009) * ''Human Rights in Bangladesh (2006-08)'' * * ''Rights in Search of Remedies: Public Interest Litigation in South Asia'' with

Shahdeen Malik Shahdeen Malik () is a Bangladeshi lawyer, eminent jurist, constitutional expert, and legal activist. Early life and education Dr. Shahdeen Malik was born in Saruala village of Bishwanath Upazila, Biswanath Upazila under Sylhet district of Ban ...

and Bushra Musa (1996) The Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh: On the Difficult Road to Peace (2003)

Articles

* ‘Wayward Girls and Well Wisher Parents: Habeas Corpus, Women’s Rights and the Bangladesh Courts’, in ''Forced Marriage'' (2010) * ‘Confronting Constitutional Curtailments: Attempts to Rebuild Independence of the Judiciary in Bangladesh’ in ''Handbook of Politics in South Asia'' (2010) * ‘South Asia’ with Iain Byrne in ''Social Rights Jurisprudence: Emerging Trends in International and Comparative Law'' (2008) * 'The Right to Marry' in ''Men’s Laws, Women’s Lives'' (2005) * 'Apostates, Ahmadis and Advocates : Uses and Abuses of Offences against Religion' in ''Warning Signs of Fundamentalism'' (2004-5) * 'Abduction and Forced Marriage: Rights and Remedies in Bangladesh and Pakistan' with Suzanne E. Turner, in ''International Family Law'' (2001) * 'Women's Reproductive Rights and the Politics of Fundamentalism: A View From Bangladesh' with Sajeda Amin, ''American University Law Review'' (1995) * 'Equality and Personal Laws in South Asia' in ''Human Rights of Women: National and International Perspectives'' (1994)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hossain, Sara Living people Alumni of SOAS University of London Bangladeshi barristers Year of birth missing (living people) Recipients of the International Women of Courage Award People from Barisal District 21st-century Bangladeshi lawyers