Better Government, Better Lives: The Campaign to Increase Women’s Political Participation

Abstract

In this chapter, I focus on the efforts of one advocacy NGO—Aurat Foundation—in promoting women s rights. It is one of the oldest and most well-known women’s NGOs in Pakistan. After describing its goals and the different levels at which it operates, I discuss, more specifically, the many obstacles that Aurat Foundation (AF) faces in its campaign to increase women’s political participation. I then analyze the different types of strategies employed by the NGO workers in order to promote women’s political participation. Strategies, such as the ones I discuss, have been the subject of much feminist debate. I lay out the tensions between feminist ideals and activism, or “ground realities,” and pick up these themes again in the next chapter in the context of the campaign against sexual harassment.