arch 2025 is being observed as Women’s History Month. Women across the globe are gearing up to march for socio-economic and political rights. Women have been continuously fighting different wars in different capacities in different regions of the world. In Ukraine, hundreds of thousands of women were forced to leave their abodes as the result of power politics between an authoritarian Russian leader and some populists in the West. They are languishing in refugee camps and fighting for survival with no decent means of livelihood. Afghan women are struggling for fundamental rights of education and socio-economic autonomy that the Taliban regime has confiscated. Iranian women’s war against repression and denial of social, economic and political rights started long ago.

Women’s rights are not only compromised in the Global South. The so-called Western liberal democracies are full of paradoxes and suppression of women’s voices, particularly in the areas of economy and politics. The United States, one of the oldest democracies in the World, after 105 years of granting voting rights to women, has still to elect a woman, whether white or of colour, as a head of state. Environmentalist and rights activist Greta Thunberg disappeared from mainstream Western media as soon as she started wearing the keffiyeh and protested for the people of Gaza.

Women in Pakistan are not free from fear, repression and subjugation. When they try to raise their voices through forums like Aurat March, some of them are denied the right. The society’s overall attitude towards Aurat March seems hostile. This year, Aurat March-Islamabad organisers were seen pleading with the government to allow them to March peacefully and provide them security in the face of threats. Despite a court ruling in favour of the march, the authorities did not budge and the march organisers had to write an open letter to the prime minister.

Women are often neglected and denied a say in economic and political decision-making. There are plenty of reasons for that but four striking factors are playing the role of the spider-web surrounding women and hindering their progress in society. These are nationalism, religious extremism, feudalism and patriarchy. It does not matter whether she comes from an influential political family or a humble socio-economic background, a woman in Pakistan, must fight countless battles, starting at home.

When Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah, sister of the founding father of Pakistan, decided to run against Ayub Khan in the 1960s, a dirty campaign was unleashed against her. She was verbally abused by the touts of the regime. State-sponsored newspapers carried articles against her candidacy and credibility. She was called ‘anti-Pakistan’ and an ‘Indian Agent.’

Whenever people march for socio-economic and political rights, they must face challenges; but for women, it is truly a war.

No one can forget the struggle of Benazir Bhutto. Her struggle started even before she ran for public office. She was among those beaten by the police while protesting for the restoration of democracy in Pakistan. She was also detained in inhumane conditions. She recalled in her book, The Daughter of East that due to a stick-wound, she suffered immense pain in the ear and was held in a jail in Sukkur during the extreme summer. When she contested elections, a character assassination campaign was launched against her. The religious card was sought to be played against her.

Asma Jahangir, an icon of women’s resistance, a lawyer and a human rights activist, dedicated her life to raising her voice for the voiceless and oppressed people of Pakistan. She faced the brutality of the state but never surrendered to them. Begum Kulsoom Nawaz suffered the same fate under Pervez Musharraf’s dictatorship. Last November, when Bushra Bibi, the wife of former prime minister Imran Khan, took part in political protest, she was trolled.

When Mahrang Baloch started her march to Islamabad to raise her voice against forced disappearances, advocating for the recovery of missing persons, she was harassed. On some occasions her protest remained invisible in the mainstream media. She was also declared ‘anti-Pakistan.’ Activist and Nobel laureate Malala Yousufzai has faced criticism even after surviving an assassination attempt for demanding girls’ rights to education, persistently and loudly.

Aurat March organisers from Karachi to Kashmir have reported threats from radical and conservative groups. In a conversation Amar Sindhu, a representative of Women Action Forum and rights activist from Hyderabad, mentioned extreme threats faced in organising Aurat March in Sukkur. Protesting in a hostile square of nationalism, religion, patriarchy and feudalism demands courage. Whenever people march for socio-economic and political rights, they must face challenges; for women, it has been truly a war. Despite all these challenges, countless women are fighting their wars in their own ways. They deserve to march for dignity, agency and the right to duly participate in the economic and political processes.

The writer is a PhD scholar at the University of Massachusetts-Boston.