Syeda Ghulam Fatima is a Pakistani human and labour rights activist, known for her work in ending

bonded labour Debt bondage, also known as debt slavery, bonded labour, or peonage, is the pledge of a person's services as security for the repayment for a debt or other obligation. Where the terms of the repayment are not clearly or reasonably stated, the pe ...

in brick

kilns A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects made from clay in ...

, and is General Secretary of Lahore-based Bonded Labour Liberation Front Pakistan (BLLF).

Biography

Fatima holds a master's degree in Political Science from Punjab University. She has been campaigning for worker's rights and against bonded labour in Pakistani brick factories, kilns. She has been threatened, attacked, and wounded because of her activism. Through her organization, the Bonded Labour Liberation Front, Fatima has established Freedom Centers where workers can go for protection and legal counsel. She is the elected General Secretary of Bonded Labour Liberation Front Pakistan. Alongside her husband, Fatima runs BLLF from a storefront in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

. She helped to release more than 80,000 bonded laborers in Pakistan from all provinces since her engagement, and trained more than 600 women in alternative skills for poverty reduction. In September 2015, Fatima was awarded a

Clinton Global Citizen Award The Clinton Foundation (founded in 2001 as the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation, and renamed in 2013 as the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation) is a nonprofit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. tax code. It was es ...

for "leadership in civil society" in New York. In March 2016 Fatima was one of four finalists nominated for the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity, an award given to humanitarians in memory of the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through t ...

Media coverage

In August 2015, Fatima and the Bonded Labour Liberation Front received international attention when they were featured in a 7-part series by the popular internet photojournalism Facebook page, Humans of New York. ( photo block of New York) 7 photos were published on her life and work for the human rights especially for Bonded labours. Also shared was the official YouTube video featuring the 2014 EMI award-winning

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character t ...

documentary episode about her work, aired on HBO, that links to the 'Episode 2 Extended: Forced Slavery Interview' by the award-winning journalist Fazeelat Aslam. As the result of an appeal by the Facebook page, over $2,300,000

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

was raised in several days for the Bonded Labour Liberation Front. https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bonded_labour_activist_Syeda_Ghulam_Fatima_courtesy(_Humans_of_New_York).jpg Struggles Since 38 years of her life she has been serving for bonded labours liberation rights started from general talk with women bonded labours. She most often visit with her friends and teacher They had been tortured here her teacher had been beaten cruelly by bonded honors after which her friends got scared and stop coming with her but not her there's nothing to stop her as she is a determined women. She started from struggle against slavery through education for labour's awareness provided them with 6 toilets for women and 4 for males water taps as there was no facilities for the labours she do many programs, rallies on international labour day and seminar for women labours where almost 300 women were provided with alternative skills also appeal to supreme court after which in 1992 law were introduced against forced labour , 1995 rules on forced labour had been made.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fatima, Syeda Ghulam Debt bondage in South Asia Labour relations in Pakistan Living people Pakistani human rights activists People from Lahore University of the Punjab alumni Workers' rights activists Punjabi people Year of birth missing (living people)

Biography

Media coverage

See also

References