Women Democratic Front (WDF) is an independent

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

organization based in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. It was founded in the federal capital

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...

on March 8, 2018, by hundreds of delegates from

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

and

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ...

. WDF aims to unite women across the country to build a socialist feminist movement to transform the International Women's Day celebration in Pakistan into real means of action. The manifesto and constitution of WDF strives to a broad-based struggle against capitalism, patriarchy, religious fascism, national oppression and Pakistan's authoritarian political system. The Front was inaugurated on

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is a global holiday celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women's rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against wom ...

, 2018, when a large number of students, working women, intellectuals and political activists gathered for

Aurat Azadi March The Aurat Azadi March ( ur, , lit=Women's Emancipation March) was started in 2018 in Pakistan by members of Women Democratic Front (socialist-feminist organization), other organizations like Women's Action Forum (Women's rights organization), Elimi ...

, 2018.

Background

WDF is a women's organization based in

which aims to build an organic socialist-feminist mass resistance movement by bringing together struggles of working-class women (doing mental or physical labour) from rural and urban areas. WDF adopts democratic and peaceful and means of resistance.

Foundation

WDF was formally established as a resistance movement on

International Working on March 8, 2018, in

at a foundation congress by delegates from provincial units which were functional since 2014. The congress laid the foundation of

(Women's Freedom March) in

Ideology

WDF considers violence, discrimination and patriarchal oppression as part of overall oppression and exploitation of the masses in

on the basis of class, gender and nation – pillars of capitalism, imperialism, feudalism and religious extremism. WDf is committed to continue its struggle until the women's right to life, their emancipation from all forms of oppression, progress and peace; and to establish people's democracy in

. Their ideology is described by socialist-feminism and history of women's political struggles.

Organizational structure

WDF is a federal organization with country-wide presence as four national units in

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...

;

Baluchistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

and a federal unit. WDF also aims to make units in the disputed territories of

Gilgit-Baltistan Gilgit-Baltistan (; ), formerly known as the Northern Areas, is a region administered by Pakistan as an administrative territory, and constituting the northern portion of the larger Kashmir region which has been the subject of a dispute bet ...

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

to organize women of these areas making them part of the movement. WDF has following intertwined elected structures: *Congress: a political structure for political and ideological decision making *Council: an organizational structure consisting of a secretariat called the "Cabinet" for implementing decisions for day-to-day affairs These structures exist at three levels of district, federal and provincial/national levels.

Leadership

The Federal Cabinet of WDF comprises five members: President:

Ismat Shahjahan Ismat Raza Shahjahan (Pashto/Urdu: عصمت رضا شاہ جہان; b. May 6, 1963) is a socialist-feminist political leader from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. She is the president of Women Democratic Front (WDF), the deputy general-secretary of ...

General Secretary:

Alya Bakhshal Alya Bakhshal (Urdu: عالیہ بخشل, Born: June 3, 1978 - ) is a Pakistani feminist, political worker and organizer. She is general secretary of the Women Democratic Front and women secretary of Awami Workers Party, Sindh. Politics Bakhshal i ...

Secretary Information and Publishing: Tooba Syed Secretary Education and Art: Shahzadi Hussain Secretary Finance: Lubna Kifayat

Jalila Haider Jalila Haider (Urdu/ fa, جلیله حیدر) is a Pakistani human rights attorney and political activist from Quetta in Balochistan, Pakistan. She is known to be the first woman lawyer from Quetta's Hazara minority, and an advocate for the rig ...

, one of the provincial president of WDF, from

Quetta Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in Geography of Pakistan, south-west of the country close to the ...

was named in the

100 Women (BBC) ''100 Women'' is a BBC multi-format series established in 2013. The annual series examines the role of women in the 21st century and has included events in London and Mexico. Announcement of the list is the start of an international "BBC's wome ...

in 2019 which is a list about inspiring and influential women compiled by

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

Background

Foundation

Ideology

Organizational structure

Leadership

Citations/Sources

References