Sabrina Mowlah-Baksh: A life of activism

WHEN the Community Development Fund department of the Ministry of Community Development closed in 2017, Sabrina Mowlah-Baksh thought it was simply the end of another chapter in her public service career. But a colleague soon alerted her to an opening at the Coalition Against Domestic Violence (CADV), suggesting it would be a natural fit.

She joined the CADV in 2018 as the general manager and, due to her training, experience and commitment to ending gender-based violence (GBV), realised it was perfect for her.

That moment would shape the next phase of her lifelong mission to protect and empower women, work that would eventually earn her the Medal for the Development of Women (Silver) on Republic Day 2025. The award recognised her more than four decades of leadership and advocacy for gender equality, community development and women’s rights in TT.

Yet, when asked how she felt about receiving the national honour, her answer was not what one would expect.

“The general assumption is that I am supposed to feel elated about this national recognition but quite honestly, I do not know how to feel. I have more feelings of misgivings than affirmation even after four decades of working with women.”

Her reflection was not born of false modesty, but because she is aware that, despite her years of tireless advocacy and CADV contributing significantly to the GBV landscape over the decades, the struggle for equality must continue.

“My individual work cannot be viewed as set and apart from the collective efforts of other women equally deserving of national recognition. If anything, it caused deep introspection. I keep asking myself did I do enough? Should I have done things differently? What was the impact of this work as 40 years later, I am still advocating for the same thing, women’s equality – for women and girls to be safe and have the opportunity to actualise their full potential.

“Women are still experiencing high levels of violence, the gender pay gap is still an issue, they are still under-represented in electoral politics or left out of decision-making processes, etc. As I do this interview, I am mourning the loss of a neighbour who was just violently killed... How should I feel?”

Rooted in lived experience

For Mowlah-Baksh, her commitment to women’s rights is not abstract, but inspired by her experiences as a young woman growing up in Marabella.

“I was born and grew up in Marabella. My parents managed to get by even with a meagre income, but, my father ensured that all his children made it to school,” she said proudly.

“First, Marabella Girls’ Anglican and then Pleasantville Senior Secondary. I am proud to be a product of the secondary school system. I was like salt, in everything … Red Cross, Girl Guides, school choir, drama club. I went on to play cricket for several ladies’ teams, played the steel pan ... I was never the traditional average Indo-Trinidadian girl. Always strong in my views and never afraid to express them. These experiences provided critical learning opportunities and was used as a pathway out of poverty.”

She also did some work with the National Joint Action Committee (NJAC), and was a member of the Marabella Presbyterian Youth Group, where she was exposed to people like Rev Knolly Clarke and the late Rev Dr Idris Hamid at youth camps, who helped revolutionise her thinking about mission and realise faith could be a force for social change.

Her childhood involvement in community activities opened her eyes to how women were treated as a result of patriarchal systems, leadership and the power of having a voice, but it was witnessing the quiet suffering of women around her that planted the seed for her life’s work.

“I witnessed violence in families around me. Women were treated as servants and many led sad lives, struggling to live and survive. Their lives revolved around their families alone. This never sat right with me and I could not imagine that this was a life I wanted for myself.”

She recalled one terrifying instance where that violence came a hair’s breath from touching her personally. She said when she was 17, she walking home through a track after a youth group meeting. She suddenly heard running footsteps behind her so she turned around to find stranger with a knife.

“I did not know his true intent but immediately my survival skills kicked in and I pretended to know him, asking why he was running and if he was looking for someone.

“He became confused as he contemplated whether I knew him or not. I then said to him that I was on my way back from youth group meeting and told him to be careful in the track. He put the knife back and said, ‘Sorry, mistaken identity.’ The desire to change these circumstances does not go away especially when the situation for women and girls remain unchanged.”

Her observations, experiences and teachings came together to jump-start her work with women at the age of 17.

Finding her voice

Before her life took a turn toward activism, Mowlah-Baksh once dreamt of a different path. She initially wanted to be a journalist or a sport commentator, but she realised change was a process that needed a close working relationship with people.

From 1986 to 1996, she served as project facilitator for the Women and Youth with the Collaboration for Ecumenical Planning and Action in the Caribbean. There she was instrumental in building inter-generational and interfaith alliances to address the socioeconomic and spiritual needs of vulnerable communities, especially women, in communities including Beetham Estate, La Vega, Tableland, Cedros, Tabaquite and Biche.

Her early activism eventually intersected with politics, though it was not planned.

“I had strong political views but never contemplated entering representative politics as I was working with a faith-based non-profit organisation at the time. I was always a brave person, and while some men were planning a (political) meeting at my home I asked why there were no women speakers carded to speak at a public meeting.

“They laughed and said that they will put down my name then. I thought it was a joke and next thing my mother called me saying that she heard my name being announced as a speaker at a meeting in Marabella.”

She agreed to speak “only to share views as a woman and mother,” but that one speech led to requests for several more. A few months later, she was approached to be a candidate for local government elections, which she agreed to with the support of her husband.

She was elected as a councillor in San Fernando in 1996 and continued to serve until 2003, and was deputy mayor of the San Fernando City Corporation from 2012-2013.

Wanting to do her job as a councillor better, she studied political science and international relations at UWI, earning her first degree in 2003 and a master’s in 2013.

Since that time, she became a member of the TT Association of Local Government Authorities, the Caribbean Association of Local Government, worked as a Personal Assistant to the chairman of the Penal/Debe Regional Corporation and, as a facilitator with Caribbean Women in Leadership for 15 years, she mentored over 200 future women leaders.

She also partnered with Dr Catherine Ali, another 2025 Medal for the Development of Women (Silver) awardee, to pioneer the development of a gender policy for the Penal/Debe Regional Corporation.

Mowlah-Baksh served on numerous local and regional committees, and is still a member of the Caribbean Observatory Steering Committee, the Beth-Rapha Mission Group, the Women, Peace and Security Focal Point in the Caribbean, as well as international groups Women Mediators Across the Commonwealth, International Civil Society Action Network and Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership.

The Vistabella resident has also been recognised for her work by UN TT as part of their International Women’s Day celebration this year, by the Joan B Kroc Institute, University of San Diego when she was selected for the Visiting Scholar Award in 2017, and by the US Department of State to benefit from its International Visitor Leadership Programme in 2010.

As general manager of the CADV, she remains deeply involved in advocacy, training and partnerships aimed at reducing gender-based violence across the country. But she also works on women’s issues on her personal time.

“I work with some international organisations on issues around women, peace and security promoting the work of women peace-builders and mediators of conflict. I am also involved in the work of the Presbyterian Church through its Beth-Rapha Mission and do some lay preaching.

“From a personal perspective, I am trying to plot out what I want to focus on and to what extent I can continue to give in the way I have been accustomed to.”

Balancing dreams and the future

Mowlah-Baksh told Newsday she got married at age 25, and the couple have two children, Khadijah and Elijah, ages 33 and 31 respectively. Yet her public achievements often overshadow the personal sacrifices she has made along the way.

“Balance was very difficult. I remember rehearsing for Panorama (with south-based single-pan band Shades in Steel) when my daughter was a few months old. I left her with my mother to practice. Elijah was a baby when I entered into politics. My campaign team organised a cot in my campaign office so that the children can play or sleep while I was campaigning.”

She said at one time she had a full-time job, was studying full-time at UWI and was serving as an elected councillor.

“The demands were very high but my husband picked up the slack. I stretched myself immensely. This was a difficult period as I pursued this non-traditional path as an Indo-Trinidadian woman. Needless to say, non-conformance to expectations as a woman and mother sent many a tongues wagging.”

But even as she helps shape national policy and community interventions, she admits that her work continues to take a personal toll. Now, after four decades of work across faith, politics and advocacy, she says she’s ready for a quieter, but not silent, season.

“It’s time for me to experience some bouts of isolophilia (love of solitude). Even though these words sound strange to my ears. The years of work, especially in the area of Gender Based Violence takes a toll on one’s well-being. The mental, physical and emotional fatigue coupled with a feeling of helplessness in not being able to do more impacts my motivational levels from time to time.

“But just as there were other women and men who nurtured me or challenged me to explore me full potential in my own journey, I have a responsibility to do the same for other young advocates. As long as I have breath and will, I will continue to work on my terms on a project that I have in mind. My priority too is to spend as much quality time as I can with my grandson.”