HOSTILE behaviour — sexual abuse, rape, acid attacks, ‘honour’ killings and more — torment women relentlessly, placing Pakistan among the most dangerous countries for females. The alarming data presented by the human rights minister last week exposes the entrenched control of misogynistic power structures that prevent safety and equity in the country. Between 2021 to 2024, over 7,500 women were murdered; 1,553 were killed for ‘honour’. The National Police Bureau figures are dark — 17,771 reported cases of rape and gang-rape, 121 custodial sexual assaults, 9,799 domestic violence cases, 89,599 kidnappings, and 632 incidents of sexual harassment at workplaces in the four-year period. These amount to 173,367 incidents of violence against women logged in the country. The annual rise — 30,757 cases registered in 2021, 35,477 in 2022, 46,036 in 2023 and 61,997 in 2024 — is a bucket of cold water over the government’s lofty and obviously fallacious claims about instituting preventive measures.

The state’s failure to end impunity has rendered pro-women legislation, framed to curb excesses and protect women’s bodily autonomy, ineffective as a deterrent. While violence against women escalates amid socioeconomic distress, psychological, physical, social and reproductive health is adversely affected. This is why pro-victim and survivor response, coupled with comprehensive preventive strategies to raise the low conviction rates, are crucial. We cannot afford to continue with predominantly reactive measures for the most pervasive human rights violations. Unless Pakistan places preventive measures at the centre of its criminal justice policy, it will remain a long way off from eradicating abuse against women. Women politicians and rights activists must agitate for women’s safety and the law’s implementation, alongside raising awareness in conservative areas to ensure that crimes are reported and their consequences known. In a society where a rape occurs every two minutes, only justice can guarantee respect for women.

Published in Dawn, November 10th, 2025