omen marching on the streets will inevitably be asked, “what rights do you still lack?” The beauty of the march is in the willingness and enthusiasm of its volunteers who welcome this question every year and answer it earnestly.

The Aurat March in Lahore is an exclusively volunteer-run collective that eschews links with non-government organisations, political parties and corporations. A majority of its volunteers are students who have grown up after the banning of student unions on campuses. Robbed of this collective political voice—yet feeling the multiple wounds of budget cuts in higher education, a rising cost of living, censorship in classrooms, ever-increasing surveillance and moral policing under the guise of safety provisions on campuses, the students are turning to mobilise with collectives beyond the campus. Since its founding in 2018, Aurat March has consistently campaigned for the restoration of student unions. Our manifestos in 2018 and 2019 highlighted the acute impact of austerity-induced budget cuts on higher education. This year, we have drawn attention to the lack of proper schools in the country’s peripheries and conflict-impacted regions.

Once these students graduate, the lack of political representation continues. Patriarchy is entrenched in every aspect of working women’s lives; whether it’s inaccessible infrastructure, lack of healthcare, workplace harassment, long and expensive commutes, polluted air or pay inequity. For women working in domestic and manual labour, not only is their work considered menial, but their voices and demands are often buried. As we highlighted in our 2020 manifesto on the theme of khud mukhtari, women’s contribution to the economy, whether direct or indirect, is overlooked by even the most comprehensive economic analyses. Lady health workers are crucial care providers in remote areas and the bellies of urban centres alike. They do this work despite the perilous working conditions and the violence they encounter daily. Many political parties will add a chapter on women’s rights in their manifestos but once in power, these ‘soft’ issues take a backseat. Aurat March sees part of its role as putting feminist agenda in the national conversation, instead of merely chasing trends. In the past eight years, we have used the pedestal afforded to us as largely urban women to consistently highlight how our national conversations fail these women and their households.

Many younger supporters can be forgiven for thinking this is the first such vocal feminist group in Pakistan’s history. Yet, we are only the latest in this long tradition of resistance to oppression, tyranny and erasure. The Women’s Action Forum with its loud and consistent activism certainly comes to mind. We also learn from the Sindhiani Tehreek, and our contemporaries in the Baloch movement. We continue to build on this tradition, striving to take a loud and unapologetic stance on transgender rights. For the first time in our history, the question of the rights of the khwaja sira and gender-diverse identities is part of our collective consciousness. This invites a lot of questions for the march, but at the heart of the matter is our conviction that the issues that systemically impact cis-gender women are intertwined with the issues that impact transgender persons: discrimination, violence and dehumanisation, disinheritance and allegations of immorality.

Many observers only see Aurat March’s annual Women’s Day rally, but we remain active throughout the year, working with communities on the peripheries of Lahore, protesting on issues as diverse as ending occupation in Palestine, missing persons, media censorship, forced conversions and gender-based violence.

Despite our effort to push diverse agendas, we remain constrained in many ways. Every year, we find ourselves turning to the Lahore High Court to uphold the freedom of assembly and direct the city administration to issue us permission for our annual rally. The courts have always upheld their role as guardians of fundamental rights. Peaceful protest is a right; it cannot be abridged by executive paperwork.

Aurat March has consciously focused on the public sphere. We are delighted to see that Aurat March’s annual rally has rescued the International Women’s Day from a consumerist trap of becoming merely a cause for discounts at retailers and cafes. The incredible sisterhood and joy of the annual march sustains the movement through the inevitable challenges: bureaucratic roadblocks, YouTubers’ harassment and politicians’ disdain. The calculated disregard of our manifestos and the vandalism of our posters fade away at the sight of families bringing their daughters to the march and the vivacious presence of transgender participants. Aurat March strives for a democratic, just and equitable Pakistan for all, regardless of background.

Omaina Aziz, an engineer, is a feminist and volunteer for the Aurat March

Hadia Akbar, a lawyer, is a feminist and volunteer for the Aurat March