How to make 'Aurat March' effective in Pakistan?

Syed Irfan Mehdi

The brave women should come to the forefront to actually make suppressed and oppressed ones avail such legal remedies, so that a real change can take place.

The issues of women rights and violence against the female gender are a genuine concern in our country. Undoubtedly, there is a need for an effective movement to highlight these rights and violence. It will be better if oppressed women themselves take part in this movement and join this movement as front line representators of women rights.

In this way they can address the real issues because they belong to such class which is suffering and facing most of the violence. These women are real and prime victims. Any class, which has an easy excess to education, having freedom in their choice of dressing, independent to go anywhere, can not make this movement meaningful and effective. No body can deny this fact that the women and girls of "Aurat March" had all these privilegs; they were educated; most of them were college or university students; dressed up according to their choice and could go anywhere they want. They don't have any restrictions and there shouldn't be any coercive restriction upon them. They have the courage to report sexual harassment case in their campus and job sectors. They have ability to establish a bond of mutual understanding with their husbands.

In order to make this movement effective, they should work to bring the real victims of abuse and violence in "Aurat March", along with them they should put their own demands with their consent and consensus. The presence of real victims in the march will make people realize the gravity of the issue of woman subjection. When the real victims will join the protest and tell their stories themselves, the people who do not believe that women suppression takes place would be able to reconsider their statements and will be made to believe that matters pertaining to women are not made-up stories, but are existing issues.

Media should play its role to highlight each and every case of violence in a comprehensive way.

Legal course of action should also complement these social movements. In other words, such social movements have already resulted in making laws such as Protection of Women Against Harassment at Work Place and Protection of Women Against Violence Act, etc. All we need is to get these laws implemented. The brave women should come to the forefront to actually make suppressed and oppressed ones avail such legal remedies, so that a real change can take place.