Saphié Ashtiany

Born in Iran and sent to England as a young child, Saphié was largely educated in the UK where she has made her home. At university she studied philosophy and politics and then international relations. She then worked for the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants and the UN High Commission for Refugees before qualifying and practising as a solicitor with a special interest in discrimination law. 

She has served as an equal opportunities commissioner, an ambassador for diversity in public life and on the commission of inquiry into women, power and inequality at the London School of Economics. She is currently on the board of a number of arts and other charities working to improve the lives of people in the UK. 

She is keenly interested in classical music and support for live performance, and in improving opportunities to nurture and develop talent in the arts, especially in music understanding and performance. 

“Until relatively recently it was both clear and non-controversial that there are two sexes. And, where relevant, legislation and public policy and practice was universally predicated on that premise. However, it is increasingly apparent, and a matter of concern, that an activist agenda has been promulgated over several years that seeks to dismantle sex based provisions and protections partly by attacking factual reality and insisting on a different framing narrative whereby to a greater or lesser extent people can identify into (and out of) their “gender”. The negative consequences are only slowly being revealed in a whole raft of areas. And they are asymmetrical in that their negative impact is predominantly on women and girls. I think it’s really important for these issues to be properly illuminated and where possible addressed.”