Awatef Rasheed

Who is Awatef Rasheed?

Awatef Rasheed Arabic: عواطف تركي رشيد is an Iraqi Canadian writer, secular women’s rights activist, and the first Iraqi female recipient of Femmy Award. She is a recipient of the Iraqi Women’s Initiative Award in from the Iraqi Women’s Network in 2010. Awatef Rasheed is currently a Regional Advisor for the, Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Rights in USA and a Board member for the Canadian Research Institute for Advancement of Women and previously served on the steering committee for Feminists for Just and Equitable Public Policy. She has also been a member of the Canadian Federation of University Women, and a representative for the Iraqi Al-Amal Association,

Awatef writes and publishes in both Arabic and English. Her blog is in Arabic: Women of Iraq. It is addressed to Arabic audience and aimed at discussing gender issues and women's lives and rights directly with Iraqis, males and females. She believes that superiority is granted to Males over Females in Iraq, and other Middle Eastern countries, for virtue of their gender by political, social, religious, and economic powers.

Throughout her entire adult life, Awatef has struggled against the repressive norms of a male-dominated, “Middle Eastern” society under “Saddam Hussein”’s dictatorship and the repercussions of her decision to remove herself from that horrible situation. Since fleeing her country of origin, Iraq and moving to Canada, Awatef has coupled her life experiences with academic study and professional activism to push for greater women’s rights in Iraq and around the world. Awatef attended: Acadia University, Mount St. Vincent University and she completed a Master of Arts degree in Women’s Studies, Saint Mary's University in 2008. Her thesis for the requirements of the Master’s degree is: Iraqi Women: Mechanisms of Overshadowing, Subordination and Inferiorization