On International Women’s Day on 8th March, Pakistanis witness the Aurat March in action. Women from all backgrounds, ages and ethnicities come together to march for their rights and for justice to make this country a better place for women.
Here are their demands for 2021:
1. Better Healthcare Budget
Aurat March 2021 demands 5% of the GDP’s funds. As a result, women-related diseases and issues can be better addressed. In the long term, this means that thousands of women will not have to lose their life for childbirth, reproduction or menstruation-related issues.
AURAT MARCH 2021’s DEMAND # 1
Aurat March Lahore demands the health budget be increased to 5% of the GDP in the 2021-22 fiscal budget with information on allocated for women’s and transgender community’s reproductive, mental and rehabilitative health.#PatriarchykaPandemic pic.twitter.com/GgOepiRfTf
— عورت مارچ لاہور – Aurat March Lahore (@AuratMarch) March 2, 2021
2. End to privatizing Healthcare
In line with their demand number 1 is demand #2 which is calling for an end to be put to efforts of privatizing healthcare.
AURAT MARCH 2021’S DEMAND #2:
We demand an urgent end to efforts to privatize the healthcare system, which is turning healthcare into a for-profit business rather than a public service. We assert universal healthcare for all individuals to be the state’s responsibility. pic.twitter.com/0AIJH7y6W2
— عورت مارچ لاہور – Aurat March Lahore (@AuratMarch) March 4, 2021
3. Investment in Rehabilitative Programs
Aurat March demands investment by the government in rehabilitative schemes to ensure better health for women.
AURAT MARCH 2021’S DEMAND # 3
We recognise gender-based violence as a healthcare issue as it disproportionately harms the physical and mental capacities of survivors and the community at large. We investment in rehabilitative programs to manage the long-term effects of violence pic.twitter.com/IaUWSLsM3C
— عورت مارچ لاہور – Aurat March Lahore (@AuratMarch) March 4, 2021
4. Acknowledge the Unpaid as Work
In an NYT article, it was estimated that if women’s unpaid labour was accounted for, they would be trillionaires by now. Aurat March demands that women’s “informal” contributions to the economy are recognised.
DEMAND 5
Considering the increase in the burden of care work during the COVID-19 pandemic, we demand that domestic work, & it’s outsourcing care work to the ‘informal economy’, & women’s contribution to the care economy be recognised as labour equal to other types of work. pic.twitter.com/B4DkvqVq3G— عورت مارچ لاہور – Aurat March Lahore (@AuratMarch) March 5, 2021
5. COVID-19’s Gendered Treatment
Aurat March 2021 demands that the government take into account the gendered differences in access to the COVID-19 vaccine. Women, as a minority alongside other minorities, will have unequal access and will suffer as a result.
DEMAND #6: EQUITABLE COVID-19 VACCINE ROLLOUT
We demand the COVID-19 vaccine rollout policy by the NCOC and Ministry take into account accessibility for all classes, genders, religious and ethnic minorities. We demand that the government release gender-segregated COVID-19 data. pic.twitter.com/HIbWgFCuK1— عورت مارچ لاہور – Aurat March Lahore (@AuratMarch) March 5, 2021
6. Drug Addiction’s Status
Another demand of this year’s march is that drug addiction not be criminalised. It should be viewed as a public health issue rather than a legal one for safer rehabilitation of people.
AURAT MARCH LAHORE DEMAND 7: DRUG ADDICTION AS A PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE, NOT A LEGAL ONE
We assert that drug addiction requires a rehabilitative approach that cannot be achieved through criminalisation and the carceral justice system.#PatriarchykaPandemic#AuratMarch2021 pic.twitter.com/eMtJGDah8s
— عورت مارچ لاہور – Aurat March Lahore (@AuratMarch) March 6, 2021
7. Equal Access To Contraceptives
Moreover, another issue being tackled by the demands is access to contraceptives.
AURAT MARCH LAHORE DEMAND 8 : ACCESS TO CONTRACEPTIVES
We recognise that willful denial of contraception or access to health services by partners & families is a form of domestic violence. We demand universal access to modern contraceptive methods, regardless of class & location pic.twitter.com/Ga4T3OON2k— عورت مارچ لاہور – Aurat March Lahore (@AuratMarch) March 6, 2021
8. Consent-Based Education
To promote consent-based education in primary and secondary schools is to ensure that our children do not fall prey to child abuse.
#AURATMARCHLAHORE 2021 DEMAND 9: CONSENT BASED MANDATORY EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS
We demand that consent-based, Life Skills Based Education (LSBE) should be part of the primary and secondary school curriculum for children to assert bodily autonomy and prevent rampant child abuse pic.twitter.com/8MT9JB9u3k
— عورت مارچ لاہور – Aurat March Lahore (@AuratMarch) March 6, 2021
9. No More Forced Gender Reassignments
Additionally, Aurat March 2021 demands forceful gender reassignment surgeries be viewed as a gender-based violent act.
AURAT MARCH LAHORE 2021 DEMAND 10: END FORCED GENDER REASSIGNMENT SURGERIES
Forced gender-reassignment medical procedures, particularly against intersex individuals in order to make them conform to a gender binary, should be recognised as a form of gender-based violence. pic.twitter.com/moq7z0Wi99
— عورت مارچ لاہور – Aurat March Lahore (@AuratMarch) March 6, 2021
10. Equal Access
Aurat March 2021 also demands that abortion facilities be safely available to all women. This is because unsafe abortion has been the cause of the majority of female deaths.
AURAT MARCH LAHORE DEMAND 11
تمام افراد کی اسقاط حمل کی محفوظ سہولیات اور معلومات تک رسائی اورسب کے پاس جسمانی خودمختاری ہونی چاہیے۔ ماہِ ایام میں استعمال ہونے والی حفظانِ صحت کی مصنوعات پر ٹیکس میں چھوٹ دے کر سب تک ان اشیاء کی فراہمی کو یقینی بنانا چاہئے۔ pic.twitter.com/APhfqgd0KU
— عورت مارچ لاہور – Aurat March Lahore (@AuratMarch) March 7, 2021
11. End Workplace Harassment
Say no to workplace harassment which has silenced many women and driven them to end their lives.
AURAT MARCH LAHORE DEMAND 12: NO TO WORKPLACE HARASSMENT
We demand the formation of functional sexual harassment committees under the Workplace Harassment Act in all medical facilities to create a safe working environment for medical professionals.#AuratMarch2021 pic.twitter.com/mF9sZPnf0X
— عورت مارچ لاہور – Aurat March Lahore (@AuratMarch) March 7, 2021
12. Equal Access to Healthcare for Transgenders
Transgenders are often denied healthcare facilities which have caused us to lose many lives.
AURAT MARCH LAHORE DEMAND 13: EQUITABLE RIGHT TO HEALTHCARE FOR TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY
We demand the transgender community’s right to equitable access to healthcare The state should allocate resources to ensure that misgendering & discrimination are corrected. pic.twitter.com/YGlKNp8Ary
— عورت مارچ لاہور – Aurat March Lahore (@AuratMarch) March 8, 2021
13. Environmental Health
Lastly, the final demand is to ensure that the environment and community’s health is considered in all forms of developmental interventions.
AURAT MARCH LAHORE DEMAND 14: ENVIRONMENTAL & COMMUNITY HEALTH
We demand the state recognize air and water pollution as health and environmental emergencies, particularly endangering the health of the marginalised and vulnerable communities.#AuratMarch2021#PatriarchykaPandemic pic.twitter.com/RUugjq7fdJ
— عورت مارچ لاہور – Aurat March Lahore (@AuratMarch) March 8, 2021
All in all, these demands prove that Aurat March is a march for the betterment of our society as a whole.
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