Initiated as a small voluntary women’s collective in Pakistan in 1975, Shirkat Gah was the country’s first self-avowed feminist organisation. SG has played a pivotal role in the women’s movement in Pakistan and in the formation of the Women’s Action Forum (WAF), a women’s alliance that was formed to challenge the reversal and suppression of women’s rights during the dictatorship of General Zia who led Pakistan through a period of Islamisation that saw the passing of many controversial laws such as the Hudood Ordinance. Women’s rights including access to public spaces were rescinded. SG opposed these oppressive laws and fought back.

As one of the leading women’s rights organisations of Pakistan, SG has established itself as a resource centre for advocacy, capacity building, knowledge production and dissemination. SG houses historical archives pertaining to women’s and minorities’ rights and laws from Pakistan’s early existence.

Today, Shirkat Gah works in 23 districts across Pakistan through offices in Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar. The organisation acts in concert with other Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) as key allies championing gender equality and social justice. SG is an invited member of multiple government committees for policy making and implementation. SG has a track record of contributing to national, regional and international agenda setting processes and enjoys UN ECOSOC consultative status.

Shirkat Gah has fully engaged with and led processes concerning obligations and reporting under, in particular, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Beijing Platform for Action, the International Conference on Population and Development, particular goals of the Millennium Development Goals and Universal Periodic Review.

Nationally and internationally, Shirkat Gah partners with academia and research institutions as well as civil society groups. The organisation is represented in many international bodies (e.g. IUCN (World Conservation Union), functions as the Asia Region Coordination Office for the international solidarity network, Women Living under Muslim Laws (WLUML), and sits on the steering committees of several initiatives to further gender equality..