I use the internet to help women escape abusive husbands...
WEBSITE GATHERS INFORMATION IN ONE PLACE
A TECH expert has used her online skills to help women escape abusive husbands.
Hera Hussain decided to set up a website after two of her friends became trapped in abusive marriages.
She created ‘Chayn’ after discovering how hard it was for women to access the legal information, support and resources they need to build a domestic violence case or apply for child custody.
Chayn, which means ‘peace of mind’ in Urdu, brings together crowdsourced information from volunteers around the world and in five years has reached more than 200,000 users.
It has dedicated sites for India, Pakistan and Italy, and has expanded to include Facebook and Snapchat accounts and chatbots.
Chayn is staffed by hundreds of volunteers, most of whom are survivors of domestic abuse.
Hera, who lives with her husband in Salford Quays, runs the site in her spare time on top of her day job working for the Open Contracting Partnership, a US-based body which campaigns for transparency in government business contracts.
Hera, 28, said: “I set up Chayn after I helped two friends of mine get out of abusive marriages, one in the UK and one in Pakistan. We just couldn’t find out what support was available, where the shelters are, and I had to constantly pick up the phone.
“It is entirely run by volunteers and 70 per cent of volunteers are survivors of abuse. Many of them were told they were of no worth and now they are helping others.”
Hera’s inspiring and innovative work was recently recognised by Downing Street with a Points of Light award which honours outstanding volunteers around the UK.
In a letter to Hera, Theresa May wrote: “Your work with ‘Chayn’ is providing vital support and information to hundreds of thousands of women across the world experiencing domestic violence. By using your digital expertise you are finding innovative solutions to reach even more women and I wish you every success as you grow the organisation.”
Hera has also recently been named on the Forbes magazine’s prestigious 30 Under 30 list for social entrepreneurs and the MIT innovators under 35 for her work on Chayn. And earlier this month she won a Microsoft Spark Award, which recognizes an individual who is ‘driving positive change that impacts the way we live and work.’
Hera spent some of her school days in Altrincham, when her father came to Greater Manchester to work as a doctor, before her family moved to Lahore in Pakistan. She went to university in Glasgow and lived in London before moving to Manchester last year, making her work base at the Co-op’s Federation digital co-working space in the city centre.
Hera plans further developments for the Chayn platform with new features including artificial intelligence, chatbots and use of social media platforms such as Snapchat, with most users currently accessing the service via Facebook.
Many of the women who turn to Chayn for advice are based in the UK and are seeking help to deal with manipulative partners who may seek to control their use of social media as part of their controlling behaviour.
Hera added: “Chayn has now reached more than 200,000 people in 12 countries – it is solving a real problem which people have.”