Aurat March 2024 — where to go and what are the manifestos
Every year the Aurat March is held on March 8 — International Women’s Day. This year is no different, as people across Pakistan gear up to demand rights for women and other marginalised communities.
We’ve compiled a list of where the Aurat March will be held in Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore and what their respective manifestos are.
Karachi
Karachi is holding an Aurat Ehtajaji Mela Aur March [women’s protest festival and march] at Frere Hall which kicks off at 2:30pm. They haven’t announced a theme this year.
The Karachi division of the Aurat March listed six demands in their manifesto.
1 - They are calling for the rights of home-based workers, and demanded that the “Sindh government implement the Sindh Home Based Workers Act 2018 immediately and set up social security, health and EOBI benefits for the home-based workers”.
2 - They also demand an end to forced conversions, sexual grooming, and underage marriages. The organisation called for an end to “the heinous gendered violence that girls and women of religious minority communities have to go through, thanks to state-backed forced conversion rings”.
3 - The organisation’s third demand pertains to the “restoration of democracy”.
4 - They demand the establishment of safe houses and hostels by the government “for women (cis and trans), trans men, khawaja siras and non-binary people — so they can escape the patriarchal violence they are often subjected to at home — and safe hostels for students and salaried professionals”.
5 - They demand a stop to the “hate campaign against the khawaja sira community”. They called for the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2018 to be upheld “in its original form”. Aurat March Karachi also asked the “government to take action against the escalating hate campaign online, and the extreme violence…used to intimidate and murder members of this marginalised community”.
6 - The last demand calls for an end to the killings of Baloch people and enforced disappearances as well as an end to “the censorship, surveillance, abductions and murders of all activists, journalists and political workers countrywide”.
The demands, which are also available in Urdu, can be read in detail on Aurat March Karachi’s Instagram page.
Lahore
The Aurat March in Lahore will be held at Lahore Press Club and will begin at 2pm. This year’s theme is Siyasat, Muzahamat aur Azadi [politics, resistance, and freedom].
The organisers also requested that people attending the march wear black and red symbolising that “hope and grief can coexist”.
“We wear red to signal our unwavering conviction and fortitude. We wear black to mourn the sheer cruelty towards Palestinians being starved and killed, to witness the pain of Baloch and Pashtun families being forcibly disappeared, tortured and targeted, and to acknowledge the violence those at the margins face regularly. There is hope in making space for all griefs,” they announced.
Their charter demands “concrete and systemic changes in the political, electoral and governance systems of Pakistan through politics of resistance to achieve feminist liberation”.
1 - They called for the state to ensure transparency in announcing the final results of the 2024 General Election to restore trust in the electoral process. “Nothing short of a public-led truth and reconciliation process is acceptable”.
2 - They demanded the enforcement of the minimum requirement of 5 per cent [of] women’s nomination on general seats for all political parties — until this requirement is raised to 30pc or above — and introduce quotas for transgender persons. “Increase representation of marginalised communities at every level of governance through equitable systems that guarantee autonomy, dignity and inclusivity for all genders, classes, abilities, castes and faiths”.
3 - The organisers asked for the strengthening of campaign finance laws to ensure transparency, reasonable spending caps and true democracy within political parties to make electoral politics class representative.
4 - They demanded equitable resource distribution and representation for all federative units, as well as Gilgit-Baltistan. “Local government institutions should be prioritised and strengthened for grassroots political empowerment”.
5 - Aurat March Lahore called for the rejection of all proposed bills violating the dignity and privacy of the transgender and khwaja sira community, and allocate resources to eliminate institutional misgendering and discrimination across all systems and institutions.
6 - They asked for the “decriminalisation of defamation, sedition and anti-dissent laws, including section 144, which infringe on the right to assembly and speech”.
7 - The seventh demand was to restore student unions on campuses that ensure meaningful representation, particularly of women and gender minorities, to exercise their right to organise.
8 - They called for an end to all enforced disappearances, return of all forcibly disappeared persons to their families, and accountability through independent and transparent investigations that provide justice to those illegally disappeared. They also endorsed marches against enforced disappearances in Balochistan.
9 - The organisers asked that the state “defund surveillance systems that perpetuate a paternalistic vision of women’s safety, such as the “safe city” projects. Instead, funding be redirected to support those impacted by patriarchal violence”.
10 - They asked for an end to IMF-mandated, austerity-based policies and to restore funding to essential public services and welfare institutions.
11 - The organisers demanded universal protection and regularisation of work which guarantees living wage and decent work conditions in formal and informal sectors. They also called for the recognition and value of unpaid labour, including care work, as an integral part of the economy.
12 - Lastly, they asked for the provision of climate adaptation support through proactive disaster resilience measures to vulnerable communities and rehabilitate those affected and internally displaced by climate catastrophes. “[The] Government must translate its rhetoric at international forums into meaningful support for disproportionately impacted communities, particularly those engaged in farming and fishing”.
The demands are also available in Urdu.
Islamabad
Aurat March Islamabad will be held at the capital’s press club at 2pm and their theme is resistance and hope.
This year, they are demanding:
1- End to forced disappearances — “The state must recognise and fulfil all demands raised by Mahrang Baloch and other Baloch women who marched towards Islamabad and immediately release all innocent prisoners detained illegally”.
2 - Promoting hope and world peace — “We demand that the government of Pakistan play an active role in ending the genocidal war in Gaza and advocating for the liberation of Palestine on all international and diplomatic forums”.
3 - End of gender-based patriarchal violence — “We demand the end of the culture of impunity in patriarchal crimes. The judiciary must dispense justice in the shortest possible time (six months) in such cases”.
4 - Action against cyber harassment — “We demand effective legislation to combat cybercrime targeting women, minorities, and children with round-the-clock services for prompt response to complaints”.
5 - End to period poverty — “We demand that period products be accessible to all women, including trans individuals regardless of their socio-economic and geographical location”.
6 - Economic justice — “Aurat March demands that the state recognises and incorporates the economic contribution of women’s reproductive labour into the country’s Gross Domestic Product”.
7 - Improved access to universal education and healthcare — “We demand universal education and health services for all women, persons with disabilities, transgender community and those from rural and low-income strata of society”.
8 - Political rights of women — “The Election Commission of Pakistan must act against political parties failing to allocate 5pc of general election tickets to female candidates in 2024”.
9 - Rights of religious minorities — “We demand the state to ensure the protection of rights for religious minorities, granting them equal opportunities in employment, education and healthcare for a dignified life”.
The detailed list of demands is available in English and Urdu on their Instagram page.
Header image by Samya Arif for Aurat March Karachi.
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