Sindh [Pakistan], August 8 : In a scathing indictment of Pakistan's systemic failure to protect its women, the Women's Action Forum (WAF) released a comprehensive report on Monday documenting 2,176 cases of gender-based violence (GBV) in Sindh between July 2021 and June 2025.
The report, based on daily monitoring of media outlets by WAF's Hyderabad chapter, paints a grim picture of entrenched misogyny, state inaction, and patriarchal impunity that continues to claim the lives and dignity of countless women and girls.
According to Voicepk, WAF's data was compiled through meticulous tracking of print, digital, and social media reports, though activists emphasise that the actual figures are "significantly higher" due to underreporting, fear of retaliation, and the collapse of trust in police and legal institutions.
In the most damning revelation, murders of women increased by 216% between 2021 and 2022, while rape cases surged by 291%, and suicides nearly doubled. In just four years, WAF recorded 531 murders (excluding so-called 'honour' killings), 307 honour-based killings, 250+ rapes, 139 domestic violence cases, and 548 suicides. Most of the perpetrators were close male relatives, husbands, fathers, brothers, and in-laws.
"These are not random tragedies," WAF told Voicepk.net. "They are part of a patriarchal design that controls women's lives through fear, punishment, and silence."
Pakistan's Patriarchal Machinery: A Culture of Silent Violence
The report challenges the deeply held assumption that violence must be visible to be real. Voicepk.net highlights how the WAF report deconstructs patriarchy as a system that doesn't always need to be violent; it can enforce control through surveillance, forced marriages, restricted mobility, denial of education, and economic dependency.
In this climate, women who seek autonomy are branded immoral. Those who demand rights are silenced, either by murder, rape, or pushed to suicide. Alarmingly, many suicides involved girls under 25, some as young as 12 years.
Even more disturbing is the state's complicity. Voicepk.net notes that very few rape or murder cases resulted in arrests or convictions. Courts are slow, police are indifferent, and society is hostile. In 94 reported cases of workplace harassment, including in schools, survivors received little to no institutional support.
Honour, Hate and the Weaponisation of Religion: The report points to the growing ideological attacks on feminist resistance. According to Voicepk, religious hardliners and conservative media outlets have branded movements like Aurat March and women's rights protests as "obscene," "Western," or "anti-Islamic." These smear campaigns, WAF warns, do more than damage reputations; they provide moral justification for violence.
"Labelling equality as foreign or immoral creates an environment where violence against women is not only tolerated but celebrated," the report states.
Sexually demeaning language used against women in politics, particularly opposition figures, has been widely televised without censure. Voicepk.net underscores how this media irresponsibility emboldens everyday misogyny, reinforcing inhumane portrayals of women and validating abuse.
When Justice Protects Perpetrators, Not Victims: Perhaps the most chilling aspect of the report is the systematic failure of justice. Of the hundreds of honour killings reported, over 95% were carried out by male family members, with most going unpunished. Voicepk.net reports that women face retaliation for speaking out, while perpetrators enjoy immunity through tribal customs, weak laws, or direct state apathy.
In some cases, police even refused to register FIRs unless pressured by the media or protests. WAF members said that they had to intervene directly in over 80% of cases to ensure that at least some follow-up action was taken.
A Feminist Call to Action: Despite the bleak statistics, WAF continues to push back. As Voicepk.net reported, the organisation has stood with survivors, launched legal aid campaigns, held vigils, and challenged state apathy at every level.
Yet their four-year study leaves one conclusion unmistakable: Pakistan is not a safe country for its women. And until the state stops enabling patriarchy, silencing feminists, and criminalising resistance, violence will remain the rule, not the exception.
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