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KARACHI: International Women’s Day is celebrated each year on March 8. It aims to highlight the need to address the issues faced by women. In Pakistan, a number of women and human rights activists use this day to speak out against sexual violence, domestic violence, lack of freedom of expression and lack of education faced by women by holding the Aurat March.
This year’s Aurat March will be Jinnah Park formally known as Jinnah Grounds opposite Quaid’s Mausoleum at 3pm tomorrow. Arrangements have been fainlised for the march by the organisers. The Women’s Day theme this year is #BreakTheBias, underscoring the idea that it is not enough to acknowledge the existence of bias. Action is necessary to achieve equality.
Since 2018, Pakistani feminists have been organising large public demonstrations for Women’s Day called Aurat — the Urdu word for women — March. Opposition to Aurat March has grown in proportion to its popularity and impact.
Read more: Here’s what ‘Aurat March’ is demanding this year
When women organised the first Aurat March in Karachi, no one expected such a large turnout in this largely patriarchal society. But multitudes of women turned up at the historic Frere Hall gardens instead of the 200-300 expected.
There had been controversies over the Aurat March in Pakistan and from time to time, they are being highlighted. Recently, Pakistan’s minister for religious affairs Noorul Haq Qadri demanded that the country mark March 8 as Hijab Day.
