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Meera Samanther
President: 2011 - 2015 (Two Terms)
Meera Samanther read Law and completed a Master of Laws with a focus on Intellectual Property and Shipping Law before beginning her career as a commercial litigator at Shearn Delamore and Co. In 1995, she joined the Women's Aid Organisation (WAO), where she became a leading advocate on laws and policies affecting women.
Meera rejoined legal practice to handle human rights cases for WAO and the women's movement through the Joint Action Group on Gender Equality (JAG), working on cases involving domestic violence, rape, statutory rape, migrant worker abuse, and constitutional rights related to religious conversion. She was elected President of WAO in 2000 and was appointed Co-Chair of the Law and Policy Sub-Committee of the National Steering Committee on Violence Against Women, contributing to the reform of Malaysia's Domestic Violence Act.
In 2001, she played a pivotal role in advocating to the then-Minister of Women, Family and Community Development for the inclusion of gender discrimination in Article 8 of the Federal Constitution, a milestone for the women's movement in Malaysia. In 2006, she was part of a six-member NGO delegation that submitted a report to CEDAW in New York.
Meera sits on the International Advisory Council of the Coalition of Sexual and Bodily Rights in Asia. She has also been part of the Harapan OKU Law Reform Group, working to redraft the Persons with Disability Act. She is a regular trainer in Feminist Litigation Strategy, working primarily with pupils in chambers.
In 2014, she initiated a collaboration with the Malaysian Bar to conduct a baseline survey on the working conditions of male and female lawyers in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, examining discrimination and sexual harassment in the profession.
Meera served two consecutive terms as President of AWL from 2011 to 2015 and continues to be an active member of the Executive Committee.

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