Pakistan's first all-female boxing club
A group of Pakistani girls are stepping out of patriarchal confines and into the boxing ring


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.
(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.
(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.
(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.
(REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro)

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

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

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

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