KARACHI: Aurat March Karachi has announced that like last year, they will not be marching on March 8, the International Women’s Day, due to Ramazan. Instead, they will hold their annual event on Mother’s Day on May 10, says a statement shared with the media on Friday.

“People in Pakistan have come to associate March 8 with the annual feminist procession our year-round organising work culminates in. However, this year the date falls during Ramazan, which is a time when women across the country experience significantly increased domestic responsibilities that hinder their ability to step out of the home. That is, those of them who have some level of agency over their lives to begin with, which enables them to step out at all.

“Holding the march on March 8 under these circumstances would inevitably limit the participation of many women — particularly working-class women, domestic workers, caregivers, and others whose time and mobility are already restricted.

“Aurat March Karachi believes that feminist spaces must remain accessible to the very women whose labour sustains households and communities. The decision to hold the march later is rooted in our commitment to ensuring broader participation and inclusion.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2026