Abstract
Sara Malkani addresses the long-standing phenomenon of gender inequality and discrimination in Pakistan. Pakistan was ranked at the bottom of 148 countries in the 2025 Global Gender Gap Index (World Economic Forum, 2025: 12). Although the exact standing has been disputed by the National Commission on the Status of Women (Staff Reporter, 2025), women's oppression in Pakistan is a well-documented fact. Despite many laws aimed at protecting women from various forms of violence, the reality on the ground remains largely unchanged.
Set across six chapters, the book begins by introducing the contributions of women to shaping national law. It briefly describes the role played by non-governmental organizations, activists, female politicians, legislators, government commissions, and the feminist movement, both in Pakistan and internationally.
Malkani reviews the impact of legislative changes from 2006 to the present in four areas of intervention, namely rape, child marriage, domestic violence and honour killings. She uses a three-step typology framed by Upendra Baxi, who says that law-reform efforts may be characterized as ‘(1) regulatory law reform, namely, changes to statute law or other legal doctrine; (2) governance reform or changes in institutional practices; and (3) social reform or changes in social attitudes’ (p. 23).
Chapter 2 looks at legal developments in the context of rape. Malkani traces the journey of the rape provision from the colonial penal code to the ‘Islamized’ hudood laws in 1979 and back to the penal code in 2006. Further amendments in 2016 and 2021 were introduced in response to national outrage following egregious incidents of rape. Despite these amendments, rape still goes unpunished. Reform does not reach police stations, hospitals or courts. Predominantly regressive judicial attitudes continue to shape jurisprudence. Courts demand proof of physical resistance from a survivor in order to believe her story and look for the ‘perfect’ victim before extending justice.
Chapter 3 considers the challenges of regulating child marriage. Child marriage is a criminal offence in Pakistan. However, this does not invalidate the marriage. This leaves young girls without recourse when they are forcibly married by their families. On the other hand, when an underage couple exercises agency to get married, the law allows parents to oppose the marriage by filing criminal charges against the male partner. The most egregious variation of child marriage is one that occurs after the forced conversion of a young girl to Islam by her abductor-husband. The child marriage law does nothing to prevent this circumstance from occurring, and despite attempts, there is no law that criminalizes conversion.
Child marriage laws in Pakistan sit at the intersection of conflicting interests, including religious influence, human rights concerns and the state's duty to protect its children. The Islamabad High Court sought to address the issue by declaring that child marriage is a void contract and sex within such a marriage would be classified as rape, regardless of consent. While the judgement is well-intentioned, it criminalized all relations between young persons in violation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, including consensual marriage. Such measures ignore foundational concerns of why young girls enter into self-arranged marriages. Realities of difficult household circumstances, abusive parents and the possibility of forced arranged marriages do not factor into legislation or judicial decision-making.
Chapter 4 on domestic violence lays out the contrast between legal protections being provided across provinces. As a provincial matter, domestic violence has been addressed variously by the provinces. It is a criminal offence in Sindh, and a civil wrong in Punjab. In both provinces, however, obtaining a remedy is an arduous task. As the lawyer for the first domestic violence matter in Sindh, Malkani had to educate judges at every forum, eventually obtaining a conviction after facing daunting resistance at every step of the way. Institutional and societal resistance is most visible in this domain, often coupled with confusion at women who do not opt for remedies under criminal law and exhibit a willingness to compromise. Surely, if there is room for a settlement, it must not be an egregious matter. State support structures are inadequate and further burdened by resistance to operationalization. Even though the Federal Shariat Court has given the law a green flag for its compliance with Islamic principles, it still lacks legitimacy in the eyes of the government. This is manifested through a failure to allocate funds and frame rules. Malkani closes by asking whether codes will ever be an adequate solution to gender-based violence in isolation of other, societal interventions.
The penultimate chapter traces the history of honour killings and related informal dispute resolution. For decades, honour killings have defied regulation. Legislative changes addressing the crime have been easily sidestepped by families relying on Islamic principles, which allow for private solutions such as blood money and forgiveness. Families who do wish to pursue the matter have met with judges relying on the colonial defence of grave and sudden provocation to reduce the penalty served to the perpetrator. Honour as a motive is easy to deny, particularly in a courtroom full of sympathizers who want the perpetrator to go home.
Legislators made further changes to the law in 2016. These changes were celebrated as having closed the door on private settlement, but Malkani points out that they, in fact, did no such thing. They amplify the penalty, but without ruling out the possibility of a compromise. Faced with a hostile court environment, families are often persuaded to settle rather than pursue a matter with little guarantee of justice.
Sometimes families will opt for community justice delivered by a local council or jirga. Jirgas have been associated with the perpetration of patriarchal violence due to their forced compromises and regressive decisions, such as the Mukhtara Mai case that made headlines across the globe. While jirgas do not form part of the legal system, they have not been banned either, and are still relied upon by communities for the resolution of their disputes. The women's movement in Pakistan has consistently called for a rejection of jirga justice in favour of the formal court system. While agreeing with their resistance to jirgas, Malkani questions the faith they place in the state, a stance she maintains throughout her book.
Malkani is correct in questioning any reliance placed on the carceral state by women. By rejecting all other avenues, the state is situated as a reliable ally, despite the state having time and again proven otherwise. A heavy focus on criminalization and state intervention ignores the way that the formal justice system fails women. Malkani acknowledges the role of the feminist movement, which has actively adopted a governance feminism approach, working with the government to bring about legislative improvement. There has been some success, but it should not be overrated. The formal justice system has brought about little by way of improvement for women in all of the areas of law discussed in this book. Even when survivors come out ‘successful’, it is at a significant burden, both personal and financial, that is borne by the survivor and her support network. The psychological impact of having to traverse the formal justice system is a significant disincentive for women looking for redress. The win is, then, more symbolic than just, and also strengthens the carceral system.
Looking forward, she notes that the current wave of feminism in Pakistan tends to reject the state and law as patriarchal, focusing on social discourse and skipping directly to Baxi's third type of reform, that is, societal. But as Malkani points out, there is no alternative to the state for women to rely on. Engagement must continue, even as other options are explored. At the same time, using Baxi's typology, the book demonstrates that legislative amendment by itself is also not enough. In the absence of a change in institutional practice and social attitudes, these laws are just words on paper.
In each chapter, Malkani meticulously reveals the layers of complexity that permeate each issue. Multiple factors play a role in the challenges that are faced by women every day. Bringing her practitioner expertise into her academic observations, Malkani's work directly addresses lawyers, activists and academics interested in the legislative framework on gender-based violence. Her work also speaks to law enforcement and judicial officers, who are responsible for the implementation of these laws, and for the lack thereof. The book lays down insightful groundwork for future academic and policy enquiry to build on each chapter. Written in clear, simple language, Malkani's book is more than a primer. For its informed and balanced insight, it is a welcome addition to the literature and a valuable launchpad for further enquiry, particularly in the area of institutional reform.
