n 2018, the feminist movement stood at the precipice of a rapidly changing world with the transformative impact of social media becoming undeniable and conversations around sexual harassment becoming mainstream. In Pakistan, major movements across the country were getting a foothold. It was also the year of elections, with a new political party coming to power. Change was in the air, and the feminist movement in Pakistan articulated itself in the language of this new world. This was seen in the flurry of sexual harassment allegations against influential men in various industries through a loosely formed movement that came to be known as #MeToo. There was a feeling that a barrier had been broken; victims and survivors of patriarchal violence finally had space for recounting their traumas. The feminist movement had a new lease of life, apparent in the humour and desire for play in the placards at the Aurat Marches across the country.

Seven years later, 2025 feels quantitatively different. Fascism is on the rise across the world and the movements taking root in 2018 face state repression. Oppressive structures of patriarchy, capitalism and racial supremacy remain as intact. The prospect of resistance appears bleaker. What does feminism have to offer us in this moment?

There are often attempts to reduce feminist movements to so-called “women’s issues,” particularly restricting it to gender-based violence and discrimination women face in the society. While these are no doubt central to feminist understanding of the world, they are not just women’s issues. In fact, feminists posit an expansive view of gender that includes cis-women, transgender men and women and non-binary and gender-diverse individuals. Furthermore, feminists do not concern themselves with just gender; feminism questions all structures of oppression. Any feminist movement that does not take class and our current material and economic reality into account cannot fight for the most marginalised among us.

Secondly, the urban feminist movement in Pakistan is often used as a stand-in for the totality of the feminist movement, often invisibilising struggles led by women and other genders on the margins. This has to change; not just to uncover struggles rooted deep in our history, but also to forge deeper connections with movements overtly identifying as feminists and those that are not. In the present moment, there is a severe lack of dialogue between feminist groups and lack of spaces to converge to discuss complex and thorny issues on feminism in the Pakistani context. The trap of post-feminist and liberal feminist discourse has been that it subsumes all struggles into a sanitised capitalist model, ensuring that we are in a loop of limited conversations about individual cases, superficial inclusion of women into oppressive structures and turning empowerment into a consumable product. Feminists need to lead the charge in positing more radical critiques and asking tough questions.

Thirdly, while digital spaces have been a fundamental part of feminists mobilising in the last few years, the reliance on these platforms without a definitive position on their efficacy and rapidly changing dynamics poses significant risks to the feminist movement. Digital platforms across the world are undergoing transformations that do not bode well for their capacity to protect and foster conversations as major tech companies such as Meta and X are assuaging right-wing demands. Furthermore, states are becoming more adept at tracking, monitoring and censoring online platforms. Restrictive laws have made it impossible to speak out against patriarchal violence without facing defamation charges, among others. As feminists, we need to shift our reliance on privately owned platforms and find alternative ways to communicate and congregate.

Lastly, the feminist movement needs to grapple with its position on the law, legal structures and ultimately, the state. Feminists in the past have both resisted the state and worked with it to pass laws that seek to protect women and gender-diverse groups. In 2025, the feminist movement in Pakistan is at a unique point: while there are overtly discriminatory laws on the books, a lot of progressive legislation has been passed too. Yet, the legal system fails to deliver justice. Many survivors and victims of patriarchal and state violence have understandably stopped engaging with the law altogether. Moving forward, the feminist movement can benefit from conversations on anti-carceral justice and what that looks like in the Pakistani context. These are complex questions, however, especially as we experience attacks on existing legislation such as the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2018. We must ask ourselves whether the law truly addresses all aspects of our oppression? Whatever the direction the feminist movement takes in the next few years, the answers to these questions lie in a truly feminist praxis, one that grounds itself in the lived realities of the most marginalised among us all—anything less than that will be an incomplete movement.

The writer is a researcher and campaigner on human and digital rights issues.