On March 8 Women's Day was celebrated across the world. Pakistani women, along with their allies among men, also led rallies in all major cities of the country, including Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad.
As expected, there was outrage by certain men and their allies among women. Some criticised the very idea of Aurat March, claiming that women already had all the rights they needed while other 'moderate' Pakistanis condemned the 'vulgar' language of the Aurat March posters.
But within a fortnight's time, two terrible incidents have already made it clear how important it is to highlight the issues that women get to face in this country. Because one woman was reportedly abducted from Islamabad's Iqbal Town area, raped for two days, brutalised for another 8 days, forcefully converted to Islam and now the Christian family is in hiding.
Another woman in Mardan was murdered by giving electric shocks by her own brothers for marrying a man of her choice. This cartoon by Afraid Canvas highlights how Aurat March was demonised by certain people for a few placards that they didn't like while the dreadful treatment that women in this country are subjected to remained unchecked as usual.
As expected, there was outrage by certain men and their allies among women. Some criticised the very idea of Aurat March, claiming that women already had all the rights they needed while other 'moderate' Pakistanis condemned the 'vulgar' language of the Aurat March posters.
But within a fortnight's time, two terrible incidents have already made it clear how important it is to highlight the issues that women get to face in this country. Because one woman was reportedly abducted from Islamabad's Iqbal Town area, raped for two days, brutalised for another 8 days, forcefully converted to Islam and now the Christian family is in hiding.
Another woman in Mardan was murdered by giving electric shocks by her own brothers for marrying a man of her choice. This cartoon by Afraid Canvas highlights how Aurat March was demonised by certain people for a few placards that they didn't like while the dreadful treatment that women in this country are subjected to remained unchecked as usual.