Rape Cases in Pakistan: A Growing Crisis

Rape cases in Pakistan have been on the rise , with studies predicting that a woman in Pakistan is raped every two hours. Over 200 women have been raped in 2024 in Lahore alone. Recently, many such incidents have been reported and widely portrayed on social media, involving marital rape, child rape, gang rape, and many more. More often females in Pakistan are being raped by their uncles, fathers, brothers, teachers, relatives, and even by their husbands.

Women of all ages in Pakistan are not safe—ranging from infant girls to elderly lady, all are facing this troublesome issue. Shockingly, even the corpses of women in their graves have been violated by men. Although laws have been passed for the protection of women, their implementation is not effective. Pakistan has become one of the countries where women are not even safe in their homes or any other social place, for instance: academic institutions and working sites. The increase in rape cases in Pakistan can be attributed to two primary reasons:

Patriarchy

One reason behind the exacerbating rape cases is the deeply ingrained patriarchal mindset of Pakistani men. They still hold on to the mentality of those cultural norms where men consider themselves dominant over women. Recently, Maria Memon, a journalist in Pakistan, shared a video clip in which Pakistani men were blaming women victims of rape. Their main statement was that “women ask for it,” implying that men wouldn’t have raped them otherwise. This demonstrates that these men don’t see men as the cause of rape cases.

The legal system of Pakistan is also failing to punish rapists properly and severely. Our history contains many laws, such as the Women’s Protection Bill of 2006 and the Criminal Law (Offense of Rape) Act of 2016. In the legal system, the punishment for rapists is either death or ten to twenty-five years of imprisonment.

They blame women based on their clothing, their freedom to walk in the streets, or suggest that the women must have intimidated men to do it. But here, the question arises: Are the corpses of women also asking men to violate them from their graves? It is evident that whenever a rape cases in Pakistan are not being not filed, it’s because men think the woman might have done something wrong, and she wouldn’t be accepted by society. They either consider it the woman’s fault or are afraid of society, which is dominated by men like themselves. Many female rape victims don’t receive support from their families. They are suppressed because it would somehow harm their family’s reputation, especially the reputation of their father or brother, but the reputation or self-respect of the woman is not considered. Alas!

Weak Legal System

The legal system of Pakistan is also failing to punish rapists properly and severely. Our history contains many laws, such as the Women’s Protection Bill of 2006 and the Criminal Law (Offense of Rape) Act of 2016. In the legal system, the punishment for rapists is either death or ten to twenty-five years of imprisonment. However, these punishments are not consistently applied according to the set rules and laws for women’s protection.

Most rapists roam freely because they have no fear of the legal system. They are aware of the incapability of the legal system in Pakistan. In many of the high-profile rape cases highlighted on social media recently, half of the rapists have not yet been arrested. Some rapists even kill their victims, making them murderers as well. Yet, they still live in freedom because of the weak legal system. Rapists should be hanged publicly by legal authorities to set an example for those who harbor such thoughts, to curb the rising rape cases in Pakistan

As Pakistan is a developing country, it needs all the gender to work side by side for the welfare of the country, without any discrimination. If there is no safe environment for women to learn, work, or live, society cannot prosper and grow into a better place. The two reasons mentioned above embolden and give freedom to the rapists of Pakistan to commit these heinous acts. It is imperative to address the looming rape cases in Pakistan for the attainment of gender equality and women empowerment. We hope to see the efforts from both the legal system of Pakistan and from the men to support women in such circumstances.

Bushra Noor

The author is a student of BS English at Fatima Jinnah Women University Rawalpindi.

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