Shireen Lateef

Shireen Rexina Lateef was a Fijian women's rights activist, known for her work on gender equality at the Asian Development Bank.

Biography

Shireen Lateef was born in Fiji[1] and was of Indo-Fijian descent.[2][3] After studying at St. Joseph's Secondary School in Fiji, she traveled to Australia to pursue higher education.[4] She attended Monash University, graduating with a Ph.D. in social anthropology and education, which included significant fieldwork among Indo-Fijian women in the Fijian capital, Suva.[2][4] She then spent nine years as a lecturer at the University of Melbourne.[4]

Lateef was a longtime gender equality activist, considered an inspiration behind the feminist movement in Fiji.[1][5][6] In 1990, while at Melbourne, she published "Rule by the Danda: Domestic Violence Among Indo-Fijians," which is considered one of the earliest studies of domestic violence in Fiji and a seminal work of feminist research in the country.[5][7]

In 1992, she began working as a junior gender specialist at the Asian Development Bank in Manila.[4][5][6][8] Among her work at the ADB, she is best known as the architect of the bank's Policy on Gender and Development, which guided its efforts to support equality for women.[6][9] Over 23 years at the bank, she pushed for the organization to recognize how development projects can impact women in often overlooked ways.[4]

Lateef retired from the ADB in 2015, having reached the title of senior adviser on gender.[4][6] She died the following year on Feb. 11 in Brisbane, Australia, after a long illness.[1][5][6]

References
  1. Jalal, Imrana (May 2016). "Imrana Jalal's tribute to Shireen" (PDF). Balance. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
  2. Counts, Dorothy Ayers; Brown, Judith K.; Campbell, Jacquelyn (1999). To Have and to Hit: Cultural Perspectives on Wife Beating. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-06797-6.
  3. Mishra, Margaret (May 2012). "Between Women: Indenture, Morality and Health". Australian Humanities Review. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
  4. "Tribute to 'warrior for women'". Fiji Times. 2016-03-20. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
  5. "Shireen Lateef". AWID. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
  6. "Goodbye Shireen Lateef". Fiji Women's Rights Movement. 2016-02-12. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
  7. Lateef, Shireen (July 1990). "Rule by the Danda: Domestic Violence Among Indo-Fijians". Pacific Studies. 13 (3).
  8. Reyes, Alejandro (1999-11-19). "Inside Asia's New Bank for the Poor". Asiaweek. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
  9. "Shireen Lateef". Asian Development Blog. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
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