Log in to hire Sara

Sara Hylton

Canadian storyteller focusing on gender + human rights |
      
The rising voices of women in Pakistan
Public Project
The rising voices of women in Pakistan
Copyright Sara Hylton 2024
Date of Work Jul 2018 - Ongoing
Updated Feb 2022
Location Lahore, Pakistan
Topics Abuse, Activism, Belief, Borders, Children, Discrimination, Documentary, Domestic Violence, Dying/Death, Editorial, Education, Faith, Fear, Feminism, Film, Gender, Human Rights, Migration, Minority, Motherhood, Oppression, Photography, Photojournalism, Portraiture, Religion, Terrorism, Violence, War, Womens Rights
Rukhshanda Naz sat in the middle of a table surrounded by twelve women, her deep strong voice pulsating through the walls of a non-descript office in which her and her colleagues felt safe enough to meet. Some covered their heads in bright colorful scarves, others had short modern haircuts, uncovered. Notepads and empty tea cups spread across the table as Naz spoke. “I started my activism against my own father…we are survivors of our own home” she said. The women nodded in agreement: “living in this part of the world and being a woman, how can one not be a feminist?” said another woman.

Rukshandha Naz, a lawyer and activist, was holding a meeting among secular, progressive feminists and activists mostly from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, a region sharing a border with Afghanistan and predominantly inhabited by Pashtuns. In addition to her legal work, Naz runs a shelter for women from Afghanistan who are fleeing violence and persecution. 

This meeting occurred two weeks before Pakistan’s general elections. Though women have had the right to vote since 1956, Pakistan ranks among the last in the world in female election participation. Conservative, patriarchal norms relegate women to the home. What’s more, the 2018 elections saw "the unprecedented inclusion of extremist and militant sectarian groups running for office…at the same time, hundreds of people were killed or injured by a series of pre-election suicide attacks" mostly against secular and more liberal parties. Working in such a climate cannot be undermined; the women around the table, and many others like them across Pakistan, face serious threats from the state, religious institutions, and perhaps more importantly, other conservative women. 

From sheltering the vulnerable to registering women to vote, women across Pakistan are pushing up again patriarchal customs and fighting for their rights despite the immense dangers they face. As Gulalai, a feminist who runs a women’s organization called Khwendo Kor said, "There is no other option." 
16,684

Also by Sara Hylton —

Project

Tearsheets

Sara Hylton / International
Project

The Bakken oil shale's impact on Native American women

Sara Hylton / Fort Peck
Project

Single images

Sara Hylton / India
Project

Along the Keystone XL Pipeline, Hoping for a Miracle

Sara Hylton / Fort Peck Indian Reservation
Project

Nobody Listened

Sara Hylton / Saskatchewan
Project

An American Dream

Sara Hylton / McAllen, Texas
Project

Girls Education in South Sudan

Sara Hylton / south sudan
Project

What War Can't Destroy

Sara Hylton / Juba, South Sudan
The rising voices of women in Pakistan by Sara Hylton
Sign-up for
For more access