Pakistan's first all-female boxing club

A group of Pakistani girls are stepping out of patriarchal confines and into the boxing ring

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A combination photo shows students of coach Younus Qambrani posing with their boxing gloves.
Coach Younus Qambrani (bottom right) and his students pose with their boxing gloves outside the Pak Shaheen Boxing Club in Karachi, Pakistan, on Feb. 20, 2016.
(Image credit: (REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro)Since 1992, Younus Qambrani has been training aspiring male boxers at his Pak Shaheen Boxing Club, a nondescript, one-room building in a rough neighborhood in Karachi,)

Qambrani coaches Arisha, 9, during practice on Feb. 19, 2016.
(Image credit: (REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro)The all-girls boxing club started by accident about six months ago when one of Qambrani's boxers introduced the coach to a 16-year-old girl who was being turned away fr)

Mehek, 15, trains on Feb. 19, 2016.
(Image credit: (REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro))

A friend wraps the hand of a boxer competing in the Sindh Junior Sports Association Boxing Tournament in Karachi, Pakistan, on Feb. 21, 2016.
(Image credit: (REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro))

Mehek, 15, practices during a workout on Feb. 19, 2016.
(Image credit: (REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro))

Arisha, 9, punches Misbah during practice on Feb. 20, 2016.
(Image credit: (REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro))

Assistant boxing coach Nadir helps Urooj, 15, put on her headgear before the start of her bout during the Sindh Junior Sports Association Boxing Tournament on Feb. 21, 2016.
(Image credit: (REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro))

Aamna, 11, waits for the start for her bout during the Sindh Junior Sports Association Boxing Tournament on Feb. 21, 2016.
(Image credit: (REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro))

Tabia, 12, fights against Aamna, 11, during the Sindh Junior Sports Association Boxing Tournament on Feb. 21, 2016.
(Image credit: (REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro))

The trainees at the Pak Shaheen Boxing Club with the club president Hussain Qambrani, coach Younus Qambrani, and assistant coach Nadir in Karachi, Pakistan, on Feb. 20, 2016.
(Image credit: (REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro))

Lauren Hansen
Lauren Hansen

Lauren Hansen produces The Week’s podcasts and videos and edits the photo blog, Captured. She also manages the production of the magazine's iPad app. A graduate of Kenyon College and Northwestern University, she previously worked at the BBC and Frontline. She knows a thing or two about pretty pictures and cute puppies, both of which she tweets about @mylaurenhansen.