Violence against women and children in Pakistan is no longer a collection of isolated criminal incidents; it has become a persistent social, institutional and governance crisis. Harassment, domestic violence, sexual assault, abduction, so-called honor killings and murder continue to threaten the safety, dignity and fundamental rights of women and children. The seriousness of the crisis is reflected in the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s State of Human Rights in 2024, which documented at least 4,175 rape cases, 405 honor killings, 1,641 domestic murders and 1,630 cases of violence against children. These figures, however, should be understood as documented or reported cases rather than the actual prevalence of violence. (HRCP)
The situation becomes even more alarming when child abuse is examined separately. Sahil’s Cruel Numbers 2024, compiled from 81 national and regional newspapers, recorded 3,364 cases of child abuse across Pakistan in 2024 equivalent to approximately nine reported cases every day. Girls represented 53 percent of victims and boy’s 47 percent. The report also recorded 56 cases in which children were murdered following sexual abuse. Importantly, acquaintances were among the most frequently identified categories of perpetrators, challenging the assumption that children are primarily threatened by strangers. (Dawn) These statistics represent only the visible part of the problem because abuse that remains hidden within families, communities and institutions cannot easily appear in official or newspaper-based records.
The rural dimension of this crisis requires particular attention. Public debate often focuses on highly publicized cases in major cities, but this does not mean that violence is less prevalent in rural Pakistan. In fact, the evidence suggests that underreporting is particularly serious in rural areas. A UNFPA analysis notes that inaction among survivors is more pronounced in rural areas than in urban locations and identifies patriarchal social structures, lack of awareness, inadequate justice responses and weak survivor-support systems among the barriers to seeking help. Nationally, 56 percent of women who experienced physical or sexual violence neither sought help nor told anyone about the abuse. (UNFPA Pakistan) Therefore, it would be misleading to interpret the concentration of reported cases in urban areas as evidence that rural women and children experience less violence. In many rural communities, reporting may carry fears of family rejection, retaliation, social stigma, loss of marriage prospects, economic insecurity, and damage to family reputation. For a woman whose future security depends heavily upon family and community relationships, remaining silent may appear safer than pursuing justice. Consequently, reported statistics should be regarded as a minimum indication of the crisis, not its complete scale.
Individual cases reveal the human consequences behind these numbers. The murder of Zainab Ansari, a six-year-old girl in Kasur in 2018, became a national symbol of the vulnerability of children and contributed to the creation of the Zainab Alert, Response and Recovery framework. Yet years after such legislation, reports of child abuse continue, raising a fundamental question: what is the value of legislation if implementation cannot adequately protect the next child? Similarly, the murder of Noor Mukadam in Islamabad demonstrated that gender-based violence crosses socioeconomic boundaries. Her case also showed the importance of effective investigation, forensic evidence, and digital evidence in securing accountability. However, one successful prosecution cannot substitute for a functioning system of prevention.
The cases of women such as Qandeel Baloch, Hina Javed and Hina Zareef further illustrate different dimensions of the crisis. Qandeel Baloch’s murder remains one of Pakistan’s most prominent examples of so-called honor-based violence, demonstrating the lethal consequences that can arise when a woman’s autonomy and choices are treated as matters of family honor. Recent cases such as the reported killing of Hina Javed in Rawalpindi and the alleged honor-related killing of Hina Zareef also highlight the dangers women may face within domestic and family environments. These cases should not be treated merely as individual tragedies; collectively, they expose patterns of control, economic dependence, patriarchal expectations, and institutional vulnerability.
Children face similar dangers. The 2024 Sahil data included cases involving children as young as 0-5 years, while earlier data also demonstrated that acquaintances and relatives frequently feature among alleged perpetrators. (Dawn) The tragic case of five-year-old Sarim, whose autopsy reportedly concluded that he had been sexually assaulted and murdered after going missing in Karachi, illustrates the devastating consequences when child-protection mechanisms fail. (Dawn) Likewise, a 2025 case involving a 14-year-old girl with physical and mental disabilities in Hafizabad, who was reportedly found to be six months pregnant during medical examination and whose family subsequently sought police action, demonstrates the particular vulnerability of children with disabilities. (Dawn) The persistence of these cases raises questions about why violence continues despite Pakistan’s existing legal framework. The problem is not simply the absence of laws. Pakistan has legislation addressing rape, child protection, harassment and other forms of violence. The deeper problem is the implementation gap between law and reality. Police may face limited resources and training; survivors may encounter insensitive treatment; forensic facilities may be inaccessible; prosecutors and courts face enormous caseloads; and families may pressure victims to withdraw complaints. Pakistan’s wider judicial system itself was carrying approximately 2.4 million pending cases in 2024, demonstrating the scale of institutional pressure under which justice is delivered. (HRCP)
Institutional fragmentation further compounds the problem. A survivor may have to interact separately with police, hospitals, forensic authorities, prosecutors, courts, and social-welfare institutions. Without effective coordination, the victim can be forced to repeatedly recount traumatic experiences while navigating a system that was supposed to protect her. This is particularly damaging in rural areas, where specialized police units, shelters, forensic services, legal assistance, and psychological support may be geographically inaccessible. The result is a form of justice inequality in which protection can depend upon geography, socioeconomic status and family support. Pakistan therefore needs to move from reactive condemnation to a comprehensive prevention-and-protection strategy. First, the country should establish a unified national database for gender-based violence and child abuse, integrating information from police, hospitals, courts, prosecutors, and protection agencies. Second, every district should have survivor-centered response mechanisms providing police protection, medical care, forensic examination, legal assistance, psychological counselling, and safe shelter. Third, police officers, prosecutors, medical professionals and judges should receive specialized training in gender-based violence, child-sensitive investigation and trauma-informed procedures. Fourth, cases should be monitored from complaint and FIR registration through investigation, prosecution, trial and final judgment, with institutional responsibility attached to unnecessary delays or deliberate negligence.
Prevention must also extend beyond the criminal justice system. Women’s economic empowerment, access to education, employment, property rights, financial inclusion and safe transportation can reduce the dependence that often traps women in abusive relationships. Schools should introduce age-appropriate child-safeguarding and awareness programmed, while communities must create confidential mechanisms through which children and women can seek assistance. Religious scholars, teachers, parents, journalists, civil society organizations and political leaders also have a responsibility to challenge victim-blaming and the normalization of violence.
Ultimately, Pakistan’s greatest challenge is not a shortage of public outrage. It is the repeated cycle of violence, silence, weak protection, delayed justice, and recurrence. Every high-profile murder generates temporary attention, but sustainable reform requires institutions that continue working after the headlines disappear. A society should not measure its response by how loudly it mourns a murdered woman or abused child; it should measure itself by how effectively it prevents the next victim from being created.
The statistics therefore demand more than sympathy. They demand governance reform, institutional accountability, and social transformation. Women living in rural communities should not have to sacrifice their safety to preserve family honor, and children should not depend upon chance for protection. Pakistan must ensure that reporting violence does not place survivors at greater risk and that perpetrators cannot rely on silence, social status, family pressure or institutional weakness to escape accountability.
From harassment to sexual violence, from domestic abuse to honor killings, and from violence against children to murder, Pakistan must replace reaction with prevention, silence with safe reporting, and outrage with accountability. Women and children do not merely need sympathy after violence occurs; they need institutions capable of protecting them before it happens, delivering justice when it occurs, and restoring their dignity afterward.
