Jasvinder Sanghera, founder of Karma Nirvana, closed the annual conference of the National Women’s Register (NWR) today (12 September 2021).
Speaking about women’s rights in the context of faith and culture, Jasvinder (pictured above) is patron for NWR, a charity that operates local meeting groups for women across Great Britain.
Jasvinder shared her own experiences of forced marriage, sexual harassment and campaigning, commenting that many abuses take place against women in the name of culture or religion, and in all religions and cultures.
Her closing remarks were a call to action for NWR’s members to be curious, challenging and supportive of women of all ages to combat isolation.
Jasvinder, a survivor of forced marriage, is the author of ‘Shame’, a ‘Times’ Top 10 Bestseller’. She is widely recognised as bringing the issue of forced marriage into the public domain in the UK. She was appointed Commander of the British Empire in 2013 in recognition of her outstanding contribution for the victims of forced marriage and honour based abuse. Awarded Legal Campaigner of the Year in 2014, Jasvinder’s work is acknowledged as being pivotal in the creation of a specific UK forced marriage criminal offence in the same year.
Natalie Punter, NWR’s national organiser commented:
“Jasvinder is an inspiration to our members, who admire her dedication, strength and purpose. I know our members left her presentation feeling like super women, wanting to celebrate our organisation and connect with more women to share what NWR has to offer.”
Karma Nirvana is a national award winning charity that supports both men and women affected by honour based abuse and forced marriages.