Khushbakht Shah Jillani
One in three married women in Pakistan experiences intimate-partner violence, which is more than 20 million women. The law gives them the right to leave, but using that right means hiring a lawyer, and most women cannot afford one, safely reach one, or trust one. Many stay in dangerous marriages simply because the exit is out of reach.
BIG IDEA
A DIY divorce tool for women in abusive marriages
The mission
Make the legal exit from an abusive marriage fast, affordable, and simple enough that any woman can complete it.
How it works
Khushbakht has spent eight years litigating family-law cases, more than 160 of them, and Mehfooz builds that courtroom experience into an AI assistant. A woman starts with a chatbot, which first checks whether she is in danger. The free tier prepares her complete, court-ready divorce file. The paid Court Companion (PKR 3,500, about $12.60) then walks her through the affidavits, documents and self-representation steps up to filing, and certified lawyers review the difficult calls before anything is filed.
The dream
Every completed case pays for itself and funds the next one, so leaving safely becomes infrastructure rather than charity. At scale the woman herself does the work, with AI as her tool, and the bill is paid by her, by a sponsor, or by an institution.
Potential for impact at scale
Read against four questions, in the context of the organisation’s stage: is the impact good enough, is the problem big enough, is the model simple enough to deliver at scale, and is it cheap enough for whoever pays at scale.
Good enough · impact and evidence
Khushbakht is one of Pakistan's most sought-after divorce lawyers, and her 160+ litigated cases are what the product is trained on. Independent research supports the approach: a 2026 randomised trial involving 1,559 judges (Mehmood, Goessmann & Ash) found that expert-trained legal AI improves case outcomes. Evidence from Mehfooz's own cases is now being gathered through the live pilot.
Big enough · addressable market
More than 20 million affected women in Pakistan, and khula is a clear legal right once a case is properly filed.
Simple enough · to deliver at big scale
The AI handles the volume and a network of certified lawyers handles the judgment, so the service scales without the founder in the loop. It spreads through women-only community networks, which costs almost nothing.
Cheap enough · for payers at scale
The woman herself pays PKR 3,500 (about $12.60), so every case funds the service. The company is bootstrapped and was earning revenue before taking any outside money.
So far
- A live pilot with 20 women in Sindh is already generating revenue
- The team has grown from 5 to 19 people since July 2026, and Maleeka Bokhari, who wrote Pakistan's Anti-Rape Act 2021, has joined the board
- By November 30 they aim to reach 100,000 paid Members Room subscribers (PKR 999 per month)