Ayesha has extensive experience researching gender and development, social policy and conflict/refugee issues Pakistan, where she has worked with the Collective for Social Science Research for almost twenty years. Her book The Women’s Movement in Pakistan: Activism, Islam and Democracy, was published in 2018.
She has participated in IDS-led multi-country research programmes Action for Empowerment and Accountability, and Pathway of Women’s Empowerment.
She is pursuing a PhD in Development Studies by Published Works – her portfolio of research is on the intersection between women’s activism, political voice and gender equality outcomes in Pakistan. Ayesha’s PhD, titled ‘Feminist Actors, Political Voice and Gender Policies in Pakistan’, is supervised by Deepta Chopra and Sohela Nazneen.