Baithak

The concept of Baithak stemmed from 2018, when Ayesha Amin, our founder, after her Fulbright Master’s Degree, started conducting focus group discussions (FGDs) in the rural communities of Jamshoro to understand the needs and challenges that girls and women faced in order to access their sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Soon these FDGs transformed into safe spaces for women to come together to reflect on, discuss, and learn about issues affecting their health. They started referring to these spaces as ‘baithaks/ بیٹھک’ – an Urdu / Sindhi word meaning ‘sittings’ or ‘gatherings’ of people. Culturally, these baithaks are spaces where decisions are made regarding community and family life; however, they remain male-dominated, and women are excluded from these discussions, leaving them having no say in matters that affect them. Ayesha, with the team of volunteers, continued holding more baithaks in different parts of Jamshoro and the rest of Sindh. And soon a passion project evolved into a powerful grassroots movement across Pakistan.