Rights Body flags surge in violence against women across Pakistan
Islamabad, April 24 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) A leading minority rights organisation on Friday highlighted a disturbing pattern of violence against women, citing 6,543 cases of gender-based violence reported last year.
According to the Voice of Pakistan Minority (VOPM), the violence against women recorded in 2025 rose sharply from 5,253 in 2024—a 25 per cent increase in just one year.
“This is not just a trend; it is a warning. It signals that despite laws, policies, and public discourse, women across the country are becoming more vulnerable, not less,” the rights body noted.
Expressing concern over the rising incidents of gender-based violence, the VOPM claimed that in 2024 alone, more than 24,000 abductions took place — around 67 women taken every single day. Additionally, over 5,000 rape cases were reported, nearly 19 daily, and as many as 405 women were killed in the name of “honour”.
The rights body noted that the most disturbing reality lies not in the crimes but in the lack of justice. Conviction rates are alarmingly low, with less than 2 per cent for rape cases and around 0.1 per cent for abductions.
“These are not just failures of the legal system; they are signals sent to victims that their pain may never be acknowledged and to perpetrators that they may never be held accountable,” the VOPM mentioned.
Highlighting the grim situation across Pakistan, the VOPM revealed an estimated 90 per cent of women experience domestic violence, while 85–90 per cent face harassment in workplaces. It added that for many women in the country, danger is not an exception but a daily reality which exists in homes, on streets, and even in institutions meant to provide safety and opportunity.
In Pakistan’s provinces, including Sindh and Balochistan, the VOPM noted that reality is far more severe. Many cases, it said, never make it to official records, buried under social pressure, fear, or the influence of powerful local figures, where silence is not merely “imposed” but “enforced”.
“What makes this crisis even more difficult to confront is how normalised it has become. Stories of women killed over personal choices, family disputes, or so-called honour appear with alarming regularity. They fade quickly from public attention, replaced by the next headline, the next tragedy. In this cycle, outrage is brief, but loss is permanent,” the rights body stated.
Emphasising the entrenched systemic failure and weak enforcement of law against gender-based violence in Pakistan, the VOPM said, “At the heart of the problem lies a system that has yet to fully recognise women as equal citizens. Informal mechanisms like jirgas continue to operate, often overriding formal law and delivering decisions that strip women of their basic rights. These parallel systems do not just fail women—they actively endanger them.”
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