LAHORE: On International Women’s Day, while women around the world celebrate freedom, independence, and womanhood, Pakistani women used a creative way to highlight the sexual abuse within the family.
The women displayed clothes with words written on them, termed “stains of patriarchy”, that reflected their experiences with patriarchy and the abuse suffered by them. The clothes were hung on wires across streets and walls.
We use these clothing items to draw attention to the hidden, domestic labour that women perform. We use them because these clothes are extensions of our bodies.
We use them also to show how normalised these interactions are. #PatriarchykaPandemic #AuratMarch2021 pic.twitter.com/mi6EaDSwXs— عورت مارچ لاہور – Aurat March Lahore (@AuratMarch) March 8, 2021
“These are real stories of violence, but also an act of resistance because we no longer carry the shame associated with these acts. The same is now society’s,” a tweet by Aurat March Lahore said.
TW// SEXUAL ASSAULT AND ABUSE
These are real stories of violence, but also an act of resistance because we no longer carry the shame associated with these acts. The same is now society’s. #PatriarchykaPandemic#AuratMarch2021 pic.twitter.com/6p5MdzShG1
— عورت مارچ لاہور – Aurat March Lahore (@AuratMarch) March 8, 2021
In another tweet, it said, “We use these clothing items to draw attention to the hidden, domestic labour that women perform. We use them because these clothes are extensions of our bodies. We use them also to show how normalised these interactions are.”
TW// SEXUAL ASSAULT AND ABUSE
This is patriarchy’s shame, the stains of patriarchy. This violence is gendered, it has to stop! #PatriarchykaPandemic#AuratMarch2021 pic.twitter.com/MM5FDWhHPd
— عورت مارچ لاہور – Aurat March Lahore (@AuratMarch) March 8, 2021
“We asked people to share the age at which they experienced patriarchy, the place and by whom. These stories are an indictment of the violence that prevails in society,” Aurat March Lahore added.
