Tahmena Bokhari

Tahmena Bokhari is a Pakistani-Canadian beauty pageant titleholder and social worker.^[1] She was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and spent several childhood years in Faisalabad, Pakistan. She won Mrs. Pakistan World 2010^[2] in Toronto and became the third Pakistani woman in history to represent women on an international platform. When she won Mrs. United Nation International 2010, she became the first Pakistani woman to win an international pageant title for Pakistan.^[3]

Social work

She obtained her master's in social work^[4] from the University of Toronto^[5] and subsequently traveled abroad, working with orphans, victims of poverty, and natural disaster survivors.^[6] She worked in the relief efforts following the October 8, 2005 earthquake in Kashmir, including serving as a counsellor and translator for foreign doctors.^[1]

As a college professor, Bokhari teaches social work at Seneca and George Brown colleges.^[1] She has worked as a consultant to governments and organizations, and as a public speaker and writer in the Greater Toronto Area. She focuses on diversity, women's movement, health (particularly cancer), and issues involving immigrants and settlement.^[7]

Bokhari is a strong advocate for ending violence against women.^[8] She has spoken out on the 2007 murder of a young Pakistani woman, Aqsa Parvez, which occurred in Mississauga, Ontario,^[9] and has challenged the term "honour killing" popularized by the media since this murder.^[10] Bokhari has also written about the issues of violence along with other social issues in her quest to work towards social justice.^[11][12]

Following another high-profile case of the Shafia family, Bokhari stated, "Like in the case of Aqsa Pervez, it is too easy to blame one man or one family. This family and this man are a product of society and we are all responsible. There is a range of violent acts and gender-based hate against girls and women that we condone everyday, but somehow when women get killed and it makes the news, we are left shocked. The murder of women is just the next step in a long range of socially acceptable norms and mores that we don't challenge. The conversation we need to be having is about the manifestations of patriarchy we see in various aspects of our lives, including religion, culture, language and media."

Bokhari is a strong advocate for diversity and inclusivity as well as a trainer and consultant on these issues.^[13]

Mrs. Pakistan World 2010

Bokhari won the title of Mrs. Pakistan World 2010, the fourth winner of this title.^[14] She plans to use this platform to raise a larger awareness of the issues she spent previous years working on, as well as be a spokesperson for Pakistani women balancing family, community, career and hobbies.^[15]

Her previous pageant experience includes winning Mrs. Kohinoor 2009.^[16]

Mrs. United Nations International 2010

On November 13, 2010, Bokhari was sent to participate in the Mrs. United Nations pageant^[17] in Negril, Jamaica.^[18] Bokhari stood out in her performance and won the pageant, and brought back the first title for Pakistan.^[19] She was the first woman from Pakistan to win an international title.^[20]

Other

As hobbies, Bokhari enjoys fashion designing, writing, dance, and photography.^[21]

References

External links

• Tahmena Bokhari Official Mrs. Pakistan World blog
• Tahmena Bokhari Social Work official blog
• Fashion Central interview