Nasreen Sheikh was born in a small village on the border of Nepal and India where women are treated as slaves. She escaped from her village at a young age and went to Nepal with her family, where she learned to sew as a child worker. She later created a sewing collective in Nepal, called Local Women’s Handicrafts, which teaches women independence.
Sheikh will share life experiences as a child laborer, and how one person can make a change with the support of many others, at a talk titled “What Happens When You Say Yes To Your Intuition” at 6 p.m. Monday, November 13, in Turner Hall, room 201.
Sheikh, the only woman to escape arranged marriages in her village, is also the founder of Local Organizations Comprised of Women Offering Mentorship (L.O.C.W.O.M.), a non-profit organization that helps with women’s health, education, hygiene, and teaching occupational skills such as sewing. Her work has been the subject of profiles in Forbes, Cosmo, and The Huffington Post. Her work has also been highlighted by Amnesty International, Footsteps in Asia, and Popular Resistance.
Sheikh preaches humanity and wants to bring awareness to the violations of women’s rights in villages both in India and Nepal.
The event is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by the Department of Family & Consumer Sciences. For additional information, contact Jenifer Banning at jbannin@ilstu.edu.
