PAKISTAN remains one of the most perilous countries in the world for women, with rank 148th, in the Global Gender Gap Report 2025.
The country’s overall parity score has declined for the second consecutive year, slipping from 57.7% to 56.7%. Economic participation and opportunity for women have deteriorated further and literacy parity remains below 75%, reflecting deep-rooted structural inequalities. These figures reflect a society deeply entrenched in patriarchal norms, where gender-based violence persists unchecked and has become a routine part of everyday life. Patriarchy in Pakistan functions as a deliberate and deeply entrenched system that governs social norms, restricts women’s autonomy and reinforces male dominance across institutions and everyday life.
Women’s lives are governed by institutionalized codes of behaviour, gender segregation and an ideology that ties family honour to female virtue. Harmful customary practices, often cloaked in religious or cultural justifications, perpetuate the subjugation of women. These include honour killings, rape, sexual harassment acid attacks, domestic violence, forced marriages and custodial abuse. Such violence is not confined to the margins of society; it is embedded in both formal and informal institutions, upheld by tribal councils, tolerated by the state and echoed in media narratives. The Aurat March, held annually to demand justice and equality, exemplifies the growing resistance to patriarchal violence. In March 2025, organizers in Islamabad called on the government to declare gender-based violence a national emergency and adopt a zero-tolerance policy. Yet, their pleas were met with silence. This inertia reflects a broader pattern of state complicity and societal indifference.
A chilling illustration of this impunity is the case of Asma Jattak from Balochistan. On February 5, 2025, she was abducted by Zahoor Jamalzai, a man with deep tribal and political connections. Zahoor had allegedly murdered Asma’s fiancé in 2012 and had harassed her family for years, demanding her hand in marriage. When her family refused, he resorted to abduction. Despite public protests and social media pressure that led to Asma’s release, Zahoor remains free, shielded by his ties to powerful sardars. This case reveals the persistent danger faced by women and the unchecked power wielded by influential men in tribal regions.
The role of jirgas, tribal councils, in perpetuating gender violence is particularly alarming. These councils routinely issue extrajudicial punishments, including gang rape, forced marriages through vani or swara and honour killings. In July 2025, Bano Bibi and Ihsan Ullah were executed by a jirga in Balochistan for an alleged extramarital affair. Bano’s haunting final words, “Come, walk seven steps with me and then you can shoot me”, were captured on video and circulated globally. The footage sparked outrage, but also revealed a disturbing undercurrent: support for the killers on social media platforms like TikTok, where AI-generated content glorified the violence under the guise of honour.
Approximately 1,000 women are murdered annually in Pakistan in the name of honour, with 405 cases officially recorded in 2024 alone. Many more go unreported. Fatima Khilji, a women’s rights activist, notes that tribal allegiance often compels families to justify these killings. In Bano’s case, her mother released a video defending the tribal system and vilifying her daughter, likely under pressure from tribal elders. The normalization of such violence extends beyond rural areas. In urban centers like Quetta, honour killings continue unabated. A father recently murdered his daughter and nephew for wanting to marry against his wishes. Earlier this year, another father killed his US-born 15-year-old daughter for posting videos on TikTok. These acts reflect a broader societal hostility toward female autonomy and self-expression.
Digital spaces, once seen as avenues for empowerment, have become battlegrounds for harassment and violence. In June 2025, 17-year-old TikTok star Sana Yousaf was shot dead by a man who had repeatedly contacted her online. Her murder reignited concerns about the safety of women in digital environments. According to the Digital Rights Foundation, 58.5% of online harassment complaints in Pakistan are filed by women. The internet, instead of offering freedom, often becomes a conduit for threats, privacy violations and real-world violence. Domestic violence remains pervasive, with 34% of women reporting abuse by their husbands. Yet, media portrayals in Pakistani dramas often romanticize such violence, embedding it within narratives of honour, silence and obedience. These cultural productions reinforce patriarchal norms and desensitize audiences to the suffering of women.
Pakistan’s gender-based violence crisis reflects a profound breakdown in societal responsibility. It is a manifestation of entrenched cultural norms, institutional neglect and widespread indifference that allow such violence to persist unchecked. The state’s reluctance to confront jirgas, the judiciary’s dismal conviction rates (0.1% in abduction cases) and the media’s complicity in normalizing abuse all contribute to a culture of impunity. International law and treaty obligations are rendered meaningless when the state chooses silence over justice. To dismantle this system, punitive measures alone are insufficient. A cultural reckoning that confronts the glorification of patriarchal violence, centers the experiences of survivors, and affirms the autonomy and dignity of women as individuals with rights, agency and voices that must be heard is essential. Only then can Pakistan begin to heal from the wounds inflicted by decades of gender-based violence.
— The writer is an educator, based in Sindh.
