Balchin was born in England on 24 May 1962.[2] Her mother Yovanka Balchin (later Jane),née Tomich, was a Yugoslavian refugee and a journalist. Her father waspsychologist and writerNigel Balchin (1908–1970). She spent some of her childhood with her mother's family in Yugoslavia,[3] and also spent time inGlemsford, Suffolk.[4]
Balchin graduated from theLondon School of Economics in 1983 with a B.Sc. in government, having studied Russian government and history.[3]
After graduating, Balchin moved to Pakistan to work as a journalist, and lived there for 17 years. During this time she became involved in women's rights, and wrote on the conflict between Pakistani and Bangladeshi law and domestic legislation, with particular focus on human rights violations.[5] She publishedWomen, law and society: an action manual for NGOs and editedA handbook on family law in Pakistan.[3] Balchin later reflected on this time as "the beginning of a love affair with the topic of Muslim family laws."[3]
Balchin returned to the UK in 2000, and helped to establish the UK office ofWomen Living Under Muslim Laws and the Muslim Women's Network UK, of which she was chair.[6] She raised awareness of how Muslim women inBolton who were wed bylocal Imams may not be legally married in civil law.[7] She was also critical of the British application ofSharia law, writing that:[8]
"What is being applied in Britain by the 'Sharia Councils' is an interpretation which fuses the worst aspects of a Hanafi Muslim tradition (that is no longer the law in Bangladesh, Pakistan or Egypt), with the worst aspects of traditions from non Hanafi schools ... to produce something that is uniquely British and that is unrecognisable for Muslims in contexts outside Europe."
Balchin was also co-founder ofMusawah, the "Sisters in Islam" in Malaysia[1] was involved with Women Against Fundamentalism, and was a senior research consultant with theAssociation for Women's Rights in Development (AWID) on their "Resisting and Challenging Religious Fundamentalism" project from 2007 until her death.[9] She was a co-founder of openDemocracy 50.50.[2]
Balchin, Cassandra, ed. (1994).A handbook on family law in Pakistan. Lahore: Shirkad Gah.OCLC1041948634.[3]
Balchin, Cassandra, ed. (1996).Women, law and society : an action manual for NGOs. Lahore: Shirkad Gah.OCLC717767272.[3]
Balchin, Cassandra, ed. (1999).Reaching out changing our lives : outreach strategies and Women Living Under Muslim Laws. Colombo: Muslim Women's Research & Action Forum.OCLC988864209.
Balchin, Cassandra. The Network ‘Women Living Under Muslim Laws’: Strengthening local struggles through cross-boundary networking.Development 45, pp. 126–131 (2002).[11]
Balchin, Cassandra (2007). "'Muslim Women' and 'Moderate Muslims': British policy and the strengtheningof religious absolutist control over gender development". In Moncrieffe, Joy; Eyben, Rosalind (eds.).The power of labelling : how people are categorized and why it matters. London: Earthscan. pp. 113–127.ISBN9781844073955.[12]
