Rahat Imran and Imran Munir. “Defying Marginalization: Emergence of Women’s Organizations and the Resistance Movement in Pakistan: A Historical Overview.” Journal of International Women’s Studies, vol. 19, no. 6 (2018): 132-156.
This article examines the rise of feminist legal and political resistance in Pakistan during and after General Zia-ul-Haq’s regime (1977–1988), a period marked by the state’s Islamization efforts and the imposition of strict Sharia-based laws. These judicial transformations significantly curtailed women’s rights and public participation, embedding gender-specific restrictions under the guise of religious identity. In response to this authoritarian shift, women in Pakistan mobilized for the first time in an organized and sustained movement to challenge the regime’s oppressive policies. This resistance gave rise to a vibrant network of non-governmental organizations, feminist writers, activist theatre groups, human rights advocates, legal aid centers, and documentary filmmakers, all united in their pursuit of social justice and legal reform. Drawing on secondary sources, the paper provides a historical overview of how these feminist and oppositional movements emerged under authoritarian rule and evolved into lasting forces for socio-political change in contemporary Pakistan.