On the occasion of International Women's Day, on March 8, DASTAk Foundation, a Pakistan based civil society organization working against gender-based violence across Pakistan, organized a virtual panel discussion on "Envisioning Elimination of Violence Against Women Across South Asia." The panel discussion aimed at starting a conversation on empowering survivors as change-makers, recommendations and a way forward to eradicate gender-based violence.

The panel discussion featured women rights activists and representatives of civil organizations working to counter GBV in the South Asian region, including Lubha Raj Neupane, WOREC's Executive Director, Dr Asma Shakir Khawaja, Associate Professor at National Defense University, Pakistan, Kamla Bhasin, Indian developmental feminist and activist, Shiranee Mills, Executive Director of Women's Education and Research Centre, Sri Lanka, Shireen Pervin Huq, a Women's rights activist, Bangladesh, Syed Ali Hameed from DASTAK, Pakistan, and Sayed Mohebullah Haqiq, Country Director of Women for Afghan Women, Afghanistan.

The panellists shared their experiences in combatting gender-based violence, infanticide, domestic violence, and early marriage and discussed ways and means through which collaborative interventions can be launched to eliminate violence against women across South Asia.