Asma Jahangir was born in Lahore in January 1952. She received a Bachelors' degree from Kinnaird College and an LLB from Punjab University. She was called to the Lahore High Court in 1980 and to the Supreme Court in 1982. She later went on to become the first woman to serve as president of the Supreme Court Bar Association. She became a democracy activist and was jailed in 1983 for participating in the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy, which agitated against military dictator Ziaul Haq's regime. She was also active in the 2007 Lawyers' Movement, for which she was put under house arrest. She co-founded the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, and the Women's Action Forum. She received several awards, including a Hilal-i-Imtiaz in 2010 and a Sitara-i-Imtiaz. She was also awarded a UNESCO/Bilbao Prize for the Promotion of a Culture of Human Rights and an Officier de la Légion d'honneur by France. She received the 2014 Right Livelihood Award and the 2010 Freedom Award.