Sara Hossain

Sara Hossain
Receiving her award in 2016
Nationality	Bangladeshi
Alma mater	University of Oxford University of London
Occupation	Lawyer

Sara Hossain is a lawyer at the Supreme Court of Bangladesh and an honorary executive director of Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST). She was one of the recipients of the 2016 International Women of Courage Award awarded by the US Secretary of State. Hossain played a key role in drafting Bangladesh's first comprehensive legislation on violence against women, which went on to become law in 2010. She is known for her role in challenging fatwa violence, where fatwas are issued to mete out degrading and violent punishments to women and girls. She also opposed the two-finger test in rape and sexual assault cases, and forced veiling. Hossain co-edited 'Honour': Crimes, Paradigms and Violence Against Women with Lynn Welchman.

Hossain got a Bachelor of Art (Hons) in Law (Jurisprudence) from University of Oxford in 1988. She was then called to the Bar at Middle Temple. She enrolled in the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh in 1992 and went on to Appellate Division in 2008. Hossain also worked as a Legal Officer with INTERIGHTS for the South Asia division from 1997 to 2003. She was involved in supporting human rights litigation before national and international courts including the European Court of Human Rights and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Human Rights Committee on the use of international and comparative human rights law. She also worked on a multi-country study on honour crimes with the Centre for Islamic and Middle Eastern Law at SOAS. Currently, Hossain is a partner in the law firm Dr. Kamal Hossain and Associates.

Apart from BLAST, Hossain is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Dhaka-based human rights organisation Ain-O-Salish Kendra. Formerly, she was a board member of the South Asia Women's Fund (SAWF). Hossain has also served as a Commissioner of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ). She is currently a member of the Human Rights Committee of the International Law Association (ILA) and the Advisory Committee of the Women's International Coalition on Gender Justice (WICG), Hossain is a well-known figure in the international human rights arena.