ISLAMABAD – A damning new report released today by international human rights organization Equality Now reveals that despite significant legislative efforts to expand sexual violence laws in Pakistan, the justice system is failing survivors at nearly every level.

The report, Legal Response to Sexual Violence in Pakistan: Challenges in Enforcement and Access to Justice, highlights a "dismally low" 0.5% conviction rate for rape, pointing to a systemic collapse between the passage of laws and their actual implementation.

A System Stalled by Delay and Bias

According to the findings, the primary hurdles to justice are not a lack of law, but a combination of poor enforcement, chronic delays, and illegal out-of-court "compromises." While Pakistani law defines rape based on the absence of consent—meaning physical evidence of violence is not legally required—the report finds that authorities remain trapped in outdated mindsets.

• Evidence Collection: Police and prosecutors frequently demand proof of physical injury or resistance, often ignoring the legal standard of "free and voluntary agreement."

• Victim Blaming: Outdated interpretations of consent persist. Defense lawyers continue to use a survivor’s sexual history or "character" to discredit them, despite such tactics being legally inadmissible.

• The "Virginity" Myth: Many Women Medico-Legal Officers (WMLOs) still record the "virginity status" of survivors—a practice that reflects deep-seated social biases and has no relevance to the legality of a sexual assault.

Marginalized Groups at Highest Risk

The report underscores that the burden of this systemic failure falls heaviest on the most vulnerable.

• Minority Communities: Women and girls from Christian and Hindu groups face heightened risks of abduction and forced religious conversion under the guise of child marriage.

• Disabilities: Women with disabilities are reported to be three times more likely to experience sexual violence, yet face the most significant barriers when attempting to navigate the justice system.

The "Paper Promises" of 2021

While the Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Act, 2021 promised the creation of "Anti-Rape Crisis Cells" and mandatory legal aid, the report found these services are frequently unavailable, especially outside major urban hubs.

"Pakistan has strengthened its sexual violence laws and, while these are welcome changes, it needs now to build on those with effective enforcement," said Jacqui Hunt of Equality Now. "The priority now is consistent legal implementation enabled by better resourcing, training, and accountability."

Urgent Calls for Reform

The report lead author, lawyer Sahar Bandial, emphasized that for many, the process of seeking justice is "retraumatizing and impossible." The organization is calling for several critical interventions:

1. Closing the Marital Rape Loophole: Explicitly criminalizing marital rape and incest as distinct offenses to remove judicial ambiguity.

2. Harmonizing Marriage Age: Raising the minimum age of marriage to 18 across all provinces (eliminating the current 16-year limit in KP) to close protection gaps.

3. Resourcing Forensics: Increasing the number of WMLOs and investing in DNA collection and preservation to move away from a reliance on subjective medical "verification."

4. Judicial Oversight: Ending the demand for corroborative physical evidence in cases where survivor testimony should be sufficient.

As of March 31, 2026, the message from advocates is clear: without a shift in the culture of police stations and courtrooms, Pakistan's progressive laws will remain little more than words on a page.