Emma Fulu was born in 1978 in Melbourne, and is a citizen of both Australia and the Maldives. After a doctorate at the University of Melbourne, she first worked as an expert on gender-based violence for the United Nations. From 2004, Fulu lived in the Maldives for several years and worked for the Ministry of Gender and Family. In 2015 she founded the feminist agency Equality Institute, which is dedicated to the worldwide prevention of violence against women. Fulu lives in Melbourne.