Sharma Aurelien

Sharma Aurelien (she/her) is a lifelong women’s rights activist specializing in the exploitation and exclusion of women and girls in her home country of Haiti. For the past seven years, she has worked for Solidarite Fanm Ayisyèn-SOFA, a Haitian non-profit organization helping women escape experiences of subordination, domination, discrimination, exclusion, and exploitation.

Since 2020, Sharma has been serving as SOFA’s Executive Director. She has contributed to the expansion of SOFA’s intervention programs, increased access to legal and medical services for victims of gender-based violence, spoken out against corruption within the Haitian government and judicial system, and raised awareness of the challenges facing Haitian women and girls.

Sharma is committed to helping women and girls escape violence and poverty through concrete action and services such as the support provided by reception centers (Dovanjou Centers) and access to income-generating activities offered by SOFA to abused girls and women. She has also been working on advocacy for Savane Diane land grab issue with Global Justice Clinic of New York University on behalf of SOFA to help members reclaim their land.

Through her work at SOFA, Sharma is also affiliated with the International Planned Parenthood Federation, Red de Salud de las Mujeres Latino, World March of Women 2000, and the International Federation for Human Rights.

Sharma has also worked in psychosocial services in order to help people overcome their trauma, including HIV counseling for HIV-affected patients on behalf of Centres pour le Développement et la Santé before her experiences with SOFA. She holds a BA in Sociology from Université d'État d'Haiti and a Master’s of Sociology from École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris, France.