About

Mukhtar Mai is a Pakistani author and women’s rights activist. In 2002, she was gang raped when a neighboring clan carried out an “honor revenge." Although it is customary for women to commit suicide after such an atrocity, Mai fought back by taking her assailants to court where justice could be properly served. She used the money awarded to her to open the Mukhtar Mai Women's Welfare Organization, the main goals of which are to stop rape, educate young girls, and raise awareness in the community about women’s rights. In 2011, the Supreme Court of Pakistan upheld a previous ruling that determined that five of the six men accused of gang-raping Mai would be acquitted. Although her work comes at great personal risk to her and her loves ones, especially now that her assailants have been released, Mai remains committed to bringing national and international attention to the abuses perpetrated against women in her country. She was featured in a documentary about sexual violence in Pakistan titled Land, Gold and Women. Her memoir, In the Name of Honor, was published in 2006 and has been translated into 23 languages. Mai received the Council of Europe’s North-South Prize in 2007.

Mai's motto is that we can reach the end of oppression through knowledge. She believes that discrimination against women will decrease as women become literate and learn about their rights. It is by this principle that she has established a school in Meerwala, Pakistan where 600 girls are getting free education up to the 10th grade. School, Mai says, is the first step to change the world. It is always the first step that causes the most trouble, she reminds us, but it is only down this path that we can find real progress.