Digital Rights for Women is rarely a topic of discussion in South Asia, but Nighat Dad has been the pioneer in advocating for a free and fair internet for the women of South Asia. As a lawyer and founder of Digital Rights Foundation, Nighat campaigns for laws protecting women against online harassment. For the first episode of Samavāya, she joins Savera Weerasinghe as they discuss the challenges faced by women in a patriarchal society, navigating the prejudices in office spaces, courts, and even at homes. 

Nighat Dad runs the Digital Rights Foundation in Lahore, Pakistan, which is a non-profit, research-based advocacy organization focused on cyber harassment, data protection and free speech online in Pakistan and South Asia. 

The purpose of Facebook’s Oversight Board, an independent board of people with diverse backgrounds from around the world (of which Nighat is a member) is to promote free expression by making principled, independent decisions regarding content on Facebook and Instagram and by issuing recommendations on the relevant Facebook Company Content Policy. 

Reporters Without Borders’ Information and Democracy Commission aims at bringing guarantees for the freedom of opinion and expression in the global space of information and communication.

The controversial Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 (PECA) was instated to regulate cyberspace in Pakistan, which includes protection of women against online harassment, but has been opposed by digital rights activists and civil society organisations for curtailing freedom of expression and clamping down on dissent.

The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) is an international network of organizations that provides communication infrastructure, including Internet-based applications, to groups and individuals who work for peace, human rights, protection of the environment, and sustainability. 

Feminist activists in Pakistan that have inspired Nighat - Hina Jilani is an advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and a human-rights activist from Lahore; Asma Jahangir was a Pakistani human rights lawyer and social activist who co-founded and chaired the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan; and Nighat Said Khan is a Pakistani feminist activist, researcher, author, director and founder of the Applied Socio-Economic Research Resource Centre and a founding member of the Women's Action Forum. 

Know more about Digital Rights Foundation & Nighat Dad

This podcast is hosted by Savera Weerasinghe 

Editing and engineering: Nakul Agarwal 

Intro & Outro Music: Sirfula Siraima by Nepathya

Interlude Music: Yani Maya by Nepathya 

Know more about Nepathya 

Samavāya is produced by Asia Society New York and Asia Society India Centre.