Watch: Hundreds of Women Across Pakistan Rally for Aurat March; Police Force 'Confront Them' In Islamabad – News18

Hundreds of women rallied across Pakistan on Friday for International Women’s Day for the annual socio-political demonstration known as Aurat March. Women turned out in major cities to highlight issues such as bonded labour and lack of representation in parliament. Islamabad police reportedly used heavy force to block the march.

Women also gathered in the southern city of Karachi, presenting an installation of fake shrouded corpses to evoke the victims of domestic violence. Much of Pakistani society operates under a strict code of “honour”, with women beholden to their male relatives over choices around education, employment and who they can marry. Hundreds of women are killed by men in the country every year for allegedly breaching this code.

‘Modesty rallies’

Women supporters from right-wing religious parties also staged small counter-protests, known as modesty rallies, in Lahore and Karachi, holding banners calling for the protection of Islamic values. In Islamabad, religious teacher Umm-e-Hassan — among a few dozen counter-protestors — accused the women’s day protestors of chanting “disgusting anti-Islamic slogans”. “They are celebrating this day to get freedom from their fathers, brothers, husbands and sons,” she said.

‘Culture of impunity’

“We face all sorts of violence: physical, sexual, cultural violence where women are exchanged to settle disputes, child marriages, rape, harassment in the workplace, on the streets,” Farzana Bari, the lead organiser of Aurat March in Islamabad, where hundreds of women gathered to dance, chant and listen to speeches, told AFP. “People in Pakistan don’t get punished, there’s a culture of impunity.”

In Pakistan, just 21 percent of women are in the workforce and less than 20 percent of girls in rural areas are enrolled in secondary school, according to the United Nations. Only 12 women were directly elected into parliament out of 266 seats in last month’s election. In the eastern city of Lahore around 400 women gathered, where organisers staged exhibitions in tribute to Afghan refugees and children killed in Gaza.

The Aurat March dates back to 2018, when it was launched in Karachi but has since spread across most of the country. The head of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said it “commends the resilience of working women in the face of harmful misogynistic attitudes and unprecedented economic instability”. “However, it is gravely concerning that Pakistan continues to lag behind global economies in addressing chronic gender disparities,” added Asad Iqbal Butt. The Aurat March is seen by critics as supporting elitist and Western values in the Muslim country, with organisers accused of disrespecting religious and cultural sensitivities.

(With agency inputs)