Watch the father grow up in a conservative family in Jhang, in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The threat of early marriage hung over his childhood like a cloud. But despite their traditional values, Dad’s parents were determined that all their children should get an education, and moved the family to Karachi so he could complete his degree. “I never thought I would work because I was never taught that we could work and be independent,” she says. “We always needed permission to do anything.”
The father thought that a master’s degree in law might delay the inevitable engagement, but shortly after completing the course, he discovered that his parents had arranged a marriage for him. She didn’t mind her new life of housework in a household she describes as “lower-middle class,” that is, until the abuse started. “That’s when my legal background reminded me that this was wrong,” he says. “Our laws, our constitution, everything protects me, so why did I put up with this? Why did I tolerate it?”
With the support of his family, the father left her husband and filed for divorce. But after years of domestic violence and abuse and no work experience, she struggled with a lack of confidence. “I had no idea that women who are divorced and have a child face these difficulties in a society like ours,” she says. When her ex-husband filed a custody case for their two-month-old baby, the father wasn’t sure how he would pay for a lawyer. It was then that her father reminded her that she was also a lawyer.
The father used his title to gain custody of his only child. In the process, she realized how many women in Pakistan faced years of systemic violence and injustice. But what bothered her the most was the digital divide.
Before their marriage, Dad’s family never allowed her access to her own cell phone, and when she finally got one, her husband used it as a surveillance tool, tracking who called and who called. was sending text messages. He had an escape tool in his hand, but he couldn’t use it. “Going through it myself made me realize how quickly technology is evolving and how it’s creating virtual spaces for marginalized communities that may not have access to physical ones,” she says. “Confronting these restrictions made me understand how crucial it is to challenge the social norms and structures around women’s access to technology and the Internet, so that they can use it as freely as men.”
In 2012, the father established Digital Rights Foundationan NGO that aims to address the digital divide and fight online abuse of women and other gender minorities in Pakistan. She started by helping women who came to the organization, giving advice on digital safety and emotional and mental support. In 2016, the same year Pakistan finally passed legislation against online crime—The father and his team set up a cyberbullying helpline. Since 2016, it has been addressed more than 16,000 complaints from all over the country. “Sometimes the police would give our phone numbers to victims who were looking for reliable help,” he says.
