Written By: Rehan Botejue
Last year on March 8th, women from every part of Pakistan took part in a unified demonstration to demand all-encompassing equal rights. The ‘Aurat March’ was intended as our very own celebration of International Women’s Day – a street rally held to protest the endemic violence and discrimination perpetrated against women and gender minorities throughout the country.
After weeks of extensive planning, outreach and collaborations, this year’s rally once again occurred on the lawns surrounding the iconic Frere Hall building. The combined voices of an influx of people from all walks of life echoed the same sentiment – we are all in this together. This liberation movement does not exclude religious and gender minorities, and always recognised the core concerns in the country, from environmental justice to militarism to child marriages. The Aurat March aims to reframe the prevalent issues in our society: the problems that women and minorities face are all of ours to combat.
Misogyny and detrimental stereotyping are rampant all over the world to varying degrees, and evidently, Pakistan is far away from the standard we want to work towards. The first step always lies in effective mobilisation of the community in question. Across Pakistan, from Lahore to Islamabad to Hyderabad, Aurat Marches were held in unison, with engineers, doctors, businessmen, housewives, activists and students all protesting together.
This years theme was ‘Sisterhood and Solidarity’ – an expression of unity to push for accountability across the board and advocacy for important causes: unpaid labour issues, provision of maternity leave, implementation of labour rights, economic disparities between genders, and more inclusion of females and gender minorities in the labour force.
As a celebration of equality and diversity, the Aurat March 2019 worked. More than being an important platform to condemn violence and show community support, the Aurat March is an example of how to execute a successful initiative with far reaching, net positive effects on the broader society. We can thank organisers Hum Aurtein for taking the necessary steps to make this all happen. Here’s to hoping for far more community activism in the future and a society that’s engaged with these initiatives every step of the way.
