Our fellow Saba Khan is a practicing criminal lawyer from Delhi.

Her very first experience of discrimination was as a girl child. Her relatives believed that the first born should preferably be a boy.

But Sabas struggle had just only begun. Another major point of conflict within her family was her decision to Pursue LLB which was not favoured by her relatives who questioned her father's decision to let his daughter study law.

Law was seen as unsuitable for a girl, it was believed that the money spent on her education should have been invested in her dowry instead as marriage is a girl's ultimate goal.

Saba has two younger sisters. It was believed if her parents “wasted so much money on her education what will happen to hers and sisters’ dowry?” . But her father was not impacted by these views and encouraged his daughters to pursue the courses of her choice.

While in college Saba was active in many extracurricular activities, she was a cadet in NCC and she volunteered with NSS. She also worked with an NGO and taught underprivileged children in slums.

After finishing her formal education, even in her professional space Saba felt that often female lawyers are not seen as competent and eligible compared to their male counterparts. Most of the high profile cases go to men.

She was influenced by Indian National Congress’s ideology, she admires the leadership and ideals. Which is why she applied for the Indira Fellowship.

She wants to use this platform for spread awareness among the prevalence of domestic violence.

She feels that “there lies a lack of sensitisation among the legal system and the police for victims of domestic violence.”

She has noticed that women also lack the agency to represent their interests as male family members seek to undermine the nature of violence perpetrated against women. “It usually happens in cases of rapes and sexual abuse that families try to change the narratives so that family honour is protected.

She wants to use this platform to make women more aware of their legal rights and wants the legal system to cater to the needs of victims beyond what's promised in the paper”.

Saba is also a research intern with the legal cell of Indira Fellowship.