ISLAMABAD: Senator Sherry Rehman on Thursday called for urgent, coordinated action to ensure the effective implementation of Pakistan’s gender-based violence (GBV) laws, warning that persistent gaps between legislation and enforcement continue to deny justice to survivors.
Addressing a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights, convened on her notice and pursuant to a motion she tabled, Senator Rehman said Pakistan had enacted a wide range of GBV-related laws at federal and provincial levels with more legislation under consideration. However, she said the failure to translate laws into outcomes remained the central challenge.
“The public and the media repeatedly ask, you make laws, but where is the implementation? This question must be answered with action, not assurances,” she said.
She said it was deeply troubling for lawmakers who had been working on GBV legislation for over two decades that enforcement remained weak. Ensuring women’s safety, dignity and rights was a constitutional obligation of the state and a core priority of her party, she added.
Senator Sherry Rehman says public and media repeatedly ask, you make laws, but where is implementation? This question must be answered with action
The committee was briefed on alarming statistics from trial courts dealing with cases of sexual abuse, murder, rape, acid attacks and domestic violence. Of 28,059 cases decided, 26, 842 ended in acquittals.
A majority, about 21, 877 cases, were dismissed after witnesses, including complainants and victims, resiled.
In compoundable offences such as murder and hurt, 1,299 cases were settled through compromise, while 3,171 acquittals were recorded on merit. Only 1,217 cases resulted in convictions on merit.
The meeting was informed that during 2024 alone, 32,617 cases of gender-based violence were reported across the country, including rape, abduction, domestic violence and so-called honour killings. Despite the establishment of 480 GBV courts nationwide, case backlogs continued to grow, further delaying justice.
Citing findings from the Law Commission of Pakistan and the National Commission for Human Rights, the meeting learnt that the conviction rate in GBV cases stood at just 5 per cent, while 64pc ended in acquittals, raising serious concerns about investigations, prosecutions and judicial processes.
“This issue is like an iceberg. Many cases are never reported or registered. Official figures show only a fraction of the violence women face,” Sherry Rehman said, noting human rights groups estimate a majority of incidents go unreported due to fear of retaliation and victim-blaming.
She highlighted systemic pressures on survivors and justice sector officials, allowing influential interests to shape outcomes.
She said the committee had brought together police, prosecutors, advocates general, and representatives of human rights and women’s commissions to identify legal and procedural loopholes contributing to low conviction rates. Recommendations from the meeting are being compiled for province-specific reforms.
She also criticised social attitudes that perpetuated impunity, including victim-blaming in public discourse and media narratives, and cited incidents that reflected the dangerous normalisation of violence.
Participants observed real test lay in uniform and effective implementation of existing laws.
Calling for time-bound, practical reforms to strengthen investigations, protect survivors and improve prosecutions, they demanded sustained accountability as essential to break the cycle of impunity and stagnation.
Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2025
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