Farida Shaheed to deliver Annual Sarfraz Pakistan Lecture 2020

The lecture will aim to discuss the huge backlash to the Aurat March (Women's March) since 2018 catalysed by slogans that challenge the social norms starting with the seemingly innocuous and often humorous placards of 'Heat your own food' and 'wash your own socks' to more provocative ones such as 'There! Now I'm sitting properly' and especially the widely used one in 2019, 'Mera Jism Meri Marzi' – roughly translating the English language feminist slogan 'My Body My Choice' – but absent in the English word 'choice'is a connotation of desire in the Urdi marzi. 

Farida Shaheed has been writing and campaigning for many decades. In her work, she often looks at those at the margins of society – peasants, religious and ethnic minorities, in some contexts women – and their rights. Farida is a campaigner as well as an analyst. She heads the Shirkat Gar women's resource centre in Pakistan; is a founder member of the Women's Action Forum; and helps coordinate the international solidarity network "Women Living Under Muslim Laws".

The Sarfraz Pakistan Annual Lecture, named in honour of the business-man Lord Aamer Sarfraz of Kensington, focuses on the history and culture of Pakistan. It brings together scholars, journalists and cultural commentators and provides an ideal opportunity for the College community to engage with South Asian culture. 

Annual Sarfraz Pakistan Lecture: The Politics of Propriety: Feminist Actions, Culture and Cultural Rights in Pakistan
12 November 2020, 18:00
Watch on YouTube

Image ©UNESCO / Isabel de Paula