2026 Eva Lassman “Take Action Against Hate” Award Recipients Announced

Nighat Dad, a Pakistani lawyer who founded the Digital Rights Foundation, and the nonprofit organization Eradicate Hate are the recipients of this year’s Eva Lassman “Take Action Against Hate” awards, sponsored by the Gonzaga University Center for the Study of Hate.

The Take Action Against Hate awards are presented to one individual and one organization that actively challenge hate and make positive strides of change in their communities, following in the footsteps of Eva Lassman, a Holocaust survivor and widely respected anti-hate advocate. 

“The awards committee considers many factors when selecting recipients for the Eva Lassman ‘Take Action Against Hate’ awards, particularly the degree to which the nominees have engaged in action and awareness-building within their community, whether local, national or global,” says Gonzaga’s Aaron Danowski, who chaired the awards committee.

Nighat Dad was born in Karachi and moved to Punjab, where she earned her bachelor’s and law degrees at the University of the Punjab. Her early years as a young lawyer included a difficult marriage that ended in the courtroom, where she represented herself and secured both her freedom and custody of her infant son. That experience shaped everything that followed. She built a practice in criminal and family law and soon turned her attention to women facing abuse and surveillance at the hands of those closest to them.

In 2012, Dad founded the Digital Rights Foundation (DRF), an NGO that aims to provide “safe online spaces” for women in Pakistan, South Asia, and beyond. The organization strives to counter cyber harassment, promote data protection, and achieve online freedom of expression for women and other gender minorities through interventions that prevent technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV). In December 2016, DRF launched the region’s first dedicated helpline for online violence, now the Digital Security Helpline, which has handled more than 23,000 cases and provides free legal advice, digital security support, and psychological counselling. Dad’s outstanding advocacy and efforts have resulted in appointments to the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence and to Meta’s Oversight Board, an independent body that reviews the company’s content moderation decisions and issues binding rulings and policy recommendations.

Her nominator, Raqib Hameed Naik, says that Nighat "counters hatred at every level at once: the single caller, the national law, the global platform....  the research and advocacy she has driven through DRF has genuinely shifted the conversation away from blaming women for the abuse they suffer and toward demanding that platforms and institutions be held responsible."

Eradicate Hate was founded in the aftermath of the October 2018 massacre at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue, the deadliest antisemitic attack in United States history, and believes that everyone has a role to play in reducing hate-fueled violence.

The organization organizes the annual Eradicate Hate Global Summit, the world's most comprehensive, multidisciplinary conference dedicated to preventing hate-fueled violence. Since its launch, the summit has convened more than 3,500 participants from around the world, bringing together survivors, researchers, educators, policymakers, and frontline professionals to build partnerships and develop practical solutions to keep communities safe.

But Eradicate Hate's impact does not stop when the conference ends. Through its issue-specific working groups, the Prevention Practitioners Network, and educational initiatives such as the youth-led UP End Hate, the organization has equipped thousands of students and practitioners with the skills to spot warning signs and confront and prevent hate-fueled violence in their own communities. Nominator Kristine Hoover says Eradicate Hate demonstrates "exceptional leadership, measurable outcomes, innovative programming, and unwavering commitment to creating a safer and more inclusive society... Few organizations more fully embody this award's commitment to transforming awareness into meaningful action against hate, bias, and violence."

Recipients of the “Take Action Against Hate” Awards will be honored at the Human Rights Awards Banquet, sponsored by Human Rights Spokane, on November 12. 
 
In fall 2025, Florida State’s Hate Crime Research and Policy Institute, and anti-hate activist Pardeep Singh Kaleka were honored with the Eva Lassman “Take Action Against Hate” award.