With the Taliban regime’s banning of women from universities in Afghanistan, Iran’s repression of the Mahsa Amini protests, and the Ukraine war’s impact on women, there were many reasons for women to protest about their rights on Women’s Day this year.
Women were beginning to hit the streets across the globe, including Pakistan on Wednesday, to defend rights that are coming under increasing attack. The Aurat march in Pakistan was held today in Lahore after it was finally issued an NOC by the LHC. However, Lahore’s local administration had warned Aurat March participants that strict action would be taken against ‘controversial participants’ violating the no-objection certificate (NOC) conditions.
Moreover, to mark International Women’s Day, capitals across the world hosted marches, rallies, and demonstrations. The roads were regularly packed with a sea of purple, a color often associated with women’s rights.
For instance, marches took place on Wednesday in Thailand and Indonesia, where a few dozen women gathered in front of the country’s parliament to urge lawmakers to pass a long-awaited bill to protect domestic workers and some chanted “long live Indonesian women”.