Interview: Justice (retd) Majida Razvi

Interview: Justice (retd) Majida Razvi, the first woman judge to the Sindh High Court Bench in 1994 broke the glass ceiling that had been firmly held by men for 47 years. But that distinction constitutes only a fraction of Razvi’s achievements. Along with her distinguished career as a judge and earlier as an advocate, she has been a tireless activist, writing extensively on legal rights and women’s issues. Her legal career spans over 35 years with the High Courts and later the Supreme Court.

Prisoners of Gender

By Deneb Sumbul   “Going by the statistics, each day 12 women suffer rape in the “land of the pure,” according to a statement released by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on 18 April, 2016. Which means that a rape occurs every two hours in Pakistan. In April 2016, a jirga in the Ghulam …

Women of Fire

By Deneb Sumbul To celebrate International Women’s Day, Tehrik-e-Niswan’s conference themed, ‘No More Violence – Women Rising,’ at the Karachi Arts Council on March 8 was attended by a 700-strong, mostly female audience. The women – teachers, students, nurses, midwives, politicians and social activists – came from various parts of the city, dressed in orange. …

Keeping the Flame Alight

  April 24 of 2016 will bring us to Sabeen Mehmood’s first death anniversary. The brutal murder of the creator/director of T2F – a prominent personality at many forums – left a loss felt deeply by civil society. Uncertainty prevailed after her passing and there was talk of having to close down T2F – one …

Scarred Souls

There is little hope for timely justice for victims of acid crimes when provincial governments delay the framing and implementation of laws. It was Eid night, July 18. Raheela Kaziali, a pretty 19-year-old intermediate student from Gulshan Town, had just returned home from the market with her family. She and her brother were trying to open …

Interview: Dr Ghazala Rahman Rafiq

In her highly compact office, Dr. Ghazala Rahman Rafiq, Director of The Sindh Abhyas Academy (SAA), seems to disappear into the shelves, laden with books, looming large behind her. The petite, soft-spoken professor initiated the SAA and introduced the much needed, specialised subject of Sindh Studies in SZABIST in 2012.   Dr. Rahman Rafiq is …

WOW-ed Festival Karachi

WOW-ed Festival Karachi By Deneb Sumbul On May 1 this year, Karachi had the distinction of being the first South Asian city to host the Women of the World (WOW) festival, celebrating women. Held at the Beach Luxury Hotel with the support of The British Council and London’s Southbank Centre, the one-day event with free …

The Iconic Anita with us no more.

The Iconic Anita with us no more. Today 10th August '14 is her soyem. Please recite Surah Fatiha for her. Anita Ghulamali was always a larger than life figure, from the time I first met her when I was 14. Sizing me up, she then cracked a joke to make a shy, tongue-tied kid laugh. …

Surviving Money and the Financial System

"Surviving Money and the Financial System - and What Women can do about it”  was a series of three-part video presentation prepared specially for the AWID conference in Istanbul in April 2012 on the demystification of money and banking and how they really operate. It was made for an in-depth economic session on how money …

Realities from the Field with a Gender Specialist

During my travels in the interior, I came across many such women, many I felt were at the bottom of the food chain. Despite numerous efforts for their upliftment, the government hasn’t made much of a dent. Perhaps no one can tell us better than a Gender Specialist who has worked in the field with …