Staff Reporter
The advocates of women rights held the Aurat March outside Frere Hall on Sunday to mark the global Women’s Day. Pakistan People’s Party-Shaheed Bhutto leader Ghinwa Bhutto also arrived at the venue to participate in the march. Spokesperson for the Sindh government Barrister Murtaza Wahab also participated in the Aurat March with his family. Walkthrough gates were installed at the venue and contingents of police were posted to maintain security. Mard March participants tried to enter Frere Hall. The men were carrying pro-Khalil-ur-Rehman Qamar posters. Police stopped the Mard March participants at the Frere Hall gate. A march was also held by members of the Home Based Women Workers Federation (HBWWF) from Arts Council to Karachi Press Club. Participants of the march, led by HBWWF general secretary Zahra Akbar Khan, demanded financial autonomy for women as well as protection against workplace harassment and discrimination. A ‘Haya March’ was also held at Teen Talwar by the Pakistan Tahaffuz Movement. In Sukkur, participants of Aurat March gathered at Lab-e-Mehran garden and walked to the press club. The marchers demanded equal rights for women, access to education, an end to forced conversions and a fund for the families of missing persons. The participants also condemned practices like karo kari. Delegations from various organisations from Karachi, Hyderabad, Khairpur, Shikarpur and other areas participated in the event. The first Aurat March was held in 2018 in Karachi. Last year, it was extended to more cities, including Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad, Larkana and Hyderabad. This year the march is once again being was held in various cities nationwide “The emerging global consensus is that despite some progress, real change has been agonisingly slow for the majority of women and girls in the world,” reads a statement by the UN. “Today, not a single country can claim to have achieved gender equality.” “Multiple obstacles remain unchanged in law and in culture. Women and girls continue to be undervalued; they work more and earn less and have fewer choices; and experience multiple forms of violence at home and in public spaces. ,” it noted “Furthermore, there is a significant threat of rollback of hard-won feminist gains.” UN says the year 2020 represents an unmissable opportunity to mobilize global action to achieve gender equality and human rights of all women and girls.
