Sanaiyya Faheem Ansari

Sanaiyya Faheem Ansari is currently the Executive Director of Network of Research and Training (NRT) and acting as a corporate social responsibility consultant for Bangladesh, Tchibo GmbH. She is a human rights activist and has more than 25 years of work experience in human rights mechanisms. She served as Senior Deputy Director of the Gender and Social programme and as Senior Deputy Director in Ain o Salish Kendro (ASK).

Sanaiyya is a freelance consultant on issues of gender, human rights, and rights of the marginalised especially Dalits, horizon (sweeper), sex workers (brothel and street-based), and sexual minority groups (LGBTQ+). She was a Regional Council Member and Programme & Management member of APWLD and is also an International Trainer on Feminist Legal Theory and Practice (FLTP) of APWLD.

APWLD interviewed Sanaiyya in February 2021 and below is her story.

Becoming a feminist and human rights defender

Growing up oppressed, being molested, and experiencing domestic violence, I have been fighting for over 40 years against violence and discrimination.

When I was a law student, I fought for freedom of speech. After I graduated, I worked for five years on the Supreme Court, where I became involved in the women’s movement after a case against rights violations. I joined ASK, an APWLD member and an organisation dedicated to human rights and legal aid. I worked there for 20 years and have been a freelance consultant since I left.

I left the Supreme Court because as a law clerk, it was a necessity to follow the law, but I found I was most motivated by challenging it. In Bangladesh, there is a practice called Fatwa, a ruling on a point of Islamic law acknowledged by authorities such as the community, which is often against women and punishes them. This requires us to work for women’s rights, against communities and fundamentalist groups. With most communities, including women themselves, unaware of women’s rights, it is difficult to advance the women’s movement. 

Through APWLD, I learned how to challenge the law, how to criticise the law, and, in the process, unmask the discrimination of women in the family, society, and the state. It is important to me to discuss the dignity of women as humans and how the law discriminates against them. To advance the shift, however, we have to combat discrimination from the family to the state, we have to change the mindset of the public, as well as the culture.

My view of the movement is somewhat different from those of others who were involved. Some movements are not done by going out and screaming. Sometimes, we can do the movement by writing, by sitting alongside the person whose rights have been violated, or by giving advice whenever a woman needs it. My motto is to stand by women whose voices are rarely raised and to lend my voice to them.

Throughout these years, I have not changed my niche area—feminist leadership. Now, I work with the Rohingya people on emergency response issues including gender-based violence. I have also been deeply involved in the ready-made garment industry. I deal with issues related to sexual harassment and gender-based violence against workers.

Things have changed a lot in Bangladesh. Students and young generations are becoming more aware of their rights. More women break the silence and claim their rights. A lot of young girls and boys discuss feminist leadership and don’t seem to mind the label ‘feminist.’ Even though their rights have been violated many times, the number of young protesters has grown, speaking about rights, especially LGBTQ rights, and the number of heterosexual people listening to their message has also grown.

Growing together with APWLD

After completing my first FLTP (Feminist Legal Theory and Practice) Training of Trainers in 2002, I was selected for the pool of FLTP trainers. Since then, I have been doing training mostly outside of the country. FLTP training, which is like being part of a movement to me, has taken me to Cambodia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Fiji, etc. I was in the Programme and Management (P&M) and the Regional Council (ReC) for two terms. Now, I am an individual member of APWLD.

In my experience with APWLD, I have always found myself. It is like a women’s area where we can communicate, exchange ideas, and help each other grow. By doing training and joining meetings with APWLD, I was able to meet people from all over the world, and I gained a lot of experience from different generations.

It gave me the chance to see how APWLD has changed. APWLD is a place where age doesn’t matter, what matters is skill and experience. We made many good decisions for the APWLD and its programmes. I saw friendship among the committee members during my six years as a member of the programme management committee. APWLD is like standing beside people around the world.

In addition, APWLD has given me the chance to develop my understanding of the feminist movement, to stay updated on feminist issues, and to be exposed to people from all over the world— those very talented, beautiful women of different ages who gave me the confidence to stand beside survivors. APWLD inspired me to see the world through the eyes of women.

During my time in P&M and ReC, there were very open discussions. Staff could raise questions or challenge us at any time, and members agreed to listen. The ReC’s presence enhances the capacity of APWLD staff and should remain constant.

Ways moving forward

The first suggestion I’d like to make is that staff share among themselves and see whether their understanding matches that of members and networks. It is essential to connect members and staff, but they are sometimes separated. APWLD needs to see if the networks can show what it is looking for. A holistic connection among the members, between members and staff, is important. 

APWLD could consult senior staff more often since they have institutional memory. Exit interviews with outgoing staff can help us better understand their institutional memory. The staff at APWLD is always changing, and every staff member is a memory bank. Staff are the assets of APWLD. It is important to connect APWLD’s staff in the past and present and for them to have a connection to the network.

Furthermore, APWLD should conduct research on young people to determine what rights they have seen violated and what is important to them, as well as how they see the world’s situation. Adolescent girls must be brought into the research process, as they may not have the power to speak, but they must be involved. We need to listen to the young generation, especially adolescents.

During COVID-19, APWLD may be able to conduct much-needed research on women’s issues, such as what is the situation of sex workers. APWLD should also publish more books written for younger generations in the context of the pandemic, especially for girls between 12 and 18 years old. APWLD could develop a book or diary written by the younger generations, which the older generations could read. They can write a small book or small chapters, and they can also make drawings of the pain or the movement. Seniors always teach the young, but we could try to respect the younger generations’ views and inspire them to write.