National Legislation on Violence against Women in Pakistan

Abstract

Violence against women is a rampant crime and violation of fundamental rights. Various international conventions and declarations bound the states to work for the elimination of discrimination and violence against women. In Pakistan, there is normative pluralism where set of overlapping state law, customary law, and religious laws are in practice. The Constitution of Pakistan is the supreme law of the land which ensure equality of all citizens irrespective of any ground. But the legal framework lacks distinct or special legislation on violence. The legislature make several amendments in the existing criminal law to combat it. The aim of the paper is to describe national legislation in the context of rule of law as its theoretical framework on the subject. The study would analyse it qualitatively and present its findings as whether the existing laws are enough to prevent anti-women practices and protect their fundamental rights.