The first Aurat March on International Women’s Day in 2018 was held in Karachi, Pakistan.
The march took place on March 8, 2018, as women’s collectives organized a public demonstration focused on equality, dignity, and women’s rights. It emerged alongside the wider growth of feminist activism and the #MeToo movement in Pakistan. The Karachi event is generally identified as the first Aurat March, organized by the Hum Auratein collective.
Aurat March later became an annual movement held in several Pakistani cities, including Lahore, Islamabad, Multan, Peshawar, and Karachi. Its demands have included accountability for violence, safer public spaces, workplace rights, reproductive autonomy, and recognition of marginalized groups. Posters and slogans helped make the march highly visible in national debates.
The main source of confusion is that another event, the Aurat Azadi March, also began in Pakistan in 2018, including a march in Islamabad organized by groups such as the Women Democratic Front. Those were related but distinct initiatives. Thus, Islamabad can be associated with a different 2018 women’s march, while Karachi is the canonical answer for the first event called Aurat March.