AUTHOR · CAMPAIGNER · PATIENT VOICE
Human rights. Safeguarding. Patient voice.
British author and human-rights campaigner working across forced marriage, FGM, dishonour abuse, safeguarding and trigeminal neuralgia.
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Aneeta Prem MBE is a British author, human rights campaigner, magistrate and charity leader. She founded Freedom Charity and is Chief Executive of Trigeminal Neuralgia Association UK. Her work brings together law, education, safeguarding and lived experience.
She is the author of But It’s Not Fair and Cut Flowers, novels of friendship, courage and choice that help readers enter difficult human-rights subjects through story. Across every part of her work runs the same principle: people must be heard before silence becomes danger.
Aneeta’s work began with a determination to make hidden harm visible. Forced marriage, FGM and dishonour abuse are often concealed by fear, family pressure, isolation and the language used to excuse them. She has worked with children, survivors, schools, professionals, public bodies and policymakers to move these issues from private silence into public protection.
Her campaigning supported the movement to make forced marriage a criminal offence in England and Wales. She has also advocated for stronger protection against child marriage, virginity testing, hymenoplasty and other forms of coercion and control.
Her work in patient voice grew from a deeply personal experience. Severe facial pain went undiagnosed for years. That experience now informs her leadership for people living with trigeminal neuralgia and related facial pain conditions.
The subjects may appear different, but the failure is often the same: somebody is frightened, suffering or asking for help, and the system does not listen soon enough.
ANEETA’S PRINCIPLE
Aneeta’s public work is connected by five essential freedoms: the freedom to choose, refuse, leave, learn and be.
They were not harmed for honour. They were harmed because freedom was denied.Explore the Five Freedoms
Forced marriage, FGM and dishonour abuse are not cultural misunderstandings or private family matters. Aneeta’s work focuses on prevention, education, early intervention and the responsibility of institutions to act before harm escalates.
Explore human rightsAneeta lives with bilateral trigeminal neuralgia. Her experience of delayed diagnosis, treatment and continuing pain informs her work for earlier recognition, informed clinical pathways and a stronger patient voice.
Explore trigeminal neuralgiaAneeta’s novels begin with friendship, family and recognisable young lives. They invite readers into compelling stories while opening careful conversations about forced marriage, FGM, courage and the right to choose.
Read and buy the booksAneeta writes about the point at which private suffering becomes a public responsibility, and what governments, institutions and professionals must do differently.
Aneeta was born and raised in Bethnal Green, within the sound of Bow Bells, and grew up with deep family roots in Himachal Pradesh. Her father, Chandra Shekhar Prem, was an author, poet and educator. His belief in education as a route to independence shaped Aneeta’s understanding of freedom long before it became the centre of her public work.
In 2000, Aneeta helped her father bring his vision for the Republic College of India to life in Himachal Pradesh. He believed that girls who might otherwise be denied further education or expected to marry early should have the chance to continue learning and train as teachers.
Read Aneeta’s storyAneeta is available for selected television, radio, documentary, podcast, keynote and expert-commentary work. Journalists and producers can access broadcast clips, approved biographies and press images.
