Aarefa Johari

Indian journalist exposing systemic discrimination against Muslim women

Aarefa Johari is an award-winning journalist from Mumbai whose investigative reporting since 2020 has exposed deep-rooted systemic discrimination against Muslim women in India. Her 2021 series The Invisible Majority for Scroll.in revealed how religious minorities are excluded from government welfare programs. This groundbreaking work led to policy reviews by India's National Commission for Women.

In 2022, Johari uncovered systemic failures in India's maternal healthcare system through her BBC investigation, which showed Muslim women face double the maternal mortality rates of Hindu counterparts. This reporting prompted the Supreme Court to order state-level audits.

Johari's 2023 book Veiled Injustice (co-authored with Dr. Zareen Juma) combines her journalism with academic research to document legal barriers faced by Muslim women. Her work has inspired the creation of the MWR Trust, providing legal aid to 800+ women annually. She was named one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in 2024 for her "courageous truth-telling".