How football offers solace for Hazara women battling trauma, fear

As the Hazara community deals with discrimination and violence, the sport became a game-changer for young women.

Karachi, Pakistan – Sughra Rajab, 19, and Shamsia Ali, 21, were just two of the young footballers who represented the Hazara Quetta team at the National Women’s Football Championship in March this year. The pair travelled hundreds of kilometres from Quetta, in the southwestern province of Balochistan, to the southern coastal city of Karachi. For Ali, coming to Karachi and playing at that level was a “dream coming true”.