Khalida Brohi

Khalida Brohi is a Pakistani women's rights activist and social entrepreneur. A member of the Brahvi indigenous tribe of Balochistan, she works to empower women through economic skills and education.

Early life and education

Brohi grew up in a small village located within the province of Balochistan. Her parents participated in an exchange marriage known as watta satta, where her mother was 9 years old and her father was 13. She was born two years after this union. Brohi became the first girl in her village to attend school, which also made her the first educated member of her tribe. Although she grew up in poverty, her parents sought better opportunities for their children by moving the family from a mud home in Kotri to Hyderabad in Sindh province.

The family lived in a slum community where her father worked various jobs, including a role as a part-time journalist. He earned approximately $6 per month to support the household. Brohi and her brother attended school using the limited funds her father provided. After moving many times, the family eventually settled in the slums of Karachi. She intended to study medicine to become the first doctor in her tribe—an unusual path for girls at the time. However, her life changed when her cousin and good friend were killed in an honor killing for falling in love with a boy who was not her betrothed.

Career

At age 16, Brohi left school to pursue justice for her cousin and other victims of honor killings. She began her activism by writing poetry about these experiences. She read her work at any available event to share her message. In 2008, she joined WAKE UP, an international organization dedicated to ending domestic violence. Using Facebook, she organized rallies to pressure the Pakistani government to close legal loopholes regarding abuse. This campaign gained thousands of international followers and helped raise awareness about honor killings.

Brohi later realized that her global awareness efforts were not reaching the specific communities suffering from violence. She responded by launching the Youth and Gender Development Program (YGDP). Supported by the UNHRC, this initiative expanded from weekly discussions into skills-training programs for men and women. Participants learned computer skills and cottage industry manufacturing while studying women's rights under Islam and the law. This success led her to found the Sughar Empowerment Society in 2009.

Sughar means "skilled, confident woman" in Urdu. The non-profit helps Pakistani women achieve economic and personal growth through traditional embroidery work sold to the fashion industry. By 2013, the organization operated 23 centers that served 800 women. Brohi aimed to include 1 million women in the program within ten years. One initiative under Sughar was the creation of a tribal fashion brand called Nomads, which debuted at an international fashion show in 2012. Despite her success, she has faced threats of violence, including being shot at and bombed.

Personal life

In 2015, Brohi married David Barron, an American convert to Islam. Their union was a rare love marriage due to their different social and cultural backgrounds. The couple now resides in the United States. Together, they founded The Chai Spot in Sedona, Arizona. This social enterprise promotes Pakistani arts and hospitality while providing opportunities for youth and women in Pakistan. They opened a second location in Manhattan in 2018.

Awards and recognition

Brohi has received numerous accolades for her social entrepreneurship and activism. She was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in both 2014 and 2016. In 2014, she became a fellow with the MIT Media Lab. Her life was also featured in the 2014 documentary Seeds of Change by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. She delivered a TED talk at TEDGlobal 2014 regarding her work against honor killings.

Other honors include the Young Champion Award from the National University of Singapore in 2010 and the Women of Excellence Award from Ladies Fund Pakistan in 2014. She also received the Martin Luther King Angel Award from The King Center in 2014. In 2012, she won the Young Women in Business Award from the Government of Sindh. Her recognition continues through various fellowships and international leadership awards.