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Contributing
Writers - May 2011 Issue |
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Durkhanai
Ayubi is a senior policy analyst of
Afghan origin who migrated with her family to
Australia in the 1980s, at the height of the
Soviet-Afghan War. She believes that the pen is
mightier than the sword; this spurs her passion
for social commentary and writing about the
experiences of minorities. She is ‘a lover of
all things challenging and a rejector of all
things dull’. She holds a Bachelor of
Science, and an Honours degree in Chemistry from
the Flinders University of South Australia, and is
currently undertaking a Masters in Business
Administration at RMIT.
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Tasneem
Chopra is Chairperson of the Australian
Muslim Women’s Centre for Human Rights.
‘Equality without Exception’ is the centre’s
ethos. This new human rights organisation was
formerly the Islamic Women’s Welfare Centre of
Victoria, and Tasneema’s involvement goes back
almost twenty years to its inception. She's an
advocate for social justice issues as they impact
upon Muslim women and a strong proponent of the
contributions they have made, and continue to
make, to broader society.
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Inas
Hassan was born in Alexandria and came
to Australia in 1967. She spent her early years
growing up in Bendigo. She attended Melbourne
University where she did a BA (Hons) majoring in
Middle Eastern Studies and Psychology and also
studied Administrative Law at the Australian
National University. Before returning to Egypt she
worked in Canberra as a Legal Advocate for the
Department of Veteran Affairs and the Department
of Administrative Affairs. Inas lives in Cairo
with her husband and three children.
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Dr
Shakira Hussein is undertaking a
McKenzie postdoctoral fellowship at the University
of Melbourne on Muslim women, gendered violence
and racialised political discourse. She completed
her PhD at the Australian National University and
contributes regularly to New Matilda and Crikey
on issues including gender, multiculturalism and
Islam.
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Amra
Pajalic is an award-winning author born
in Melbourne's Western suburbs to parents of
Bosnian background. A life-long reader, she
realised early on that books representing her kind
of story were rare: books about being from a
migrant background and the family expectations
that come with this, while at heart being
‘Aussie’. In her writing she relates stories
that might not otherwise be heard. She holds a
Diploma of Arts in Professional Writing and
Editing and a BA.
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Brynna
Rafferty-Brown is passionate about
languages and travel as tools to help her better
understand and help make a difference in the
world. She has spent time living in Indonesia,
Morocco, Syria and Spain and has travelled
throughout Southeast Asia. She speaks fluent
Indonesian and can hold what she calls ‘a decent
conversation’ in Arabic and Spanish. Brynna
initiated the ‘Lombok Kids’ project, working
with refugee and underprivileged children in
Indonesia, and is currently employed as a research
officer at the La Trobe Refugee Research Centre at
Melbourne’s La Trobe University.
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Shamim
Samani lives in
Perth where she works at the Office of
Multicultural Interests. She comes from Kenya and
completed her Masters
in Ecologically Sustainable Development at Murdoch
University and her PhD at Curtin University,
Perth. Her doctorate examined challenges facing
Muslim women especially in a post-9/11 world.
Shamim describes herself as passionate about the
empowerment of women and works as a volunteer in
the community.
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Professor
Samina Yasmeen is Director of the Centre
for Muslim States and Societies and lectures in
Political Science and International Relations in
the School of Social and Cultural Studies at the
University of Western Australia. She is a
specialist in political, and strategic
developments in South Asia, and the role of Islam
in world politics. She has served on numerous
government committees and was an active member of
the Australian Multicultural Advisory Committee.
Her research on social inclusion, and
exclusion dynamics, focuses primarily on Muslim
women and Citizenship in Australia.
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