Shivana Jorawar

Shivana Jorawar (ca. 1984) is a lawyer, reproductive justice advocate, and community organizer. She is of Asian-American Indo-Caribbean heritage and grew up in the Bronx, New York.

Biography

Shivana Jorawar was born ca. 1984 grew up in The Bronx and attended high school in midtown Manhattan. She credits the tragedy of 9/11 with shaping her identity as an Asian-American and her decision to become an activist.^[1] She earned a BA in Political Science from Fordham University and from 2006 to 2008, Jorawar worked at Sakhi for South Asian Women, assisting South Asian survivors of domestic violence. In 2007, she co-founded Jahajee Sisters, an organization based in New York City to build empowerment for Indo-Caribbean women, and serves on the organization's steering committee. In 2011, she graduated from Emory University School of Law.^[2] At Emory, Jorawar co-chaired the school's Law Students for Reproductive Justice chapter, and served on the board of Emory's LGBTQ legal association, OUTLaw.^[3] She has worked as a legal clerk in the New York State Division of Human Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Jorawar worked for four years at the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum in Washington, D.C.,^[4] leading that organizations's reproductive justice programming. She currently serves as the Federal Policy Director at the National Abortion Federation.

Jorawar has written numerous articles and lectured on the experiences of Asian-Americans/Pacific Islander Americans and the law, including articles on feticide prosecutions,^[5] abortion^[6] women's rights to control their own reproductive choices,^[7] She has been interviewed by mainstream media in an attempt to understand the issues which impact minority and immigrant women's lives.^[8][9]

She has studied Indian and Indo-Caribbean dance styles and written poetry that speaks to the trauma and resilience of women in her community.^[10]

References