Monira Rahman is a Bangladeshi

human rights activist A human rights defender or human rights activist is a person who, individually or with others, acts to promote or protect human rights. They can be journalists, environmentalists, whistleblowers, trade unionists, lawyers, teachers, housing campai ...

. She was born in 1965 in

Jessore Jessore ( bn, যশোর, jôshor, ), officially Jashore, is a city of Jessore District situated in Khulna Division. It is situated in the south-western part of Bangladesh. It is the administrative centre (headquarter) of the eponymous district ...

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...

(present-day

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

). Due to her movement,

acid In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a sequ ...

and petrol attacks on women in Bangladesh has reduced by 40 fold. She has changed laws. She has ensured prompt, competent help even in remote areas, and has built model psychological and other follow-up services. Rahman won

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

Human Rights Defender Award 2006 for her courageous activism. She worked with the founder of

Acid Survivors Foundation The Acid Survivors Foundation is a Bangladeshi non-governmental organisation dedicated to raising awareness and preventing acid attacks and providing survivors with medical and legal aid. History The Foundation was founded in Dhaka in 1999 b ...

(ASF), Dr John Morrison and subsequently worked as Executive Director from 2002 to 2013. Rahman was commended by the World's Children's Prize in 2011 for her courageous fight to put an end to acid and petrol violence in Bangladesh. Rahman became Commonwealth Professional Fellow in 2012 and

Ashoka Fellow Ashoka (formerly branded Ashoka: Innovators for the Public) is an American-based nonprofit organization that promotes social entrepreneurship by connecting and supporting individual social entrepreneurs. Their stated mission is "the creation of a ...

in 2013.

Early life

Rahman was the youngest of her six siblings. During the

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Benga ...

(1971), her family had to flee and her father died, leaving her mother to raise six children. This devastating experience left a deep impression on Rahman and forced her to become very independent. Since childhood Rahman was involved in debate and cultural activities which led her to develop leadership and taught her to ask questions. She was elected Vice President of Samsunnahar Hall,

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently i ...

, Bangladesh during her university life. After graduation her family forced her to get a government job but instead she joined

Concern Worldwide Concern Worldwide (often referred to as Concern) is Ireland's largest aid and humanitarian agency. Since its foundation 50 years ago it has worked in 50 countries. According to its latest annual report, Concern helped 28.6 million of the world's ...

as a social worker.

Education

Rahman completed her SSC from Qumarunnessa Girls School in 1981 and HSC from Eden Girls College in 1983. Afterward, she went to the

and completed her Bachelor of Arts (Hons) and

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in Philosophy in 1987 and 1988 respectively.

Career

Rahman started her working life as a social worker in Concern Worldwide in 1992 and worked there until 1999. There, she worked to establish the rights of commercial sex workers, street children, and the homeless—especially mentally ill women living on the streets often arrested under the Vagrancy Act 1943. Rahman's work led the government to review the Vagrancy Act as well as the juvenile justice system and to enter into a formal agreement that commits the ministry to develop a vigilance team within the vagrant's home. During that time she was shocked by the amount and the severity of

acid attack An acid attack, also called acid throwing, vitriol attack, or vitriolage, is a form of violent assault involving the act of throwing acid or a similarly corrosive substance onto the body of another "with the intention to disfigure, maim, tortu ...

s on women throughout the country. She started working for the women's rights organization Nari Pokkho and then joined the

in 1998, which she has been Executive Director of since 2002. She is currently working as Country Lead in Mental Health First Aid Bangladesh and Executive Director of Innovation for Wellbeing Bangladesh of which she is also the founder.

Honours and awards

* Human Rights Defender (March 2006) – Amnesty International * International Awards for Health and Dignity for women (October 2009) –

Americans for UNFPA Americans for UNFPA's name was changed to Friends of UNFPA in 2012. Friends of UNFPA identifies itself as an organization which "supports the health and dignity of women everywhere." This U.S.-based NGO was formed in 1998 (as "The U.S. Committee f ...

* World's Children's Prize Honorary Award (April 2011) – World's Children's Prize Foundation, Sweden * Commonwealth Professional Fellow (October 2012) – Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (CSC) * Ashoka Fellowship (February 2015) – Ashoka, Innovators for the Public

References

External links

Official website of Acid Survivors Foundation

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rahman, Monira 1966 births Living people Bangladeshi human rights activists University of Dhaka alumni Eden Mohila College alumni People from Jessore District Ashoka Fellows