Dhanak

Dhanak

Dhanak

Dhanak is a tech-powered bridge to dignified employment for Pakistan’s transgender community, built by and for those erased from opportunity.

Lahore, Pakistan

PAK

Nonprofit

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Dhanak is a responsive employment platform co-designed with Pakistan’s transgender and gender-nonconforming communities. It doesn’t just help users find jobs - it documents, deconstructs, and disrupts the structural barriers they face in accessing fair work. Through dynamic job matching, anonymous employer reviews, and real-time rights education, Dhanak builds not just opportunity, but accountability. Unlike traditional portals, it surfaces invisible policies and unspoken biases that shape hiring experiences. Users can flag microaggressions, access labor protections in plain Urdu, and co-create “filter logs” that track systemic exclusion. We use a hybrid NLP + rules-based engine to detect redflag patterns - e.g., job posts requiring “family man” identity - and nudge employers toward compliance or conversation. Dhanak also includes a feedback-to-policy pipeline, using anonymized user data to push for regulatory shifts. In short: Dhanak doesn’t “empower” – it centers, reveals, and responds. Designed with khawaja sira community members, NGOs, and HR allies, it reframes access not as charity, but as rightful participation. It’s not a sticker on broken systems. It’s a new interface for employment justice.

Transgender and gender-nonconforming Pakistanis face structural exclusion in employment. Despite Supreme Court recognition in 2009, systemic filters persist: job forms with binary gender options, verbal harassment in interviews, policies “open to all” that exclude by design. Most work informally – without contracts, protections, or mobility. Employment law claims neutrality, but in practice, filters out the unpalatable. Employers may demand “presentation” that conforms to binary norms. Trans people are forced to misrepresent themselves or remain excluded entirely. Existing job platforms don’t account for this. They don’t offer options beyond male/female. They don’t train employers. They don’t track discrimination patterns. And they don’t challenge the filtered nature of policy itself. Meanwhile, state skills programs exclude trans identities altogether. Dhanak was born from a transgender friend’s experience who was denied interviews for “family-oriented” firms, despite being qualified. We realized the problem isn’t just access. It’s distortion. Dhanak shows policy as it really is–and what it could be. Globally, 2 billion people work in informal sectors and millions remain invisible to labor protections. Dhanak is built for them too. It’s a tool for those who don’t fit into the form–but still need to work.

Dhanak serves transgender and gender-nonconforming communities–especially in Pakistan, where stigma, lack of legal ID alignment, and discriminatory hiring practices keep most locked out of stable employment. We also serve informal workers of all genders who face hidden filters in labor access: domestic workers without written contracts, gig workers misclassified to avoid benefits, or anyone whose name, accent, or appearance triggers bias. For users, Dhanak offers not just listings–but legibility. Through localized, accessible interfaces, trans workers can: find vetted, inclusive employers; access legal templates (e.g., for harassment complaints); anonymously review job experiences; and flag red flags in postings. For employers, it offers a dashboard to audit and update hiring language, guided by community-sourced standards. Impact is both personal and structural. Users gain confidence to apply as they are. Employers get tools to self-correct. And regulators receive anonymized insight into where filters concentrate. Long-term, Dhanak becomes a record–a public ledger of exclusion and effort. It helps communities articulate not just “we didn’t get the job,” but “here’s where and how we were filtered out.” That language is power.