Samenua Sesher speaks with renowned writer and activist Amrit Wilson

Amrit was a founding member of the UK's first Asian feminist collective, Awaz. 

Awaz campaigned against the infamous ‘virginity tests’ performed by immigration officials on women arriving at Heathrow airport on marriage visas. They also supported South Asian women’s workplace struggles and founded the first refuge for Asian women. Amrit was also a member of OWAAD, the Organisation of Women of African and Asian Descent. 

She is the author of four books, including Finding a Voice: Asian Women in Britain, which was awarded the Martin Luther King Memorial Prize in 1978. 

Amrit was nominated by the journalist Ruchira Sharma. Ruchira is a staff writer at The i. Her stories cover online culture, race and mental health, and her work has been featured in VICE, The Guardian, New Statesman and Broadly. She writes: ‘I have nominated Amrit Wilson because she has actively created a better world through her activism and journalism. She has proven that both can be used as a tool to implement tangible change for marginalised communities and in particular South Asian women.’ 

A quick warning for listeners that this interview contains references to sexual assault that might be upsetting for some listeners. 

This episode is presented by Samenua Sesher and produced by Stella Sabin. It is a production for the Museum of Colour - https://museumofcolour.org.uk/

The music in this series is by Soweto Kinch.

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