Shahira Fakher was born and lives in Jaffa. She is an Arab, Muslim and Palestinian social and feminist activist. She is the first Muslim woman who participated in the Muslim council for the Arab population in Jaffa. For many years she volunteered in children cancer departments in hospitals in Tel-Aviv.
At 2013 she earned her Bachelors in Social Sciences from the Open University in Ramat Gan and completed a MA degree at the Academic College of Tel-Aviv Jaffa in Family Studies at 2019.
Since 2018, Shahira is the director of the Arous Elbahar organization (Bride of the Sea) which promotes the financial independence of women in Jaffa.
Shahira have carried out research on the phenomenon of divorce among Palestinian women in Jaffa, conducting in-depth interviews with women – including women who are of lower socio-economic status and without post-secondary education, and women of middle-class status with university degrees. Her findings have made a significant contribution to the field by connecting women’s experiences in their divorce to both gender discrimination and institutionalized discrimination that they suffer as a result of being a national minority.
Shahira’s passion in fashion led her to initiate a secondhand clothing pop-up store as part of her activism. While raising awareness among Arab women about fair fashion industry, the store allows families to buy clothes at fair prices while also providing the ngo Arous Elbahar with an additional source of income.