Shada Nasser () (born May 1, 1964, in
Aden
Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...
) is the first female Yemeni lawyer and the first female lawyer to not cover her face in Yemen courts. She studied and acquired a law degree from
Charles University
Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest universities in the world in conti ...
in
Prague
Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
in (1989), after which she returned to Yemen as the North and South were unifying to work as a human rights and defense lawyer. In 1996, she founded an all female law firm with three other female Yemeni lawyers in the capital of
Sana'a
Sanaa, officially the Sanaa Municipality, is the ''de jure'' capital and largest city of Yemen. The city is the capital of the Sanaa Governorate, but is not part of the governorate, as it forms a separate administrative unit. At an elevation ...
. She has dedicated her work to protecting the rights of women in Yemen.
Cases
Nasser's clientele includes female prisoners from the Central Prison of Sana'a.
[Sanaa's First Woman Lawyer] In 2005, Nasser defended a young woman prisoner who had been found guilty of murdering her husband despite insufficient evidence and sentenced to death by a firing squad despite being a minor at the age of 16, which Yemeni laws prohibited. The girl had become pregnant in jail after allegedly being raped by a guard in the prison. A presidential order spared the girl's life minutes before she was to be executed.
An opponent of child marriages in Yemen, she represented the 10 year old
Nujood Ali
Nujood Ali (, born 1998) is a central figure in Yemen's movement against forced marriage and child marriage. At the age of ten, she obtained a divorce, breaking with the tribal tradition. In November 2008, the U.S. Women's magazine '' Glamour'' ...
in April 2008 as she filed for divorce from a middle-aged man whom her family had married her to the previous year. Ali claimed her husband regularly beat and raped her, despite having agreed to hold off on having sexual relations with her. The court granted Nujood Ali the divorce in a few weeks, which made her the youngest divorcee in the world at the time.
[A Ten-Year-Old’s Divorce Lawyer] Ali's historic case encouraged other young female brides in Yemen to seek divorce.
Awards
In 2008, ''
Glamour magazine'' designated Nasser and Nujood Ali, whom she had represented in Ali's divorce proceedings, as their Women of the Year and recipients of the Glamour Award for the Voice of the Children.
See also
*
First women lawyers around the world
This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in each country. It includes the year in which the women were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are the first women in their country to achieve a certain distinction su ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nasser, Shada
1964 births
Yemeni lawyers
People from Aden
Charles University alumni
Living people
Law firm founders
20th-century Yemeni women
20th-century Yemeni lawyers
21st-century Yemeni women
21st-century Yemeni people
20th-century women lawyers
21st-century women lawyers
Yemeni women's rights activists