Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Feminist pioneer Maha Abu Dayyeh was born in the city of Jerusalem on August 24, 1951. She completed her studies at Schmidt Girls’ College, obtained a bachelor’s degree in English language and history from a university in the United States of America, and worked as a teacher at Birzeit University and the Tira Teachers’ Institute. She then served as director of the Quakers Legal Services Center; It is the first center to provide legal assistance to Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
Abu Dayyah was known for her great activity in the feminist field. She worked to establish the “Women’s Center for Legal and Social Guidance” during the outbreak of the first Palestinian Intifada, in 1991 AD. It is a center concerned with the social issues of Palestinian women, and works to enhance the role and status of women in public life, especially in the political field, within the struggle movement for the rights of the Palestinian people. .
The main idea of establishing the center was to provide a national and safe haven for abused women, and to provide assistance to them as a necessity arising from the circumstances of the first and second intifadas.
The Center has developed to adapt to the various stages of time it has gone through in terms of political, economic, and global changes, and has become a pioneering institution working to consolidate a democratic Palestinian society, based on the foundations of equality between men and women, and consolidating the principles of social justice and human rights.
Abu Dayyeh also contributed to establishing and activating the “Council of Palestinian Human Rights Organizations.” It contributed to supporting other local, regional and international institutions. She was a member of the board of directors of a number of Palestinian human rights institutions, including: the Agricultural Relief Society in Jerusalem, and the Jerusalem Center for Legal Aid and Human Rights. She was also a board member of an international jury supporting the rights of women and girls. In 2014, she was elected as a Commissioner to the Board of Commissioners of the Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights; She received many international awards, such as: “French State Prize for Human Rights” in 1998 AD and “Woman of the Year Award 2002 AD” in the United States.
She died on January 9, 2015; Many official and popular institutions, and Palestinian and Arab human rights institutions, mourned her death. Considering her as one of the most prominent Arab activists who contributed greatly to advancing the human rights movement.
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Achievements and Awards
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