BBC 100 Women 2018 list, which features 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world, has honoured Pakistani politician Krishna Kumari Kohli. Kumari, a member of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), is also the first-ever senator from a scheduled case.
The list includes women who are leaders, trailblazers and everyday heroes from over 60 countries from the ages of 15 to 94.
Writing about the Pakistani leader, BBC says, “Krishna was elected to the Pakistan Senate after campaigning for women’s rights, having previously been forced into bonded labour for three years.”
Born in 1979, Krishna hails from Nagarparkar, a village in Tharparkar where women are to date deprived of basic facilities. She battled hunger and poverty early in her life and was also a victim of bonded labour.
Despite her hardships, Krishna continued to strive for a better future and educated herself at a ‘run-down’ school in her neighbourhood and received her master’s degree in sociology from University of Sindh in 2013.
Though she married when she was only in ninth grade, she completed her education and credits her husband and in-laws for being supportive and encouraging. Kumari has actively campaigned against bonded labour, sexual harassment at workplaces, and has advocated for the rights of women and the people of her village.