Mukhtaran Mai’s Struggle For Justice Is Heroic

In June 2002, Mukhtaran Mai was raped and paraded naked around the village on orders of a Jirga after her brother (a 12-year-old) was…

Women Empowerment Through Shelter And Transport

Projects like Violence Against Women Centre (VAWC) and Women on Wheels (WoW) have played a significant role in empowering women and taking down patriarchy…

Anti-Violence Women Centre In Multan In Miserable State

Multan’s Violence Against Women Centre (VAWC) is in trouble. Staff complains that they have not been paid since July 2018 because the PTI govt…

Violence Against Women Needs To Stop Now

Tomorrow is the International Women’s Day. Every year, millions of women all around the world, and in Pakistan, are subjected to violence, sexual and…

Misogyny normalized by media through sexist content

Sexist slurs, jokes are a norm in Pakistan. This is not limited to Khawaja Asif’s remarks against Shireen Mazari or Aamir Liaquat’s suggestive captions.…

حیض سے متعلق گفتگو کو ممنوع قرار دے کر ہم اپنی بچیوں کا نقصان کر رہے ہیں

حیض ایک قدرتی عمل ہے اور اس کے بغیر انسانیت کی بقا ناممکن ہے۔ اس کے باوجود اسے پاکستان میں ایک ممنوعہ موضوع سمجھا…

Myths about menstruation

There are various banishing myths surrounding menstruation in Pakistan. Adolescent girls are told not to take bath, drink cold water or eat spicy foods…

Man impregnates 16-y-o daughter in Rawalpindi

Man rapes and impregnates 16-year-old daughter in Rawalpindi and these cases aren’t even rare anymore. But even more outrageous is the state of denial…

What are the major problems women face in society? Who are responsible?

What are the major problems women face in society? Who are responsible? Watch in the below video!…

Raza Rumi on violence on Women in Pakistan

Raza Rumi discusses the unfortunate incidents of violence against women in Pakistan…

Minahil Baloch’s vlog on confusion between Feminism and Misandry

In this vlog, Minahil Baloch highlights the difference between Feminism and Misandry and the misconceptions attached with them. One of the misconceptions about the…

Manto women

Manto stands more or less alone in the position he takes on women, contends Raza Rumi, in an exploration of Manto relationship with his…

Kal bhi woh darte the

A few lines I wrote after Malala’s Nobel and some of the reactions of Pakistanis on social media (English translit. below) Kal bhi woh…

Raza Rumi on panchayat laws against women

I condemn opression against the weak underprivilidged communities in Pakistan…

Would you permit me?

Nizar Qabbani In a country where thinkers are assassinated, and writers are considered infidels and books are burnt, in societies that refuse the other,…

Greater role for women in decision-making

Last week, I was invited to speak at a seminar on ‘Exploring the Gender Friendliness in Democratic Institutions’ orgnaised by The South Asia Partnership…

Mukhtar Mai – Media and Misogyny

My piece for DAWN As if the showering of rose petals on Mumtaz Qadri and the release of a new Urdu book ‘Parwana-i-Shama-i-Risalat’ extolling…

State of Human Rights in Pakistan

“The elected government’s authority remains notional in several areas – particularly those concerning the intelligence agencies” – Ali Dayan Hasan, Pakistan Representative, Human Rights…

Veena Malik and the moral brigade

Pakistan’s electronic media is now a repository of the grand opinion setters of the Urdu press. Almost all channels have employed conservative writers of…

Women, pilgrimage and nation building in South Asian Sufism

Came across this interesting abstract of a paper entitled Beyond division: Women, pilgrimage and nation building in South Asian Sufism authored by Pnina Werbner.…