Dame Indira Patel (born 27 March 1946) is a Kenya-born British activist and businesswoman.

Life

Born and educated in Kenya, Patel's father died when she was only nine years old, she was raised by her mother. Patel first worked as a schoolteacher in East Africa before fleeing the genocidal regime of

Idi Amin Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 16 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern w ...

in 1975 with her husband, Bhanu, a structural engineer and real estate investor, and their two sons. In the UK, Patel worked with her husband in his real estate dealings. She later became an activist who worked to establish Asian Women's Voluntary Organisations and helped institute provisions for vegetarian meals and translator services in hospitals, as well as producing educational videos on such women's health issues as breast cancer, hysterectomies, and menopause.Biography of Dame Indira Patel
ncwgb.org; accessed 4 February 2021. She spoke worldwide at major women's conferences around the world and worked with the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

in Geneva speaking on harmful practices within certain cultures and traditions. She was then invited to work with the UN in New York. Between 1996 and 2004, she served as a Commissioner of the Women's National Commission (WNC)'s advisory body to the UK government. She chaired and led the WNC delegation to the World Conference on Racism in South Africa. She contributed to the recommendations in The Beijing Platform for Action, Implementation of the UN Security Council resolution 1325 and Resolution on crimes committed in the name of Honour, signed off by 192 countries. In 2011, Patel was elevated to

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(DBE). Dame Indira Patel and her family own property in

Bambolim Bambolim is a neighborhood located in the southeastern part of the city of Panaji, the capital of the Indian state of Goa. It is completely located on the island of Tiswadi, one of the talukas in the state of Goa. The only allopathic medical co ...

North Goa North Goa district is one of the two districts that constitutes the state of Goa, India. The district has an area of , and is bounded by Kolhapur and Sindhudurg districts of Maharashtra state to the north and by Belgavi district of Karnataka ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

.Bhanu Patel lawsuit
indiankanoon.org; accessed 4 February 2021. She has one granddaughter
Stella Patel
and one grandson, Oscar Patel.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patel, Indira 1946 births Living people British people of Indian descent British activists British women activists British women's rights activists Kenyan emigrants to the United Kingdom Kenyan people of Indian descent British people of Indo-Kenyan descent Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Indian dames