The authorities of Lahore, a city in eastern Pakistan, have banned the demonstration planned for International Women’s Day on March 8, which is regularly the subject of strong reactions in this conservative and patriarchal country.
In a message to organizers on Friday evening, Lahore authorities justified their decision by the “controversial signs and banners” commonly displayed by participants in the march – called Aurat – and security concerns.
Since 2018, marches have been held in major cities across Pakistan to draw attention to women’s rights.
Religious groups often organize counter-demonstrations called “Haya (modesty)”, demanding the preservation of Islamic values. They have been maintained this year.
“It is a violation of our rights. This raises questions about the ability of the state to manage the right to freedom of assembly for both groups,” Hiba Akbar, an organizer of the Aurat march from Lahore, told AFP.
Accused by their critics of promoting Western and liberal values and failing to respect religious and cultural sensitivities, the organizers of the Aurat march in Pakistan have often had to resort to legal action to counter attempts to ban it.
During these gatherings, the signs held up by the participants address subjects such as divorce, sexual harassment or even menstruation.
Much of Pakistani society operates under a strict code of “honour” governing women’s lives, whether in the right to choose their husband, to have children or to study.
Every year, hundreds of women are killed by men for “honor” reasons.
For Amnesty International, the decision of the Lahore authorities “constitutes an illegal and unnecessary restriction of the right of assembly”.
Citing security concerns, authorities in the capital Islamabad relegated the women’s march to a city park where a woman was gang-raped in February.
“We are a feminist movement, we will not be in the parks, but rather in the streets”, warned the organizers in a press release.
In 2020, groups of Islamist men threw stones at women participating in the march.