Introduction
The protection of women’s as well as gender-diverse communities’ rights faces a severe crisis in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. In the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s (HRCP) annual report, the “State of Human Rights in 2025” presented a picture of institutional failure to protect marginalised groups, gender-based violence and systemic violations (HRCP, 2026). Consequently, Pakistan currently ranks 130th out of 143 countries in the overall enforcement of fundamental liberties and a mere 145th out of 148 countries in the Global Gender Gap Index (Pakistan Today, 2026). Thus, international human rights observers classify it as one of the most dangerous countries in the world for women. Although the constitution of Pakistan guarantees equality before the law and explicitly forbids discrimination on the basis of sex, as well as being a signatory to important international agreements, such as the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), these rights and commitments are not reflected in practice. In fact, deeply ingrained patriarchal cultural norms, weak judicial enforcement and a severe lack of police accountability means violence and discrimination can take place with near total impunity.
Crackdown on Gender Rights and Bodily Autonomy
The bodily autonomy and physical safety of women and gender diverse people in Pakistan are facing increasing threats in recent years. Legal and customary methods are actively employed to uphold patriarchal control, which results in the suppression of the right to live without violence and to exercise basic personal choices (Khan, 2020). Throughout 2025, women connected to the political opposition were subjected to arbitrary and protracted detention in harsh conditions such as the continued detention of prominent individuals like Dr. Yasmin Rashid (Pakistan Today, 2026). Furthermore, any domestic or public opposition to traditional gender roles is promptly suppressed, which can take the form of physical assault or even honour-related murders (Selby & Rodriguez, 2019). Recent data compiled by the HRCP found that reported cases of gender based violence (GBV) in Pakistan rose in 2025 by 25% over an 11 month period (HRCP, 2026). Overall 6,543 cases of GBV were reported with Punjab province accounting for 78% of them. 3,815 of those were rape cases, 1,332 were domestic violence murders, with 2,912 other violent cases and the rest ranging from honour-related killings, gang-rape cases, transgender murders and other forms of violence against women, including physical assault, public humiliation and torture (Pakistan Today, 2026). Additionally, over 3,600 cases of violence against children, including 2,003 instances of sexual abuse, were reported (HRCP, 2026).
Particularly in rural and conservative areas, traditional parallel justice systems that take precedence over official state courts structurally sustain this epidemic of physical violence. For example, in rural Sindh, tribal conflicts involving murder, property or family honour are still frequently settled through the deeply rooted custom of Vani (Alisoy, 2025). In order to resolve family or tribal disputes, young girls (often pre-adolescents as young as five or twelve years old) are coerced into marriage under Vani. In order to preserve male authority and the reputation of the family, these coercive agreements are negotiated and enforced by informal tribal councils known as jirgas, whose local authority effectively creates a parallel justice system that treats women like commodities. Local police and public officials regularly tolerate these councils, despite a 2004 Supreme Court of Pakistan ruling that forbids such rights-violating practices by jirgas. Consequently, victims of customary child marriage are left with near to no access to official channels of judicial protection (Alisoy, 2025).
Similarly, to prosecutture violence regarding matters of honour faces a similar challenge. In the past, murderers avoided punishment by taking advantage of the Pakistan Penal Code’s qisas (retribution) and diyat (blood money) provisions, which permitted the victim’s heirs (who were frequently involved in the crime) to formally pardon the murderer (Adil, 2025). Significant obstacles still exist despite the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act of 2016 attempt to close this loophole by classifying honour killings as fisaad-fil-arz (mischief on earth), which reconfigures the crime as an offence against the state rather than a private dispute (Khan, 2020). However, as these killings take place at home, family members often clean, wash or modify the crime scene before the police are alerted, which poses a severe challenge in collecting forensic evidence and thus achieving justice for the victims.
Under Pakistan’s accused-centric criminal justice system, the presumption of innocence places the burden of proof entirely on the prosecution. However, under Article 122 of the Qanoon-e-Shahadat Order (QSO), the Supreme Court of Pakistan has adopted a victim-centric stance to protect victims, as was the case for Saeed Ahmed. Article 122 posits that if a victim was last seen alive with the accused, the accused must provide an explanation, failing to do so casts a shadow of guilt upon them (Adil, 2025). In order to prevent complicit family members from acting as complainants and complicating the trial, police leadership has also registered First Information Reports (FIRs) on behalf of the state as the primary complainant.
Cyber Harassment and the Weaponisation of Penal Laws
Digital platforms have emerged as crucial spaces for women’s rights advocacy and expression in Pakistan as physical spaces for women’s mobilisation increasingly become more constrained (HRW, 2020). But the state has had difficulty protecting these online spaces, turning cyberspace into an extremely hostile and monitored area where women and people of different gender identities are also frequently targeted. In 2016, the parliament passed the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) to regulate online activity and in 2026 the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) will take over cyber investigations (Pakistan Today, 2026). However, the law has been routinely weaponised to silence victims of sexual abuse and harassment, despite being promoted as a safeguard against cyberstalking (Section 24) and the misuse of private photos (Section 21) (Adil, 2025).
Section 20 of the PECA, which criminalises the online transmission of “defamatory information”, is the main tool used to suppress this. The broad and vague nature of how defamation is defined carries criminal penalties that duplicate civil remedies, giving state agencies a great degree of discretion (M. Khan, 2020). Furthermore, women’s rights organisations have noted a concerning trend: the use of Section 20 by sexual assault perpetrators to file criminal counter-complaints of defamation against survivors and witnesses who speak out on social media. The legal dispute between singer Meesha Shafi and Ali Zafar highlights the persistence of this methodical weaponisation. (M. Khan, 2020) Zafar filed civil and criminal defamation lawsuits under Section 20 in response to Shafi’s public accusations of sexual harassment in 2018. This resulted in an eight-year legal battle that included 283 hearings under nine different judges (Munim, 2026). Despite Shafi’s initial harassment complaint still being pending before the Supreme Court of Pakistan, in April, 2026, a Lahore sessions court ordered her to pay Rs 5 million in damages and permanently barred her from making similar claims (Munim, 2026). This case illustrates how the constitutional right to freedom of expression is violated when criminal defamation is used to impose a culture of silence.
In addition, the state’s operational response to cyberviolence is also deeply flawed. Investigators routinely fail to recognise the seriousness of gendered cyber harassment and the cybercrime agency remains severely underfunded. Only 19.5% of the 8,500 online harassment complaints filed by women between 2018 and 2019 were looked into by the agency (HRW, 2020). The agency’s requirement that women physically visit a regional office to submit extremely sensitive personal information, such as father’s details and national identity card (CNIC) numbers, serves as a direct deterrent. This process raises concerns about social backlash and family retaliation.
Collective feminist movements, such as the annual Aurat March are also targets of cyberattacks. Massive online disinformation campaigns are launched by right-wing media figures and religious extremists during these nonviolent celebrations of International Women’s Day (Civicus, 2020). Critics altered videos of feminist slogans in Karachi on multiple occasions, adding fictitious subtitles to make the participants’ words seem blasphemous. According to Section 295-C of the Penal Code, blasphemy accusations in Pakistan are punishable by the mandatory death penalty (EBL, 2021). Therefore, such seemingly harmless alternations often lead to vigilante mob violence. The banned terrorist group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) threatened the organisers with vigilante violence and local courts in Peshawar and Karachi ordered the police to file blasphemy cases against them despite the videos’ proven falsity (Civicus, 2020). These cases highlight that digital spaces do not provide a safe haven for free speech in Pakistan.
International Legal Frameworks and Domestic Laws
As aforementioned, as a signatory to the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and a ratifier of the ICCPR and CEDAW, Pakistan has legally committed to upholding international law in order to end gender discrimination, shield women from damaging customs and ensure bodily autonomy (Pakistan Today, 2026). However, despite these international commitments, Pakistan’s domestic legal systems are fractured and marked by significant regional differences and legal inconsistencies.
The laws pertaining to child marriage are a clear example of this legislative division. The legal minimum age of marriage for girls was traditionally set at 16 under the federal Child Marriage Restriction Act of 1929, which exposed young girls to high rates of maternal mortality and early pregnancies (Christian Daily International, 2025). Although in 2013 the minimum age for marriage was raised to 18 for both sexes, certain regions did not consistently implement these protections. However, the historic Balochistan Child Marriages Restriction Act 2025, establishing the legal minimum age of marriage at 18 for both boys and girls, was passed by the Balochistan Assembly in November, 2025 (Christian Daily International, 2025). Consequently, any adult male who enters into a child marriage faces up to three years prison sentance and a fine of 200,000 rupees. Furthermore, this Act also holds clerics, marriage registrars as well as family members criminally liable for facilitation of the child marriage. Additionally, it states that any marriage involving a minor who was abducted, sold, lured or trafficked is invalid from the beginning.
Notably, in April, 2026, the Punjab Assembly passed the Punjab Child Marriage Restriction Bill and Governor Saleem Haider Khan immediately signed it into effect (Christian Daily International, 2026). In Pakistan’s most populous province, this progressive law sets the minimum age of marriage at 18 for both sexes. Facilitators face up to seven years in prison and a fine of up to one million rupees. Importantly, the Punjab ordinance requires Nikah registrars to verify ages using CNIC or birth records under threat of professional disqualification and arrest. It also labels cohabitation resulting from a child marriage as “child abuse” which carries five to seven years in prison (Christian Daily International, 2026). Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, however, has rejected similar legislation, keeping legal age for marriages for girls at 16. Religious laws further complicate regional fragmentation. For example, although the Christian Marriage (Amendment) Act 2024 set the marriageable age for Christians at 18, if a minor girl converts to Islam, she is subject to customary sharia interpretations that permit marriage below 18, exposing young girls to early marriages and forced conversions (Christian Daily International, 2025). Despite a 2023 Federal Shariat Court decision confirmed that establishing the legal age of marriage to 18 is consistent with Islamic principles and the public interest (maslahah mursalah), this is remains a significant loophole.
Additionally, due to the absence of uniform federal laws that address domestic abuse, implementation and protection are rendered inconsistent and poorly enforced (Tahir, 2025). Although Sindh passed the Domestic Violence Act in 2013, only five FIRs were filed under the Act out of 1,491 domestic violence cases that were reported to Sindh police between January and May 2024 (Tahir, 2025). This is primarily because police still handle domestic abuse as a private family matter. Furthermore, transgender women are excluded from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s 2021 domestic violence law, which also excludes intimate partner violence outside of familial consanguinity. In May 2023, transgender rights were left further legally vulnerable due to the Federal Shariat Court overturning the progressive Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act of 2018, which had permitted citizens to select their gender on official documentation (Amnesty International, 2023). Based on speculative concerns about men entering female spaces, the court ruled that transgender people’s right to self-perceived gender identity and inheritance rights are “un-Islamic” (Amnesty International, 2023). Pakistan’s international obligations under the ICCPR and CEDAW are directly violated by this judicial rollback, which puts transgender people at heightened risks of systemic violence while also denying them legal gender recognition.
Conclusion
In order to address the systemic oppression of women and gender-diverse communities in Pakistan, aconcerted state effort is needed to eliminate deeply ingrained patriarchal norms and decontruct parallel customary judiciaries like jirgas that consistently bypass formal courts. To prevent the legal harassment of survivors of sexual abuse, the government must also immediately decriminalise defamation under Section 20 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA). At the same time, all provinces must enforce a uniform minimum marriageable age of 18. Pakistan can only close the gap between its constitutional guarantees and the everyday lives of its most vulnerable citizens by coordinating domestic law enforcement with international human rights commitments. Ultimatley, to ensure the safeguarding of women’s rights and the fundamental liberties of gender-diverse communities in Pakistan, significant reforms in line with global human rights standards need to be not only implemented but also actively upheld. Thus, key recommendations include:
- Enact consistent national child marriage restraints,
- Repeal or amend Section 20 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016,
- Decriminalise blasphemy,
- Eradicate customary (parallel) judiciaries such as irgas that facilitate or enforce coercive practices like Vani or honour-based compromises,
- Implement transgender protective legislation.
Bibliography
Adil, K. (2025, November 5). JUSTICE SECTOR RESPONSE TO HONOUR KILLINGS IN PAKISTAN – Research Society of International Law. Research Society of International Law. https://rsilpak.org/2025/justice-sector-response-to-honour-killings-in-pakistan/
Alisoy, N. (2025). From Paper to Practice: How Grassroots Norms Undermine Gender Rights in Pakistan. European Student Think Tank. https://esthinktank.com/2025/12/02/from-paper-to-practice-how-grassroots-norms-undermine-gender-rights-in-pakistan/
Amnesty International. (2023, May 19). Pakistan: Revocation of rights of transgender and gender-diverse people must be stopped. Amnesty International. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/05/pakistan-revocation-of-rights-of-transgender-and-gender-diverse-people-must-be-stopped/
Christian Daily International. (2025, November 17). Anti-Child Marriage Bill Passed in Province in Pakistan. Christian Daily International . https://www.christiandaily.com/news/anti-child-marriage-bill-passed-in-province-in-pakistan
Christian Daily International. (2026, April 29). “Historic”: Human rights groups praise passage of landmark law banning child marriage in Punjab. Christian Daily International. https://www.christianpost.com/news/historic-human-rights-groups-praise-law-banning-child-marriage.html
Civicus. (2020). Attacks on Aurat March, minorities and critics highlight shrinking space for dissent in Pakistan. Civicus Monitor. https://monitor.civicus.org/explore/attacks-aurat-march-minorities-and-critics-highlight-shrinking-space-dissent-pakistan/
End Blasphemy Laws. (2021, April 6). Pakistan: false “blasphemy” allegations used to harass women’s rights activists. End Blasphemy Laws. https://end-blasphemy-laws.org/2021/04/pakistan-false-blasphemy-allegations-used-to-harass-womens-rights-activists/
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. (2026). State of Human Rights in 2025. Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. https://hrcp-web.org/hrcpweb/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/2026-State-of-human-rights-in-2025-EN.pdf
Human Rights Watch. (2020, October 22). Online Harassment of Women in Pakistan. Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/10/22/online-harassment-women-pakistan
Khan, A. (2020). “Honour” Killings in Pakistan: Judicial and Legal Treatment of the Crime: A Feminist Perspective. LUMS Law Journal, 7(1). https://sahsol.lums.edu.pk/node/12887
Khan, M. A. (2020). Criminal Defamation Laws in Pakistan and Their Use to Silence Victims of Sexual Harassment, Abuse, or Rape. Lums.edu.pk. https://sahsol.lums.edu.pk/node/16906
Munim, Y. (2026, April 2). Meesha Shafi ordered to pay Rs5m to Ali Zafar for defaming him, harassment case remains pending. Digital Rights Monitor. https://digitalrightsmonitor.pk/meesha-shafi-ordered-to-pay-rs5m-to-ali-zafar-for-defaming-him-while-harassment-case-remains-pending/
Pakistan Today. (2026, May 4). HRCP report flags shrinking civic space and rights concerns in 2025. Pakistan Today. https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2026/05/05/hrcp-report-flags-shrinking-civic-space-and-rights-concerns-in-2025
Selby, D., & Rodriguez, L. (2019, April 9). How Activists Helped Change Pakistan’s Honor-Killing Law. Global Citizen. https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/honor-killings-case-study/
Tahir, R. (2025). A Road to Safety: Addressing Domestic Violence in Sindh, Pakistan. Oxford Human Rights Hub. https://ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk/a-road-to-safety-addressing-domestic-violence-in-sindh-pakistan/
