Criticism Against Aurat March Slogans

 MERA JISM MERI MARZI (My Body, My Choice)

The Theme Behind The Slogan 

Aurat March Slogans

Mera Jism Meri Marzi (My Body, My Choice) is one of the most controversial slogans used by Pakistani feminists in Aurat March in 2018, and words of this nature cause outrage among Pakistanis. Many Pakistanis harshly criticized the Aurat March and claimed it was against religious and cultural norms. Critics blame Pakistani feminists for the current state of social disarray and cultural anarchy, promoting obscenity and sexuality in society and hurting social, cultural, and pious values. 

However, Pakistani feminists and experts denied it and argued that Aurat March slogans like Mera Jism Meri Marzi (My Body, My Choice) have a poor understanding of feminism and its slogans. Pakistan's Aurat March participants claimed that critics are trying to portray these slogans as western agendas, but in reality, such slogans differ in their objectives from those of the West. According to them, slogans like "Mera Jism Meri Marzi" (My Body, My Choice), "Mera Wajood Meri Marzi" (My Existence, My Choice), and "Meri Zindagi Mere Faslay" ( My Life, My Decisions) are metaphorical and should be interpreted broadly.

Violence, Injustice, and Inequalities against Women

In Pakistan, feminists believe that "Mera Jism, Meri Marzi" is important because women are subject to structural violence, injustices, and inequality. These slogans denounce rapes, forced marriages, child marriages, acid attacks, violence, physical and mental abuse, harassment in public and private spaces, female genital mutilations, acid assaults, inequalities, injustices, and honor killings. 

According to the Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association, approximately 70 to 90% of women are subject to domestic violence in Pakistan. In the same way, thousands of women are raped, harassed, abused, and killed in the name of honor each year, and most cases remain unregistered in police stations.

Participants of the Aurat March used Mera Jism Meri Marzi for women's empowerment and for their fundamental rights. These slogans do not mean women want to promote western culture or agenda, dress inappropriately, or have extramarital affairs. These slogans mean having bodily autonomy and fundamental and equal women's rights. 

Bodily Autonomy

Here, bodily autonomy means no one has the right to stare, touch, or commit sexual assault on women without the women's consent in private or public places. Physical and sexual assaults and forced marriages are widespread in all classes of Pakistan. The handling of assaults on women is considered a personal matter; they go unseen until they manifest in extreme forms, such as murder or attempted murder. Furthermore, martial rapes are rejected as crimes in Pakistan because these laws negate women's rights to control over their own sexuality. 

Women cannot be empowered and grow until and unless they have no bodily autonomy and access to reproductive rights and have no right to make family planning decisions. As it is said that men shape the reproduction decision, and until and unless men are not proactively involved in reproduction decisions or family planning, women cannot decide about it. It means women have no reproductive rights, and due to improper treatments, malnutrition, and multiple deliveries, women face severe health issues.

So, My Body is My Right, and the denial of bodily autonomy means the negation of the fundamental rights of women.