The father grew depressed in a conservative family in Jhang, Punjab province, Pakistan. The threat of early marriage hung like a cloud over her childhood. But despite their traditional values, Dad’s parents were determined that all their children get an education, and they moved the family to Karachi so he could complete his bachelor’s degree. “I never really thought I would work, because I was never taught that we could work and be independent,” she says. “We always need permission to do anything.”
Dad thought a Masters might delay the inevitable marriage, but soon after he completed the course, he learned that his parents had arranged a marriage for him. She didn’t mind her new life of housework in what she describes as “lower-middle class”—that is, until the abuse started. “Then my legal education reminded me that it was wrong,” she says. “Our laws, our constitution, everything protects me, so why was I facing this? Why was I putting up with it?”
With the support of his family, the father left his 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 didn’t know that divorced and childbearing women faced such difficulties in a society like ours,” she says. When her ex-husband filed a custody case for their 2-month-old child, the father wasn’t sure how she would pay for a lawyer. Then his father reminded him that he was also a lawyer.
The father used his degree to win custody of his only child. In the process, she realized how many women in Pakistan have been facing violence and systemic injustice for years. But what bothered him the most was the digital divide.
Before she was married, Dad’s family never allowed her access to her own cell phone, and when she finally got one, her husband would use it as a surveillance tool—to find out who she was. Called and who was texting him. She had an escape tool in her hand, but she couldn’t use it. “Going through it myself made me realize how fast technology is evolving, and how it’s creating virtual spaces for marginalized communities that don’t have access to physical ones,” she says. ” she says. “Encountering those restrictions made me understand how important it is to challenge the social norms and structures surrounding women’s access to technology and the Internet, so that they can use it as freely as men.”
In 2012, 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 approached the organization, providing advice on digital safety and emotional and mental support. In 2016—the same year Pakistan finally passed Laws against online crimes— Dad and his team launched a cyber-harassment helpline. Since 2016, it has addressed Over 16,000 complaints from across the country. “Sometimes, the police give our phone numbers to victims seeking reliable help,” she says.
