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A national conference on girls’ right to education stressed on the role of academia, civil society and government towards making education compulsory for all by implementing the Article 25-A of the constitution of Pakistan, which ensures free and compulsory education to all children, including (...)
Through her women’s organisation Tehrik-e-Niswan, she has spent decades holding performances about social issues.
In Pasoori, the runaway hit music video by Coke Studio, the first shot viewers see is of a grey-haired woman in a striking yellow sari standing in a high prayer pose. As the music (...)
Minister says women’s march violates Islamic values, prompting counter-events organised by religious groups
More than 1,000 veiled women attended marches to promote Islamic values in cities across Pakistan on International Women’s Day in an attempt to counter pro-gender equality rallies.
In (...)
The Aurat Marches have brought forth an entirely young leadership and a rude breaking of the silence on sexuality. But what next?
Since 2018, the Aurat March annual events have reclaimed the publics across different cities of Pakistan and have provoked political reaction, inspired scholarly (...)
It was January 1979. The Shah of Iran, Reza Shah Pahlavi, had just left his country but Imam Khomeini had not yet arrived in Iran. It was a moment of tumult and confusion, and no one was certain who would take over. It was around this time that a group called CAIFI (Committee for Artistic and (...)
Government faces backlash from the civil society for opposing the Women’s March on International Women’s Day in Pakistan
Civil-society organisations, including women rights groups, condemned the government minister’s proposal to ban ‘Aurat (women) March.’ Conservative politicians and a section of (...)
The refusal by a sessions court in Karachi to consider DNA tests as evidence in the retrial of the Mazar-i-Quaid gang-rape case is surprising, given that the Supreme Court had declared DNA evidence to be admissible in rape cases many years ago. A few days ago, the court acquitted for the second (...)
Implementation of the PTI’s Single National Curriculum has started in Islamabad’s schools and for students the human body is to become a dark mystery, darker than ever before. Religious scholars appointed as members of the SNC Committee are supervising the content of schoolbooks in all subjects (...)
FOR more than four days, the PTI government remained mum in the face of pitched battles across Pakistan between activists of the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan and local police that erupted after TLP chief Saad Rizvi was arrested from Lahore. And then came the announcement by the interior minister (...)
Capire talked to Bushra Khaliq, from the World March of Women, about women’s struggles in South Asia for their rights and liberty.
In Pakistan, the culture and the daily life are dominated by religion. Since 1977 an islamization took place, forming the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The (...)
Segments of media and right-wing groups accuse Aurat March organisers and marchers of ‘vulgarity’ and ‘obscenity’ for demanding equal rights.
Organisers and participants in women’s rights marches across Pakistan are facing a sustained campaign of misinformation, blasphemy allegations and threats, (...)
Healthcare is focus of event to mark International Women’s Day, as organisers say pandemic has led to setbacks in rights
A march during the time of Covid is a difficult thing to plan safely. For Pakistan’s women, determined to have their “Aurat March” today, there are other risks – to their (...)
Pakistan’s “Aurat Azadi March” (Women’s Freedom March), with its slogan “my body, my choice,” has become an extremely polarizing annual event. Its organizers are now facing increasing threats from right-wing groups.
Prior to the inception of the “Aurat Azadi March,” or the women’s freedom march, (...)
A popular actor was accused of harassment – now those who spoke against him are being charged under law meant to protect women
It takes a lot to rattle Leena Ghani. As an artist turned activist helping to raise the voices of Pakistan’s women, she has often fielded abuse, threats and harassment. (...)
Household workers face abuse and exploitation in plain sight
I was handed a glass of water while Salma* moved the extra clothes from the charpoy and adjusted herself right in front of me, fixing her shawl and making sure I was comfortable where I was sitting.
After a few minutes of small (...)
GUESSTIMATES are no substitute for hard data. Efforts to improve development indicators must be based on comprehensive, granular information that highlights weak spots and challenges. Initiatives can then be tailored to the situation on ground, thereby saving time and money. Without this (...)
THE pandemic has had a large impact on women who work in the informal sectors of Pakistan’s economy. And most women in Pakistan work in this sector, where they already have lower pays, longer work hours, irregular coverage of benefits, no job security and no social protections. Non-essential (...)
If your kidnapper-husband says you are 18, or have had your first period, no more questions are asked in Pakistan about abduction-conversions of young girls.
Their names change, their dreadful stories remain the same. It can be Kavita, Maria, Simran or Huma, what bonds their doomed fates in (...)
ACCORDING to Human Rights Watch, almost 1,000 women are murdered in Pakistan in the name of honour each year — killed on the grounds of ‘unacceptable’ amorous relationships, defiance of physical or cyber-gendered spaces, brazenness in dressing and language or perceived immorality.
Qandeel Baloch (...)
THE prime minister earned considerable credit the other day when he directed the relevant authorities to prepare for the release of women prisoners detained, or likely to be detained in future, for non-payment of fines, and to pay for the fines out of public funds.
This should be taken as the (...)
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