Pakistan's women want sexual rights. Do its men feel threatened?
When women in Pakistan ride a motorbike, form a cycling group or drink tea at a roadside stall, they make it to the news: it's rare to see them doing ordinary things in public spaces. But this changes once a year, on International Women's Day, when women mass together in rallies across the country for the Aurat March (women's march).
Thousands of Pakistani women rallied across the country on Monday, defying religious hardliners to demand equal rights. Rallies were organised in all major cities, where women, men and children marched carrying placards with slogans against sexual harassment, lack of opportunities and injustice.
In Karachi, organiser Qurrat Mirza addressed the crowd.
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"If we don't see action on our demands in the next one month, we will devise a course of action in the next three months," she said, according to Pakistani newspaper Dawn. "Because it is not acceptable to me that someone rapes my daughter and her body is found in a garbage dump."
First organised in 2018, the march has become one of the most controversial issues in Pakistan because women feel emboldened to demand rights not only in the public space, but also within the home, including sexual rights and bodily autonomy.
"We are committed to ensure a secure and enabling environment for women to play their rightful role in our nation's development," Prime Minister Imran Khan said on the eve of International Women's Day marches.
Nonetheless, the marches have caused a great deal of social anxiety.
"Last year, we went from one petrol station to another trying to find fuel because when people would see our truck covered with posters for the Aurat March they would simply refuse to give it to us," said Tooba Syed, one of the organisers for the march in Islamabad who also works for the leftist Awami Workers Party. "Four different event companies cancelled on us and refused to give us loudspeakers. There is deep fear around women claiming the rights to their own bodies.
"There is so much hostility around the one slogan 'mera jism meri marzi' [my body, my choice]."
Women police officers escort Aurat March activists during a rally to mark International Women's Day in Islamabad. Photo: AFP alt=Women police officers escort Aurat March activists during a rally to mark International Women's Day in Islamabad. Photo: AFP
To some, the slogan is obscene and vulgar. Critics accuse the march's organisers of disrespecting cultural values and have filed petitions against them alleging "immoral" activities. Fatwa in mosques have referred to these women as being against both religion and the nation. Islamic groups and right-wing political parties oppose these marches because they believe women are entitled only to the rights prescribed within the confines of Islam.
When women post "my body, my choice" on social media, they are routinely threatened with rape.
The threats are serious. Last year, protesters in the capital Islamabad were pelted with stones and shoes by a group who had organised the Haya March ("march for modesty") at the same time.
Yet, women's activism is not new for Pakistan. Indeed, some of the country's most prominent human rights activists have been women and women's rights groups have tackled dictatorships.
In the 1980s, women activists formed the Women's Action Forum to protest against laws imposed during the Islamisation process under the military regime of General Zia-ul-Haq. During this period, women would often be jailed for their own rape as the laws required four witnesses for the act to be considered rape rather than adultery.
Even so, Amar Sindhu, an activist and academic, said: "Nothing like this [the Aurat March] has ever happened before.
"I have been an activist for over 20 years and have been part of women's rights groups, but before this, we concentrated on legal and political rights. Now there is a demand for change in the private space and everyone from the individual to the state is shaken."
Aurat March activists in Islamabad mark International Women's Day. Photo: AFP alt=Aurat March activists in Islamabad mark International Women's Day. Photo: AFP
Sindhu and her friend Dr Arfana Mallah organised a march last year in Sukkur, a small city which has disproportionately high rates of crimes against women. After a right-wing political party failed to stop them from marching, Mallah, one of Pakistan's most prominent feminist activists, received threats with posters around her province claiming she was a blasphemer and demanding she be put to death.
"It was a very difficult time for me. As you know, a blasphemy allegation is not only a threat to the individual, but also puts their family and friends at risk," she said.
Still, nothing would stop this new wave of activism, she said.
"I'll be there again. They can never stop me from attending the Aurat March."
Additional reporting by dpa
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
Copyright (c) 2021. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
