Femin Ijtihad

A Legal & Literary Academic Initiative on Gender in Islam:
A Project For Afghanistan

Executive Committee

Executive Director

Natasha Latiff, 21, is a 3rd year law student at the University of Warwick, UK.  She aspires to be a legal academic & activist in Gender in Islamic Law and the Development of Legal systems in Post-Conflict Countries. Appalled by the systemic, institutionalised discrimination against Afghan women, eventually she intends to work as a gender specialist in Afghanistan. She made her first travel alone to Afghanistan at the age of 17 years and has been there 4 times since, working in the area of Gender and Afghan legal reform and children’s education.  Apart from her work, Natasha is a traditional and lyrical dancer and enjoys travelling and film-making.

Research Coordinator
 
Marge O'Leary, 24, is a recent European Law graduate of Warwick University, where she will be reading for a Masters in International Development Law and Human Rights from October 2009.  Marge has a passion for human rights and intends to qualify as a lawyer in this field.  Her particular interest is in bridging the gap between International Human Rights and Islamic Law and the process of reform in Islamic Law.  Marge is a proud proponent of the Femin Ijtihad initiative, bringing to the project wide ranging experience working for Homeless International, Oxfam UK and Coventry Refugee Centre.  Apart from her studies, Marge works as a PhD Research Assistant and loves travelling as well as international cinema and music.

External Liaison

Tamara Last, 21, is a 2nd year law student at the University of Warwick, UK. She has lived in Papua New Guinea, Mali, Slovenia, England, Tanzania and the USA, and has also travelled extensively around the world. She is fascinated with culture and diversity which has led her to focus her career on working with refugees and asylum seekers. She interned with Refugees International (based in Washington DC) after getting her IB Diploma in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. At the University of Warwick she holds three Executive positions in humanitarian societies, including President of Student Action for Refugees and Secretary of Warwick Volunteers.

Project Coordinator (Singapore)

Nadia Ibrahim, 21, is a 3rd year law student at the National University of Singapore. She intends to specialise in Family law upon graduation and work in areas concerning marital disputes. Previously Nadia had worked on small scale projects with UNIFEM and AWARE (Association for Women for Action and Research) in Singapore, both concerning child prostitution and human trafficking.

Editor of Literary Team (Peshawar Chapter)
M. Taimur Salam Khan is a lecturer at the Dept. of Gender Studies, University of Peshawar. He did his masters in English literature from the university of Peshawar in 2002. He won a Fulbright scholarship in 2006 and worked as a foreign language teaching assistant at the James Madison University, Virginia, USA. Currently he is teaching gender and literature in the University of Peshawar.

Project Coordinator (New York)

Medina Del Castillo (Master's Student, Afghan Descent)

Medina del Castillo, 27, has her Bachelor's in Spanish and her Master's in Political Science from the University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, USA.  She completed post grad studies in Political Science at the Universidad de Colima in Colima, Mexico during her year as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar.  Currently, she works as a Team Lead Supervisor at TransPerfect Translations in Manhattan, NY.  She is working on creating the largest chapter for FI in NY, gathering students from NYU, Columbia University, The New School, and Fordham University. 

Internal Liaison 
Shavin Leau (Politics Student, Warwick)
 
Literary Team Coordinator
Ilham Malik (Law and Business, Warwick)
 
Communications Officer
Megs Shetty (Law, Warwick)
 

 


 

Core Researchers

Tala Talaee

Tala Talaee, 22, is a graduate of International Politics and History from the American University of Paris. Her focus on international criminal law and Shari'a led her to research civil status codes in conjunction with economic entitlements in Morocco, Tanzania, and Iran. In 2008, she worked with women detainees in Senegal for the human rights NGO Tostan. Living in Paris, Tala currently takes civilization courses at the Sorbonne and is writing a research proposal for graduate school. She intends to pursue a degree in international refugee law.

Bethany Johnson completed a B.A. in History in 2001 and moved to Scotland where she completed an MPhil in Development Studies from the University of Glasgow in 2004. After running a non-profit for three years and traveling all over the world, she is full time at the New School. Her goal? A PhD.

 

Esther Lee, 23, is a second year graduate student in the psychology program at New York University. She holds a B.A. from NYU in Psychology and Middle East and Islamic Studies. Ever since she majored in Middle East and Islamic Studies as an undergraduate at NYU, Esther has made a deep and passionate commitment to help solve inequality issues. She intends on going to law school with a focus on international human rights.

Matt Berkman is a graduate student in Near Eastern Studies at New York

University. He holds a B.A., also from NYU, in Philosophy and

Religious Studies. His research interests include the political

economy of Israel and the Palestinian territories and the history of

the peace process. Originally from Florida, he currently resides in

Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

Monica Jorba Cartoixa, Ma, M.Phil:

A native of Catalunya (Spain), she holds three BA-s in History, Socio Cultural Anthropology and Sociology from University of Barcelona (SPAIN), University of Liverpool (UK), and McPherson College (KS, USA), respectively.  She also holds MA in Socio Cultural Anthropology and International Affairs from Columbia University (USA) and MPhil in Social Anthropology from University of Barcelona.  She is currently completing her PhD studies with a thesis on Conversion to Islam in Europe.  Her experience includes ethnographic research fieldwork conducted across Europe, America (USA and Mexico) and Africa (Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia). Monica has contributed in conferences and written a few presentations on Conversion to Islam, European Sufism, Social Networks, and Law and Multiculturalism presented at various events.  

Commit to Women's Empowerment in Afghanistan

About

Femin Ijtihad works to assist Afghan Women and Human Rights Organisations in the research and production of information and educative materials on Gender in Islam/Islamic Law. 


Femin Ijtihad was founded by Natasha Latiff in 2007. It is now executed by a team of law students in Warwick University and has branches and independent committees attached to highly prestigious Universities in New York (NYU, Columbia and The New School) and in Singapore (National University of Singapore). 

Femin Ijtihad in Afghanistan

From August-December 2009, Natasha Latiff will be travelling to Afghanistan to perform a needs assessment, and speak to women's rights organisations in Kabul. At the end of the stay, FI will produce a report on the extent to which women's rights organisations utilise the Islamic framework to raise awareness, train and campaign for women's rights in Afghanistan.


The FI Team is in discussion with a number of Afghan Organisations regarding the products we could create for them using our research database.

Highlights

  • Nadia Ibrahim and Marge O'Leary  attended the Global Equality Conference, Musawah in Kuala Lumpur as representatives of Femin Ijtihad in February 2009.
  • Natasha Latiff and Tamara Last joined Bill Clinton, big thinkers and NGO's in the Clinton Global Initiative University Conference 2009 in Austin Texas in February.
  • Nadia Ibrahim travelled to Jakarta and Yogjakarta in Indonesia on a regional conference to conduct a study-visit of women's rights groups and NGO's promoting pluralism within Islamic thought.
  • Natasha Latiff, Tamara Last and Juhana Begum held a meeting with Womankind, Women for Women International, Oxfam and Afghan Aid to discuss how FI's products can be assimilated into their programmes.



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