Nighat Dad, the digital warrior battling the patriarchy in Pakistan. She has won the human rights awards and she is the first founder of the cyber harassment helpline.
Dad formed the Digital Rights Foundation, a think tank tackling digital rights through a gender lens, in 2012, winning her gratitude as one of Time magazine’s next generation leaders in 2015 and a Human Rights Tulip award in 2016.
Cyber harassment helpline was launched by her with a fund of 10,000 euros ( $108,0000) in Tulip prize money. The idea she said “came out of anger” at the women who suffer violence.
The ratio of calls are now increasing, the helpline receives 20 calls per day now.
The calls received from the celebrities to the poor women of conservative areas informing that their males do not allow them to leave their homes and calls about the non-consensual publication of their intimate images.
The helpline tells the women the best solutions they can have. Social media is one of the best options. Dad says — some have even agreed to establish “escalation channels” for getting content off the internet quickly when a woman´s life is in immediate danger.
