SIC+ programme: Pakistan - Digital Rights Foundation

Digital Rights Foundation (DRF) is a feminist, not-for-profit organisation based in Pakistan that has been working on digital rights freedoms since 2013. DRF envisions a place where all people, especially women, children, and gender minorities, can exercise the right of expression without being threatened. DRF believes that a free internet with access to information and impeccable privacy policies can create safe online spaces for not only women but the world at large.

DRF has also worked with schools and administrations to deliver sessions on online well-being and safety. Furthermore, we have developed a curriculum on online rights for young adults titled “Hamara Internet Online Safety of Young Adults Curriculum”.

Additionally, DRF has been conducting Digital Literacy and Safety workshops with young adults (14 and above) in public schools and has reached more than 2,000 students in Pakistan so far.

DRF launched the Cyber Harassment Helpline in Pakistan to address online harassment, particularly against young women and girls, through legal assistance, digital security support, and basic psycho-social support. Since its launch, the helpline has provided assistance on 17,399 complaints. Among these, the majority of complainants have been women. In 2022, the total number of complaints received by the helpline was 2,695, and in 2023, the total number of complaints was 2,473.

DRF keeps on amplifying the work of the helpline through different social media sessions and in-person sessions across Pakistan with a range of audiences, particularly women, gender minorities, sexual minorities, human rights defenders, journalists, and the general public. The helpline has been providing direct support to individuals across Pakistan for seven years now, and DRF recently launched a campaign to promote the cyber harassment helpline annual report.

In 2022, DRF provided training workshops to over 1,200 people and reached an audience of over 4,600. The Hamara Internet (“our internet”) campaign, launched in 2016, conducted workshops for young women in 16 colleges and universities across Pakistan regarding online harassment and online safety. DRF has developed resource material on digital security and is currently conducting sessions across Pakistan in 10-day boot camps in universities on key digital rights and human rights themes.