Saturday, May 28 2005 11:50 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: Jasvinder Sanghera, an NRI who is the Asian affairs manager at the Refuge domestic violence charity has won the Asian Women of Achievement Award in London.

Sanghera ran away from home at the age of 15 to escape a forced marriage to someone she had never met. She lived in cars and bed-sits after hiding for eight years for fear of reprisals from her Sikh family.

But at the age of 24 she returned to her hometown of Derby where she put herself through university and set up a women's project from the front room of her student lodgings so that others did not have to go through such experiences alone.

After receiving the award at the London Hilton on Thursday (May 26, 2005) night Sanghera said, "I didn't feel like a victim of forced marriage after I ran away. I felt I had betrayed my family."

Among other winners was Nigat Awan, 50, from Manchester, who won the entrepreneur of the year award for her business initiatives over three decades despite suffering from cancer, motor neuron disease and temporary paralysis.

Shami Chakrabarti, director of the human rights organization Liberty, was awarded the Lloyds TSB award. Born in London in 1969, she is married with one son. She joined Liberty in September 2001, and spent the next two years campaigning against anti-terrorist measures brought in after 9/11. She writes and speaks on the need to create a "culture of respect for human rights" and maintains a high media profile.

The awards were launched six years ago by Pinky Lilani and Munir Samji, social workers, to recognize all levels of achievement by Asian women in Britain, including contributions to the worlds of medicine, law, the public sector, business and arts.

Sanghera, a mother of three, was joint winner with Sheetal Mehta, a former Microsoft executive who left the job to launch a fund to help women around the world with a charity called Global Partners.

Her early experiences left her with the ambition to help other women, although she still receives threats from her family, who have disowned her, Sanghera said.

Sudha Bhucher and Kristine Landon-Smith, founders and artistic directors of Tamasha Theatre, won the arts and culture award.

Lopa Patel, editor of redhotcurry.com received the media professional of the year award.

Shaheen Sardar Ali, Professor of law, University of Warwick was chosen for the public sector award while Ayesha Hazarika, stand-up comic received the young achiever of the year award.