Gulalai Ismail

Gulalai Ismail is a Pakistani human rights activist from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa who works as a leading member of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM). She serves as the chairperson of Aware Girls and holds the position of global ambassador for Humanists International. Her advocacy focuses on promoting peace, women's empowerment, and secular democracy.

Early life and education

Ismail was born on 30 October 1986 to a Pashtun family in Swabi. She moved to Peshawar at the age of nine, where she was raised alongside her sister Saba Ismail. Her father, Muhammad Ismail, worked as a teacher and human rights activist. Because of his influence, she learned about women's rights and gender discrimination from a young age.

She attended Frontier College for Women in Peshawar as a pre-medical student. In 2012, she graduated from Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad. She earned a Master of Philosophy degree in biotechnology during her studies there.

Career

Ismail founded the non-governmental organization Aware Girls in 2002 when she was 16 years old. She established the group with her 15-year-old sister to challenge the oppression of women and the culture of violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The organization aims to promote peaceful resistance to the Pakistani Taliban and encourages more women to enter politics. In 2011, Malala Yousafzai attended an Aware Girls event.

The scope of her work expanded to include education on HIV and AIDS prevention, as well as access to safe abortions. In 2010, she founded the Seeds of Peace Network to train young people in human rights and political leadership. This network was a response to the increasing "Talibanisation" of young people in the Swabi District. She also established the Marastyal Helpline in 2013, which provides legal and medical aid to victims of gender-based violence in Peshawar.

Ismail has held several international roles throughout her career. She served on the Executive Committee of the Young Humanists International from 2009 to 2011. Between 2010 and 2012, she was a Board Member of the Women's Global Network for Reproductive Rights. She also worked for the Gender Working Group of the United Network of Young Peacebuilders (UNOY) and is a member of the Asian Democracy Network. Following her time as a board member of Humanists International from 2017 to 2021, she became a global ambassador in March 2021.

Her activism has led to significant legal and personal challenges. In November 2017, Hamza Khan falsely accused her of blasphemy, which led Ismail to file a legal case against him in February 2018. Following a speech at a PTM gathering on 12 August 2018, she and 18 other activists were charged with making anti-state comments. In October 2018, airport officials detained her at Islamabad International Airport and withheld her passport after she returned from the United Kingdom. During the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan in 2019, she fled to the United States because she feared for her life.

Personal life

Ismail has faced repeated threats due to her public stance against sexual assaults and military disappearances. On 16 May 2014, four armed gunmen attempted to enter her family home in Peshawar while she was away. She has stated that her family had to relocate multiple times to avoid insecurity. She remains a prominent figure in the struggle for human rights in Pakistan.

Awards and recognition

Ismail has received several prestigious international honors for her activism. She is the recipient of the International Humanist of the Year Award. Her work has also earned her the Chirac Prize for Conflict Prevention and the Anna Politkovskaya Award.