Islamabad, April 24: Gender-based violence against women in Pakistan has surged alarmingly in 2025, with 6,543 cases recorded — a sharp 25 per cent rise from 5,253 cases in 2024, according to the Voice of Pakistan Minority (VOPM), a prominent minority rights watchdog. The organisation issued a stark warning on Friday, April 25, calling the trend a systemic failure that leaves women increasingly vulnerable despite existing legal frameworks.

Scale of the Crisis: Numbers That Cannot Be Ignored

The VOPM revealed that in 2024 alone, more than 24,000 abductions were recorded — translating to approximately 67 women abducted every single day. Over 5,000 rape cases were reported, averaging nearly 19 per day, while 405 women were killed in the name of so-called honour killings.

The rights body underscored that these figures represent only what has been officially documented. In provinces such as Sindh and Balochistan, countless cases never reach official records, suppressed by social stigma, fear of retaliation, or the influence of powerful local actors.

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 VOPM stated in its assessment.

Justice System in Crisis: Conviction Rates Near Zero

Perhaps the most damning finding concerns the near-total collapse of accountability within Pakistan's legal system. The VOPM reported that conviction rates stand at less than 2 per cent for rape cases and a staggering 0.1 per cent for abduction cases — figures that effectively render existing laws toothless.

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 organisation stated.

This systemic impunity creates a dangerous feedback loop — low conviction rates embolden perpetrators, discourage survivors from reporting, and erode public trust in institutions meant to deliver justice.

Domestic Violence and Workplace Harassment: A Daily Reality

Beyond criminal statistics, the VOPM painted a grim picture of everyday life for Pakistani women. An estimated 90 per cent of women experience domestic violence, while between 85 and 90 per cent face harassment in workplaces. For millions of women, the rights body noted, danger is not an aberration — it is a daily reality that exists in homes, on streets, and within institutions ostensibly designed to protect them.

The organisation highlighted that the normalisation of such violence is itself a crisis. Stories of women killed over personal choices or family disputes appear with alarming regularity, only to fade quickly from public discourse, replaced by the next tragedy in a seemingly endless cycle.

Parallel Justice Systems Undermining Women's Rights

The VOPM drew particular attention to the continued operation of informal dispute-resolution bodies such as jirgas, which frequently override formal legal processes and issue rulings that strip women of their fundamental rights. These parallel systems, the rights body argued, do not merely fail women — they actively endanger them.

At the heart of the problem lies a system that has yet to fully recognise women as equal citizens, the VOPM stated. Informal mechanisms like jirgas continue to operate, often overriding formal law and delivering decisions that strip women of their basic rights.

This critique points to a deeper structural contradiction: Pakistan has enacted legislation such as the Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act and the Anti-Rape Investigation and Trial Act, yet enforcement remains critically weak, particularly in rural and tribal areas where customary law holds sway over constitutional guarantees.

Broader Context and What Comes Next

This report arrives amid growing international scrutiny of Pakistan's human rights record, with bodies including the United Nations and global civil society organisations repeatedly flagging the country's gender violence crisis. Notably, Pakistan ranked among the lowest globally in the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Index in recent years, underscoring the depth of structural inequality women face.

The VOPM's findings are expected to intensify calls on Islamabad to strengthen enforcement mechanisms, increase prosecution rates, and dismantle parallel justice systems that perpetuate impunity. Rights advocates and international observers will be watching closely to see whether Pakistan's government responds with concrete legislative and judicial reforms — or whether, as has historically been the case, the report becomes another warning that goes unheeded.