Young feminism in Pakistan

Pakistan's younger feminists are reshaping people's discussion about gender by contending that "empowerment of women" covers transgender women, disabled women, women who live outside large cities, and, above all, those who work in informal occupations and in rural areas. What they undertake is changing movement targets, legal efforts and ways people discuss these themes freely.

One palpable sign of this change is the Aurat March. Karachi-based Avow declares that it identifies with "women (cis and trans), khawaja siras, trans men and non-binary people." This diversity shows the organisation looks out for healthcare, workers' rights, disability rights and gender minorities' protections, alongside harassment and violence.

This intersectional turn is arriving against currents. Pakistan's landmark Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2018, which was celebrated for validating self-perceived gender identity, has faced legal setbacks. In May 2023, Federal Shariat Court overturned salient provisions relating to gender identity and inheritance - a step, rights defenders anticipate, will undo built-up protections. Appeals persisted while authorities subsequently continued to grant CNICs bearing an "X" marker, signifying both institutional ambivalence and ongoing civic activism.

Young feminists link legal assistance to ensuring public safety. They discuss lethal violence against transgender people and demand accountability of police and prosecutors. In 2024, a number of transgender women's murders in KPK attracted action from movements advocating on behalf of trans people, demonstrating growing attention to transgender people's safety and respect as key concerns for feminism.

Disability rights is a new sphere where new feminist voices have extended the conversation. Activists cite both the Sindh Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Act (2018) and Islamabad Capital Territory Rights of Persons with Disability Act (2020) in advocacy for accessible public services, inclusive education and employment quotas, not out of charity but out of right. Organisations such as NOWPDP seek to make these laws a reality in supporting services, while advocates such as Abia Akram have taken Pakistan's disability concerns global.

Cultural shift precedes legal work. Dissemination of narratives around disability rights - by people such as campaigner and entrepreneur Tanzila Khan - is facilitating younger feminists' efforts to frame "access" (to schools, healthcare, courts and transportation) as a matter of women's concerns. This has shaped movement protocol: during the pandemic, Aurat March organisers openly linked calls around expanded public health investment to disability justice.

One significant change has been an orientation to Pakistan's informal and agricultural economy, in which most women are employed, almost all unpaid. Younger factions have allied with unions among home-based workers and peasant unions. And wage security, registration and social security have become key issues for feminism.

This coming together has given policy wins. The Sindh Home-Based Workers Act (2018) gave official recognition to millions of homeworkers, majority of them women, as workers who can form unions and receive social protection. Spurred on by this advocacy campaign, Punjab enacted the Punjab Home-Based Workers Act (2023) and extended rights to numerous workers in urban and rural settings. Young feminists have been instrumental in these campaigns.

Younger feminists are recalibrating empowerment as a minimum list of guarantees: legal identification documents that confirm one's gender; employment laws treating homework as work done; schools and hospitals within reach and within budget; and budgets designated for care. By insisting that trans women have places in women's spaces, that disabled women be leaders on disability rights, and that informal and rural workers make a difference to the economy, younger feminists are making empowerment a reality rather than a slogan. Next is making these ideas stick: making laws stand up in court; policies getting funded, policemen and ministers getting trained and watched. But the discussion has changed, and so has the idea of what empowerment in Pakistan can be.