Fouzia Saeed

Fouzia Saeed is a Pakistani social activist, gender expert, trainer/facilitator, development manager, folk culture promoter, television commentator, and author.

Saeed is well known in the activist circles of Pakistan's social movement, having worked for decades on women's issues, especially those linked to violence against women, prostitution, women in the entertainment business, women’s mobility and sexual harassment. Her work on violence against women spans over 20 years and includes founding Bedari, the first women’s crisis center in Pakistan in 1991. For over a decade, she focused on reducing the level of sexual harassment and the impact of debt bondage on Hindu women.

On 10 March 2009, the Pakistan People's Party Prime Minister of Pakistan, Yousaf Raza Gilani, named Saeed to a three-year term as one of the 15 members of the National Commission on the Status of Women. Subsequently, Prime Minister Gilani appointed Saeed as the Chair of the Sexual Harassment Legislation Implementation Watch Committee from May 2010 to May 2012.

In February 2015, the Pakistan Muslim League prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, appointed Saeed as the executive director of Lok Virsa, the National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage. She completed her term on 9 February 2018 with exuberant accolades from the press and civil society for her stellar success in revitalizing Lok Virsa and expanding the space for performance culture in Pakistan.

In January 2020, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Prime Minister, Imran Khan, appointed Saeed as the Director General of the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA).

In February 2020, she was recognized as one of the ten most outstanding women leaders of Pakistan by HUM TV "in recognition of her exemplary services for promotion of Pakistani culture, women’s issues, courageous stand against sexual harassment and commitment to women’s advancement".

In July 2021, while on a road expedition for PNCA to central Balochistan to identify young artistic talent, Saeed suffered serious injuries in a road accident. By July 2022, she had begun to reengage in Pakistani society. A women's group produced a short video in June 2022 enumerating her manycontributions to the advancement of Pakistani women.

Saeed says of herself: "I want to be judged by my abilities, my struggles and my achievements and not labeled or stereotyped by my gender, my economic background, my nationality or my beliefs." Provided by Wikipedia