Human rights awards will be presented

 

The 2026 Eva Lassman "Take Action Against Hate" awards will be presented at the Human Rights Awards Banquet, sponsored by Human Rights Spokane, on Thursday, Nov. 12, to Nighat Dad, a Pakistani lawyer who founded Digital Rights Foundation, and to the nonprofit organization, Eradicate Hate.

"Take Action Against Hate" awards, sponsored by Gonzaga University Center for the Study of Hate, are presented to an individual and an organization that challenge hate and change their communities, following the footsteps of Holocaust survivor and anti-hate advocate Eva Lassman.

"The awards committee considers how nominees engage in action and awareness-building," said Gonzaga's Aaron Danowski, chair. "We focus on efforts that demonstrate impact."

Nighat Dad was born in Karachi and moved to Lahore, where she earned bachelor's and law degrees at the University of the Punjab. As a young lawyer, she represented herself in divorce court, securing her freedom and the custody of her infant son.

That experience shaped her practice in criminal and family law, and her work with women facing abuse and surveillance.

In 2012, she founded the Digital Rights Foundation (DRF), a non-governmental organization (NGO) to provide "safe online spaces" for women in Pakistan, South Asia and beyond. DRF counters cyber harassment, promotes data protection and achieves online freedom of expression for women and other gender minorities by preventing technology-facilitated gender-based violence.

In 2016, it launched the region's first helpline for online violence, the Digital Security Helpline. It has handled more than 23,000 cases, providing free legal advice, digital security support and psychological counseling.

Nighat was appointed to the UN Secretary-General's High-Level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence and to Meta's Oversight Board, which reviews the company's content moderation and issues binding rulings and policy recommendations.

Nighat has shifted the conversation from blaming women to demanding that platforms and institutions have more responsible content.

The second awardee, Eradicate Hate—founded after the October 2018 massacre at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life Synagogue, the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history—believes everyone can play a role in reducing hate-fueled violence.

It organizes the annual Eradicate Hate Global Summit, an international, multidisciplinary conference to prevent hate-fueled violence.

Since its launch, more than 3,500 participants have gathered from around the world—survivors, researchers, educators, policymakers and professionals—to partner and develop practical solutions to keep communities safe.

Eradicate Hate has also organized working groups, the Prevention Practitioners Network and educational initiatives that have equipped thousands of people with skills to spot domestic abuse and confront and prevent hate-fueled violence.

For information, call 313-5811 or visit humanrightsspokane.org.