One of the speakers was Mohna Ansari, attorney at law, in Nepal. Ansari flew all the way from Nepal to speak in San Francisco, CA. Women in Asia still suffer many barriers to participation in economic innovation and political transformation. Ansari grew up in a poor family. Her parents were illiterate. Ansari became the first woman Muslim lawyer in Nepal, an underdeveloped country in Southeast Asia. She participated in The Asia Foundation in a program for secondary school girls. The program got her interested in the law. This lead her to get a law degree. Prior to law, she was a journalist. In Muslim society, women did not discuss problems openly. She provided free legal services to women involved in domestic violence. Women suffered from forced marriages, beatings by men, and being kicked out of homes.
Comment Preview