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From Courtrooms to Change: A Decade of Fighting Violence Against Women in Pakistan
By: Mehwish Muhib Kakakhel
The Work I Am Doing Supporting Victims Of Violence
Violence against women and girls is not always visible. Sometimes it leaves bruises. Sometimes it leaves silence. Sometimes it hides behind culture, family honour, institutions, or technology. In my more than ten years of practising law in Pakistan, I have seen violence take many forms, but I have also seen how law, when properly enforced, can become a powerful instrument of survival and justice.
I am Mehwish Muhib Kakakhel, Advocate of the High Court, human rights defender, Director Litigation at Article 30, and Senior Partner at Kakakhel Law Associates. My work focuses on supporting women facing domestic violence, forced marriage, inheritance deprivation, sexual harassment, rape, acid violence, and cybercrime, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where structural and cultural barriers often make justice difficult to access.
In many communities, violence against women is still treated as a private or family matter rather than a criminal wrong. Women are denied choice in marriage, forced into marriages with significantly older partners, and punished for asserting their rights to education, mobility, or inheritance. Domestic violence remains deeply underreported, and victims are often told to “adjust” rather than seek legal protection.
I have represented women abused by husbands, fathers, brothers, in-laws, and guardians. One case remains unforgettable: a woman seeking her lawful inheritance share was imprisoned by her brother in a room with cattle and deprived of food. She escaped and reached Peshawar, where I represented her, and we secured her relief. For her, justice was not symbolic, it was survival.
My work extends beyond litigation into structural reform. I have pursued public interest litigation to strengthen legal systems for women. I filed pro bono constitutional petitions to ensure appointment of the Provincial Ombudsperson for workplace harassment enforcement under the Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act, 2010.
I became the first lawyer to file a women’s property rights case under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Enforcement of Women’s Property Rights Act, 2019, and developed a procedural filing format that is now widely used by the Ombudsperson office and legal practitioners across the province.
I also filed public interest litigation for implementation of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Domestic Violence Against Women (Prevention and Protection) Act, 2021, ensuring operationalisation of District Protection Committees, protection mechanisms, and specialised legal response structures. These reforms transformed access to remedies for survivors who previously had no institutional support.
Law is most meaningful when it moves beyond paper and becomes a lived protection for women in crisis.
My constitutional litigation also addressed discriminatory legal frameworks affecting women and their families. In Samina Roohi vs Federation of Pakistan and Others, Section 10(4) of the Pakistan Citizenship Act, 1951 was challenged for discrimination against Pakistani women married to foreign nationals. The law allowed foreign wives of Pakistani men to acquire nationality but denied equivalent rights to foreign husbands of Pakistani women.
The court declared this discriminatory framework unconstitutional and ultra vires and directed legislative correction. In subsequent cases, including Naureen Masood vs Federation of Pakistan and Others, Qasim Khan vs Federation of Pakistan and Others, and Lal Pari vs Federation of Pakistan and Others, women and their children were granted legal protection and administrative recognition, strengthening constitutional equality in citizenship and identity rights.
Technology Has Created New And Dangerous Forms Of Violence.
I am among the first legal practitioners in Pakistan and Asia specialising in cybercrime law, with academic training in both law and computer science. This intersection has become critical for protecting women in the digital age.
Women are increasingly targeted through deepfake videos, AI-generated images, online blackmail, impersonation, non-consensual content sharing, and digital harassment. In many cases, fabricated material is treated as real by families and communities, resulting in social exclusion, forced marriages, or even violence.
Previously, so-called honour-based violence was often linked to physical conduct or marriage choices. Today, women may face extreme harm based on entirely fabricated digital content. I have represented survivors of cyber extortion where private images or videos were weaponised to demand money or control behaviour. I have also assisted survivors in securing emergency protection, legal remedies, and safe shelter arrangements.
Digital violence is real violence, with psychological, social, and sometimes fatal consequences.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, I advocated for e-courts in Pakistan to ensure continuity of justice for women and children dependent on maintenance and protection orders. I proposed remote justice mechanisms to government and academic institutions, contributing to policy discussions that later aligned with emergency legal response frameworks.
I have also worked on reforms relating to anti-rape laws, acid violence prevention, sexual harassment legislation, and access to justice mechanisms.
I have handled cases involving rape survivors, acid attack victims, and workplace harassment affecting professionals including students, doctors, journalists, police officers, bankers, and lawyers. In many cases, awareness of legal rights became the first step toward justice.
Violence against women also exists within the legal profession itself. The profession remains male-dominated in many parts of Pakistan, and women lawyers often face cultural resistance and structural barriers.
I experienced this firsthand.
Today, I lead the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Women in Law Network, mentoring women lawyers and creating pathways for participation in a field where women are often underrepresented. I have worked to strengthen harassment complaint mechanisms within bar institutions and supported the revival of District Legal Empowerment Committees, enabling access to state-supported legal assistance for women unable to afford representation.
Representation matters: when one woman enters a space, she makes it easier for others to follow.
Advice To Those Experiencing Or Recovering From Violence
If you are experiencing violence, abuse, harassment, coercion, or threats, know that silence often protects the perpetrator not the victim.
Seek help early, even if you are unsure. Document evidence wherever possible: messages, recordings, medical reports, witness details, property records, and online content.
Legal remedies in Pakistan now include multiple accessible pathways:
Women facing property denial may file complaints before Ombudsperson authorities under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Enforcement of Women’s Property Rights Act, 2019. Workplace harassment complaints can be filed before internal inquiry committees and provincial or federal Ombudsperson offices under applicable law.
Cyber harassment victims may approach the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA). Students facing harassment in educational institutions may approach inquiry committees and Ombudsperson mechanisms.
Domestic violence survivors in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa may approach District Protection Committees under the provincial Domestic Violence law. Rape survivors may access Anti-Rape Crisis Centres established under the Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Act, 2021, and their cases are tried in Gender-Based Violence Courts designed for expedited justice.
Procedural protections for rape survivors have significantly improved: survivor statements are recorded in sensitive environments with independent support, victim protection measures are strengthened, and degrading practices such as the two-finger test have been abolished.
Victim support officers and gender desks in police stations also provide assistance in many districts.
Women who lack identity or registration—particularly in merged and tribal districts where NADRA registration gaps persist—should seek mobile registration services and legal assistance, as lack of identity often results in denial of inheritance and citizenship rights.
Economic support may be available through the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), and free legal aid is increasingly accessible through state mechanisms and legal empowerment structures.
Women who cannot access property documents, Nikahnama, or legal records may request them through Right to Services mechanisms or official administrative channels.
If reporting in person is unsafe, complaints may also be initiated through available online systems or facilitated reporting mechanisms.
Recovery is not linear. Fear, shame, anger, and confusion are common responses—but they do not define your future. Seeking help is an act of survival and strength.
Advice To Friends, Family And Colleagues
Support Begins With Belief.
When someone discloses violence, the most important response is to listen without judgment and avoid victim-blaming questions such as “why didn’t you leave earlier?”
Survivors often remain in abusive situations due to financial dependence, fear of retaliation, children, social pressure, or lack of safe alternatives.
Practical support matters:
Help preserve evidence
Assist with transport to hospitals, police stations, or courts
Accompany survivors to legal or institutional processes
Maintain strict confidentiality
Help connect them with legal aid or shelters
Avoid forcing decisions
Colleagues and employers must treat harassment complaints seriously and ensure fair institutional processes. Silence or informal dismissal of complaints contributes to ongoing harm.
Families and communities must move away from notions of “honour” that prioritize reputation over safety. No concept of honour justifies violence or silence in the face of abuse.
What Organisations Can Do To Deal With This Crisis
Organisations must move beyond awareness and adopt enforceable systems of protection.
Every institution government departments, courts, universities, hospitals, law firms, and private organisations must establish clear anti-harassment policies, confidential complaint systems, trained inquiry committees, and survivor-centred procedures.
They must also:
Ensure compliance with anti-harassment and gender protection laws
Provide training on gender sensitivity and trauma awareness
Create safe reporting channels
Offer legal, psychological, and institutional support to survivors
Build partnerships with legal aid bodies, shelters, and law enforcement
Promote women into leadership and decision-making roles
Technology companies must also take responsibility for preventing and responding to digital abuse, including deepfakes, impersonation, and non-consensual content distribution.
The fight against violence against women and girls requires more than laws. It requires implementation, accountability, education, and institutional courage.
Every woman deserves safety, dignity, autonomy, and justice.
My experience has taught me that change begins when injustice is no longer accepted as normal.
For every woman silenced by violence, there must be systems and people willing to stand beside her.
Justice should not depend on gender, geography, or power. It must belong to everyone.
Mehwish Muhib Kakakhel
Advocate High Court & Federal Shariat Court
LLM (Cybercrimes), MS Computer Science
& Partner
Kakakhel Law Associates
Advocates & Legal Consultants
36-C, 2nd Floor, Cantonment Plaza
Saddar Road, Peshawar
Website: www.kakakhellaw.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mehwish-muhib-kakakhel-b32b2915/
June 26