[1][2] Women's Action Forum (WAF) was established in Karachi in September, 1981[3] by a group of 15[4] women named Farida Sher, Samina Rehman, Najma Sadeque (1943- 2015) (Founder of Shirkat Gah), Rukhsana Rashid, Ghazala Rahman Rafiq,[5] Farida Shaheed (head of NGO named Shirkat Gah), Fareeha Zafar, Aban Marker Kabraji, Zohra Yusuf (member Shirkat Gah), Nighat Said Khan (founder of Applied Socio-Economic Resource Center-ASR),[6] Humaira Rehman, Sultanat Bokhari, Khawar Mumtaz,[7] Hilda Saeed (member Shirkat Gah), Lala Rukh (1948 – 2017),[8][9] Nigar Ahmed (1945 – 2017) and Nasreen Azhar,[10][11] some of whom were associated with Lahore Grammar School, National College of Arts and NGOs like Simorgh, Society for Advancement of Education (SAHE) and Aurat Foundation.
[1] The WAF was formed to respond to the implementation of the Hudood Ordinance penal code and to strengthen women's position in society generally.
Women from civil society organizations in Karachi became the founding members of the WAF which has later been joined by chapters from Lahore (Punjab) and Islamabad (Capital of Pakistan) soon within a period of one year.
[13] In Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Hyderabad, Peshawar and Quetta the group agreed on collective leadership and formulated policy statements and engaged in political action to safeguard women's legal position.
[5] Amar Sindhu along with Arfana Mallah started chapter of Women's Action Forum (WAF) in Hyderabad in 2008.