TakeBackTheTech

Islamabad, Wednesday March 27, 2013:  Bytes for All, Pakistan continuing its anti-censorship “Access Is My Right” Campaign, building citizens’ alliance against internet censorship, filtering, surveillance and advocacy for freedom of expression is seeing light at the end of Tunnel. Taking the legal route, B4A lodged a writ petition in Lahore High Court in January 2012, and we are happy to share that there has been positive outcomes.

Take Back The Tech wins Innovative Campaign Award, receives Avon Foundation grant to continue work on strengthening women’s use of technology to raise awareness and combat Violence Against Women in Pakistan.

Islamabad, December 21, 2012: ‘You need to put your story out there’, she said. And I wondered why.

After a harassment incident at the workplace that pressured me to resign, this was the advice my friend gave me. She urged me to write about it and hand it over to the social media.

Islamabad, December 03, 2012: ‘She's begging to be raped.’ That's the response that many feminists in Pakistan get online from Pakistani men seeking to shut them up. This is a response from Pakistani men to women merely tweeting about issues related to sexualised violence.

Islamabad, 25 November 2012: *Farzana was checking her Facebook, as usual, from the school’s computer lab and noticed she had a friend request from one of her female colleagues, *Daniya Habib. She accepted the request and went on to check out her friend’s profile. A few moments later, she hurriedly ran off to find Daniya.

Daniya’s profile contained embarrassing fictitious information about her private life, intimate pictures of her with her husband and a number of other fictitious details alleging her of not good character.

Bytes for All, Pakistan and Take Back The Tech: The act of storytelling is transformative. When you tell a story, you are defining the experience. You are naming the actors, narrating the event, framing the values and deciding which details matter. In other words, you are constructing reality. When you listen to a story, you are allowing your point of view to be shifted, and be immersed into another reality. When you listen actively, you are also moved through more profound understanding.

Islamabad, June 04, 2012: Approximately seven hours drive and about 275 kms from federal capital of Pakistan, Kohistan district of Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa is situated along the famous Karakorum Highway on the right bank of Abbasin (the mighty Indus). Kohistan is a Persian word that means “Land of Mountains”. Kohistan is where the Hindukush, Karakorum and Himalayan mountain systems meet making it one of the unique mountain ecosystems in the world.  The district consists of four Tehsils:  Dassu, Pattan, Pallas and Kandia.

Islamabad, May 29, 2012: On behalf of all concerned citizens, Bytes for All, Pakistan has sent an Open Letter to influential and active government functionaries in the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. We are very hopeful that the authorities will look into this matter for redressal of our grievances as raised in this letter. The contents of this letter are pasted below.

To:

Karachi, 10 May 2012: The eNGO network stands in solidarity against the dual threats of abduction and forced marriages issued on 5 May 2012 by Maulvi Abdul Haleem, a former Majlis-e-Amal MNA from Kohistan, to women working in non-governmental organisations.