Sara Khan (activist)

Sara Khan (born January 1980)[1] is a British human rights activist and the CEO of Inspire, an independent non-governmental organisation working to counter extremism and gender inequality. Khan is a contributor to The Guardian and The Independent newspapers, as well as The Huffington Post and has made appearances on British television and radio. She has been interviewed for the BBC's HARDtalk and Desert Island Discs.[2][3]

For other people named Sara Khan, see Sara Khan. For the British television personality, see Saira Khan.
Sara Khan
BornJanuary 1980 (age 41)
Bradford, West Yorkshire, England
Alma materUniversity of Manchester
OccupationHuman rights activist
Websitesarakhan.co.uk

Early life

Khan was born and raised in Bradford to immigrants from Pakistan. She worked as a hospital pharmacist and was president of an Islamic youth organisation before launching the Inspire charity in 2008, with the aim of challenging extremism and promoting gender equality.

In September 2005, after the London bombings, she sat on the Home Office's Tackling Extremism and Radicalisation Working Group and has also worked with the education department and the Department for International Development.[4]

CEO of Inspire NGO

Khan is the CEO of Inspire, an independent non-governmental organisation working to counter extremism and gender inequality, which she co-founded in 2008.[3][5]

Inspire has delivered a considerable amount of work in the educational sector. Khan partnered with the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) to deliver training to headteachers and senior leaders about safeguarding pupils from extremism.[6] At Inspire, she spearheaded the organisation’s efforts in 2013 to challenge Universities UK’s guidelines which advocated for gender segregation on Britain’s universities.[7] Inspire has produced anti-extremism counter-narrative videos which have been watched thousands of times to help refute ISIS propaganda. One video by Khan condemning Boko Haram’s treatment of women and girls has been viewed over 76,000 times.[8] She penned a letter to young Muslim girls who may be considering to leave the UK to join ISIS after it emerged that three schoolgirls from Bethnal Green in London had travelled to Syria. The letter went viral and was widely reported in the press.[9]

Inspire became a registered charity in 2017, named Inspire Women.[10]

Khan is the co-author of the 2016 book The Battle for British Islam: Reclaiming Muslim Identity from Extremism.[11]

Government advisory roles

In September 2005, after the London bombings, Khan sat on the Home Office's Tackling Extremism and Radicalisation Working Group.[12] Following this she sat on the Department for Education’s Due Diligence and Counter-Extremism Expert Reference group headed by Lord Nash.[13] Between 2015/2016, Khan gave evidence on the issue of radicalisation to the European Parliament's Committee on Culture and Education.[14] She has also given evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee's enquiry on countering extremism [15] and to the Joint Committee on Human Rights which comprises both Houses of the British Parliament.[16]

In January 2018, the Prime Minister, Theresa May, announced that Khan had been appointed Lead Commissioner for the Home Office's Commission for Countering Extremism.[17] Former Conservative minister Baroness Warsi, Labour MP Naz Shah, the Muslim Council of Britain and others criticised the appointment on the basis that Khan would not be seen as independent by many in the British Muslim community.[18][4] The Prime Minister's office responded to defend the appointment.[19] The following day 100 Muslim organisations submitted a petition to the Home Office calling for Khan to be removed from the role.[20]

Awards and recognition

In March 2009, Khan was listed in the Equality and Human Rights Commission Muslim Women’s Power List. In January 2015, and once again in 2016, Khan was recognised as one of Britain’s 500 most influential people, in the Debrett’s War and Peace category as someone who is working towards peace and stability in the United Kingdom.

In March 2015, she was named the 2015 Kraemer Middle East Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence, the Wendy & Emery Reves Center for International Studies and the Program in Comparative Legal Studies and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding at the William & Mary School of Law in Williamsburg, Virginia.[21]

In 2015, Khan was included in BBC Woman's Hour Power list as one of the top ten influencers.[22] In 2016, she won the Social and Humanitarian award at the Asian Women of Achievement Awards for her counter-extremism and women's rights work.[23] In the same year, Marie Claire magazine named her as the recipient of its "groundbreaking activist" award of 2016.[24]

Personal life

Khan is married with two daughters,[25] and resides in Hertfordshire.

References
  1. "Sara KHAN". Personal Appointments. Companies House. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  2. "HARDtalk: Sara Khan". HARDtalk. BBC World Service. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  3. "Sara Khan". Desert Island Discs. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  4. "New counter-extremism tsar Sara Khan faces calls to quit". BBC News. 25 January 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  5. Mulholland, Patrick. "Profile: Sara Khan". Cherwell.
  6. 8, Pixl. "Seminars launched to help protect young people against radicalisation". ascl.org.uk. Retrieved 26 March 2017.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. Khan, Sara (25 November 2013). "Segregating men and women at university events won't lead to equality". The Independent. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  8. We Will Inspire (23 October 2014). "#MakingAStand Against Boko Haram". Retrieved 26 March 2017 – via YouTube.
  9. Khan, Sara (25 February 2015). "To the girls thinking of joining Isis, this letter will change your mind". The Independent. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  10. Charity Commission. Inspire Women, registered charity no. 1175506.
  11. Khan, Sara; McMahon, Tony (2016). The Battle for British Islam. Saqi Books. ISBN 9780863561597.
  12. "Sara Khan". ASCL (Association of School and College Leaders).
  13. "Sara Khan, Director and Founder, Inspire". Understanding ModernGov.
  14. https://polcms.secure.europarl.europa.eu/cmsdata/upload/2de90e72-5481-4fe8-8bd8-9f2e24b498da/Sara%20Khan%20Intervention.pdf
  15. "Bethnal Green Academy, Inspire and Cage questioned on countering extremism - News from Parliament". parliament.uk. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  16. "Prevent strategy and the Counter Extremism Bill examined - News from Parliament". parliament.uk. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  17. "Sara Khan to lead Commission for Countering Extremism" (Press release). Home Office. 24 January 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  18. Khan, Shehab (25 January 2018). "Sara Khan: Government's appointment of new anti-extremism chief branded 'alarming' amid widespread criticism". The Independent. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  19. Hope, Christopher (25 January 2018). "Theresa May forced to defend new counter-extremism tzar as former party chairman says she would alienate Muslims". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  20. Hamilton, Fiona (26 January 2018). "Anti-extremism tsar Sara Khan has no credibility, say Muslim groups". The Times. London. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  21. "British Muslim Human Rights Activist to Speak at W&M". William & Mary Law School.
  22. "Woman's Hour 2015 Power List: Influencer Sara Khan, Sara Khan, The power of Angela Merkel, Dorothy Bohm". Woman's Hour. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  23. "Asian Women of Achievement Awards 2016 Winners celebrated". New Asian Post. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  24. "future shapers 2016". Woman & Home. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  25. Mackenzie, Suzie (June 2015). "Sara Khan: The Woman Taking On Isis". British Vogue. Retrieved 16 March 2019.

Further reading
  • Blackwell, Geoff; Hobday, Ruth; Scott, Kieran (2017). 200 Women Who Will Change the Way You See the World. Johannesburg: Bookstorm. ISBN 9781928257417. OCLC 1019248828.
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