DAME JASVINDER SANGHERA DBE
SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER. CHAMPIONING DIGNITY, JUSTICE AND SURVIVOR VOICE.
For more than 30 years, Dame Jasvinder Sanghera DBE has challenged injustice, championed survivors and worked to change the systems that fail them. Drawing on lived experience and decades of advocacy, her work spans survivor representation, national policy, safeguarding, campaigning, writing and public speaking.
My Story
I left home as a teenager rather than submit to a forced marriage and, as a consequence of taking that stand, I was disowned by my family. My sister Robina was also forced into a marriage and later tragically took her own life. I founded Karma Nirvana in 1993 in her memory, determined that others facing forced marriage and honour-based abuse should not have to face it alone. What began with my own fight for freedom became more than three decades of campaigning, advocacy and challenging the systems and institutions that fail survivors. My lived experience started this journey. The voices of survivors continue to shape it.
What I Do
Speaker
Keynotes, lectures, panels and conversations drawing on lived experience and more than 30 years of advocacy, campaigning and influencing change.
Survivor Advocate
Independent advocacy that places survivor voice, dignity and experience at the heart of institutional responses and accountability.
Writing
Best-selling author of books and personal reflections exploring honour, shame, family, survival, justice, relationships, and what it means to find your own voice.
Advisory & Consultancy
Independent advice on safeguarding, survivor engagement, institutional responses and creating meaningful change.
SELECTED IMPACT
More than three decades of turning lived experience into change.
- Founder of Karma Nirvana, established in 1993 in memory of her sister Robina, and a pioneering national voice on forced marriage and honour-based abuse.
- Expert evidence upheld in the Court of Appeal.
- Campaigned for the first HMIC inspection across all 43 police forces on honour-based violence, forced marriage and female genital mutilation.
- Best-selling author of Shame and Daughters of Shame.
- Appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to victims of child abuse, forced marriage and honour-based abuse.
DIARY OF A DISOWNED WOMAN
“Diary of a Disowned Woman” is Dame Jasvinder’s Substack—a personal space where she writes about family, disownment, identity, loss, relationships, resilience and finding your own voice.
MEDIA
Jasvinder is an experienced national and international media commentator on forced marriage, honour-based abuse, survivor advocacy, safeguarding, institutional accountability and related issues.
She is available for informed, independent commentary grounded in lived experience and more than three decades of frontline advocacy and campaigning.
Bring A Powerful, Experienced Voice to Your Organisation or Event
Dame Jasvinder Sanghera DBE is available for keynote speaking engagements, media commentary, and strategic safeguarding consultancy. Please select your enquiry type below to connect with her support team.
