Rafia Qaseem Baig

Rafia Qaseem Baig (Urdu:رافعہ قاسم بیگ) is a Pakistani police officer who works in explosive ordnance disposal. She was the only woman among the 31 police officials selected for an elementary course named the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), in Nowshera — a programme centred on handling and defusing explosives. Rafia does this job because she believes this way she is defying the stereotypes because according to her she had never seen a Pakistani woman a member of Bomb Disposal Unit(BDU) before. "If KP's women are so daring, [imagine] what level [of courage] male soldiers will possess," she says. Her inspiration to motivate her to choose this path came after the blasts near the sessions court. Looking at her dedicated passion for her country, the Government of KP encourages women from different fields to break ground and join this male dominated profession. Early life and education Rafia Qaseem Baig was born in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. She holds two master degrees in Economics and International relations. As of 2016 she was enrolled in a program for bachelors of Law program as well. “There are plenty of jobs out there, but this one requires a special kind of courage,” she said. At a time when terrorism was at its zenith in the country, Rafia has served as a police constable for several years in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.