Chayn

Supporting survivors of abuse across borders.

Chayn (pronounced ch-ay-n) means “solace” in Urdu.

Chayn is a global nonprofit, run by survivors and allies from around the world, creating resources to support the healing of survivors of gender-based violence. We create open, online resources and services for survivors of abuse that are trauma-informed, intersectional, multi-lingual and feminist.

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We flip the design default, and put the experience of marginalised people at the heart of what we do, opening up access to our resources for all. We work across all forms of gender-based violence, especially domestic and sexual violence, and technology-facilitated abuse. We’ve reached 400,000 people across the globe, and reach more every day.

Chayn was started in 2013 by Hera Hussain (you can follow her on twitter on @herahussain). Hera was born in the UK but grew up in Pakistan. She helped two friends from the UK and Pakistan escape abusive marriages and experienced significant challenges in finding the basic information they needed, like their rights and how to cope with trauma. She thought if she could put critical information online in one place and accessible language, it could change lives.