Samra Zafar

Samra Zafar is a human rights advocate, speaker and writer, whose story of being a teen bride and survivor of domestic abuse became a bestselling memoir, "A Good Wife: Escaping the Life I Never Chose".

[5] At the age of sixteen,[6][4] Zafar was engaged to be married to a friend of the family's brother, who lived in Canada[7] and who was eleven years her senior.

[7] Zafar started being asked to speak at events[7] and in 2017 she wrote a personal essay for Toronto Life magazine that became the top long-form article of the year.

The article attracted the attention of publishers which lead HarperCollins to print her memoir called A Good Wife: Escaping the Life I Never Chose.

[12] The book has appeared on the bestseller lists of the Globe and Mail and the CBC[13][14][15] and has been optioned to be adapted to a TV series by Pier 21 films.

Zafar has presented at three[20] TED Talks,[4] one of which was "...named an all-time top 10 talk on gender-based violence..."[18] She has been asked to speak at events[4] such as at the Canadian Federation of University Women Etobicoke's sixth annual Valentine's Stop the Violence breakfast[9] and the University of Regina's Inspiring Leadership Forum.

[23] In May 2021, Zafar was named the Desmond Parker Outstanding Young Alumni Award winner at the University of Toronto,[17] which is given to past students who demonstrate excellence in community service and professional accomplishments.