Amani Haydar
image of woman standing in front of artworks of women's faces. The woman is wearing a dark red shirt, headscarf and is holding a copy of a book. the book cover is blue and pink with an illustration of a woman and the text reads 'The Mother Wound' and 'Amani Haydar'.

Writer, Artist, Advocate, Lawyer
2021 UTS Alumni Award - Law Award

Bachelor of Arts in Communication (Social Inquiry) Bachelor of Laws, 2012

Amani Haydar is a lawyer, writer and artist who makes a remarkable contribution to the community through her professional, volunteer, creative and advocacy work – despite having faced incredible trauma in her personal life. 

Amani has been a passionate advocate and campaigner for ending violence against women since her father murdered her mother in 2015. She takes a multidisciplinary approach to raising awareness about gender-based violence, law, policy and the effects of structural inequality on women. 

She serves on the board of the Bankstown Women’s Health Centre and in this capacity she worked with her local MP to lobby for changes to the law to allow for victims of domestic violence to access support. She has drafted submissions to the NSW Sentencing Council and advocated for changes to Parental Leave legislation. 

She has also been an Artist in Residence at Sweatshop, a literary movement devoted to empowering culturally and linguistically diverse communities through reading, writing and critical thinking.

Last year Amani was named 2020 Local Woman of the Year for Bankstown and was a finalist for the NSW Premier’s Woman of the Year Award. A Community Recognition Statement was also tabled in NSW Parliament in recognition of her advocacy. Amani’s writing and illustrations have been featured in a range of publications including ABC News Online and SBS Voices. She has contributed to a Walkley Award winning journalism series and been a finalist in the Archibald Prize for her painting. Her debut memoir The Mother Wound was published by Pan Macmillan in June 2021.

Amani was carving out a successful career as a litigator when her mother was murdered. Prior to graduating, she was a stand-out student at UTS who was already committed to making a difference.

In September 2021 Amani wrote a piece for ABC News detailing her personal experience of seeking paid parental leave in the week after the death of her mother. Read this crucial story here.

I would like to see greater sensitivity towards victims of crime and a deeper appreciation of the factors that shape the experience of homicide victims and witnesses in the legal process. I’m interested in how we might provide more holistic responses to people who have trauma as a result of crime victimisation.

Amani's memoir The Mother Wound is available from Pan Macmillan and Booktopia.

illustrated book cover of woman crouching and holding herself with her back to the viewpoint of the audience. The cover is blue. The colour of the woman's dress is bright pink.

'A magnificent and devastating work of art. There is a raging anger here, and a deep sorrow, but at the core Haydar gives us truths about love. This is one of the most important books I've ever read.' Bri Lee

'I am from a family of strong women.'

"Amani Haydar suffered the unimaginable when she lost her mother in a brutal act of domestic violence perpetrated by her father. Five months pregnant at the time, her own perception of how she wanted to mother (and how she had been mothered) was shaped by this devastating murder.

After her mother's death, Amani began reassessing everything she knew of her parents' relationship. They had been unhappy for so long - should she have known that it would end like this? A lawyer by profession, she also saw the holes in the justice system for addressing and combating emotional abuse and coercive control.

Amani also had to reckon with the weight of familial and cultural context. Her parents were brought together in an arranged marriage, her mother thirteen years her father's junior. Her grandmother was brutally killed in the 2006 war in Lebanon, adding complex layers of intergenerational trauma.

Writing with grace and beauty, Amani has drawn from this a story of female resilience and the role of motherhood in the home and in the world. In The Mother Wound, she uses her own strength to help other survivors find their voices."

WINNER OF THE 2021 SYDNEY MUSIC, ARTS & CULTURE (SMAC) AWARDS; 
WINNER OF THE VICTORIAN PREMIER'S LITERARY AWARD FOR NON-FICTION 2022;
LONGLISTED FOR THE WALKLEY BOOK AWARD 2021

Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Boorooberongal people of the Dharug Nation, the Bidiagal people and the Gamaygal people, upon whose ancestral lands our university stands. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands.