Hina Jilani

Hina Jilani () (born 1953) is an advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and a human-right activist from Lahore in Punjab, Pakistan.

Work

Jilani is internationally recognized for her expertise in critical human rights investigations. She started practising law in 1979, when Pakistan was under martial law. In February 1980 with her sister Asma Jahangir, she co-founded Pakistan's first all-female legal aid practice, AGHS Legal Aid Cell (ALAC) in Lahore. Initially the activities were confined to providing legal aid to women, but gradually these activities increased to including legal awareness, education, protection from exploitation, legal research, counseling and providing legal assistance as well. She is also one of the founders of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and the Women's Action Forum (WAF) (a pressure group established in 1980 campaigning against Pakistan's discriminatory legislation) and also founded Pakistan's first legal aid center in 1986. In addition to providing pro bona legal aid, she has also helped set up a shelter for women fleeing violence and abuse, called Dastak in 1991.

A lawyer and civil society activist and active in the movement for peace, human rights and women's rights in Pakistan for the last three decades, she specializes in human rights...
Read More