Pakistan has enacted sweeping reforms to its sexual violence laws in recent years — expanding definitions of rape, increasing penalties, and creating new investigative procedures. Yet a damning new report released Tuesday in Islamabad finds that virtually none of these legal advances have translated into justice for the women and girls they were designed to protect.

The report, titled Legal Response to Sexual Violence in Pakistan: Challenges in Enforcement and Access to Justice, was published by Equality Now — a worldwide human rights organization that has reformed over 130 discriminatory laws globally since 1992. It finds that Pakistan’s rape conviction rate stands at a catastrophic 0.5 percent — meaning for every 200 rape cases brought before the justice system, roughly 199 end without a single conviction.

What Is Failing — Key Findings of the Report

The report notes that despite Pakistan’s rape law being consent-based — meaning physical evidence of injury is not required and survivor testimony alone can secure a conviction — courts and police continue to demand proof of physical violence. Defence lawyers routinely use prohibited questions about a survivor’s sexual history to discredit victims in cross-examination, a practice that persists despite being explicitly barred under Pakistani law.

Women Most at Risk — Minorities, Disabilities, and Child Marriage

The report places particular emphasis on communities facing compounded vulnerabilities — where the barriers to justice are not merely bureaucratic, but structural and social:

The report highlights that some courts have ruled that under Islamic law, sex within Muslim marriages is lawful once a girl reaches puberty — even if she is below Pakistan’s legal age of marriage. This judicial inconsistency, the report argues, directly undermines child protection guarantees and must be addressed through harmonized national legislation setting 18 as the absolute minimum age of marriage without exception.

Expert Voices — What Must Change

What the Report Recommends

The report also notes that Pakistan’s introduction of Gender-Based Violence Courts through fast-track mechanisms has shown promise — with research finding higher survivor satisfaction compared to regular criminal courts. However, such courts remain the exception rather than the rule, and most rape cases still experience extensive delays, poor coordination, and procedural failures before reaching any resolution.