Some Pakistani parents send their daughters to train in boxing -- an exotic hobby in this conservative country -- because it is not safe on the streets. About a dozen girls, aged 8 to 17, have gone to the Pak Shaheen Boxing Club after school to practice their jabs, hooks and upper cuts. Pakistani women have been training as boxers in small numbers and competed in the South Asian Games last year, according to Younis Qambrani, the coach who founded the club in 1992 in the Karachi neighbourhood of Lyari, a place better known for internecine gang warfare than for breaking glass ceilings.
Pakistan: First Women's Boxing Camp
Misbah, 17, takes part in warm up exercises at the first women's boxing camp in Karachi, Pakistan, February 19, 2016. The opening of the school angered many in Pakistan who say that women have no place in sport.
Arisha, 9, takes instructions from coach Younus Qambrani during a training session.
Tabia, 12, removes her shoes after finishing a training session.
Azmeena, 16, takes part in warm up exercises.
Anum, 17, trains with her coach Younus Qambrani.
Mehek, 15, who has her hands wrapped, takes part in a training session.
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 in Karachi, Pakistan February 21, 2016.
The hands of a boxer get wrapped before competing in the Sindh Junior Sports Association Boxing Tournament in Karachi.
Tabia (R), 12, fights against Aamna, 11, during the Sindh Junior Sports Association Boxing Tournament in Karachi.
Girl trainees pose for a group photograph with their coach Yunus Qambrani and assistant coach Nadir at the boxing camp in Karachi.