Human rights defender Rehana Hashmi was officially named Carleton’s inaugural activist-in-residence (AiR) on May 12 after overcoming complications with her immigration status.
Hashmi has over 30 years of activism experience, focusing her advocacy on women and minorities from her home country, Pakistan.
Hashmi said her activism started “by accident” when her father was imprisoned for political activism in Pakistan. She said she was inspired by her father’s work and started standing up for students in her school by speaking out against physical punishment.
“When my father left that activism, it really sowed a seed in me and I started to raise my voice for the voiceless,” Hashmi said.
After facing death threats for her work advocating for women and minorities, Hashmi left Pakistan in 2013. Since then, she lived in many different countries before she came to Canada in 2016.
In 2017, she established Sisters Trust Canada, a non-profit that supports human rights defenders that are in exile in Canada.
Her work is detailed in a book written by Sue Diaz who partnered with Hashmi through the Women PeaceMakers Program to document her journey and experience. The book, published in 2013 by the University of San Diego, is titled Standing with our Sisters: The Life and Work of Rehana Hashmi.
Adrian proposed the idea for the AiR to the Carleton law department in 2019 and it was launched as a pilot program in the same year.
Adrian was inspired by the Scholars At Risk (SAR) program at Carleton, which is an initiative that protects scholars and advocates for academic freedom. Adrian previously sat as the chair of the founding committee in 2014.
Hashmi said obstacles with immigration delayed her start date. After obtaining her visa and work permit, she was appointed to the AiR program in January 2020.
New to Carleton, the AiR program aims to provide a platform where human rights activists from around the world can share their firsthand experiences with students and faculty members.
NEW: @cuLegalStudies welcomes human rights advocate Rehana Hashmi as the inaugural #ActivistInResidence!
Hashmi will teach students and provide them with access to her firsthand experience and an international perspective.
Read more: https://t.co/HN13fKniLO
— Carleton University News (@CUnewsroom) May 13, 2021
As an AiR, Hashmi has taught the fourth-year seminar Advanced Legal Topics: Patriarchy, Human Rights and Informal Justice twice alongside feminist activist Donna Johnson. The most recent iteration in winter semester 2021.
The course focused on centring women in discussions of customary justice, state laws and global legal frameworks. Hashmi and Johnson brought female human rights defenders to speak to the class about a variety of threats to women’s rights internationally.
Hashmi said the course is about recognizing “stories of resilience, stories of resistance, and how these mostly women are creating their ways, not just for themselves, but also helping other girls and women around the world.”
Omar Housany, a recent graduate from the department of law and legal studies and human rights said Hashmi’s course was his favorite from his time at Carleton.
Before taking Hashmi’s course, Housany said he started focusing more on law as a career path but the course reignited his passion for human rights and activism.
“Rehana taught me that being a human rights activist and caring about a cause bigger than yourself is the most honourable thing you can do,” Housany said.
As a result, Housany said he became more engaged with human rights stories in the media and donated to more charities.
Nick Hayes, who also graduated in 2021 with a degree in law and legal studies, said the course encourages students to speak against injustice and be more aware of human rights issues.
“I’m not an activist, but that course really empowers you and it makes you want to go out and do something and create change in the world,” Hayes said.
In addition to her teaching, Hashmi is working on an interview series highlighting the works of other human rights activists.
Just released: check out the first two interviews of the Activist in Residence Interview Series: (1) Rehana Hashmi, a Pakistani human rights activist and (2) @CU_History Prof. Chinnaiah Jangam, a Dalit activist and scholar. https://t.co/gFfVOo3ftk #airprogram pic.twitter.com/AZbcW4p6x5
— Carleton Law and Legal Studies (@cuLegalStudies) May 14, 2021
“[Human rights activists] are resources. They are knowledge [that] can be tapped and the students can learn a lot from their lived experience,” Hashmi said.
The series is on the AiR program page to make it accessible to the larger community at Carleton, associate professor and chair of the law department Vincent Kazmierski said.
Hashmi said she encourages everyone to speak out against injustice and human rights violations by writing to their government officials and human rights advocacy groups.
“Not everybody can be an activist on the road,” Hashmi said. “But you have to play your role whether you are a lawyer, whether you are a journalist, whether you are in social development. Wherever you are doing your job, see that you are protecting human rights.”
Featured image by Spencer Colby.
