Islamabad, Oct 2 — As violence against women continues unabated across Pakistan, the Punjab province alone recorded 195,787 cases involving women and girls between 2021 and 2025, local media reported citing a human rights organisation.
The figure represented nearly 82 per cent of all gender-based violence cases reported across the country during the five-year period, according to the National Gender-Based Violence Crime Report 2021-25 by Peace and Justice Network Pakistan.
As per the findings, Punjab recorded 14,824 cases of domestic violence, including 3,746 cases in which women were killed. The province also reported 830 honour killings and 442 cases of burning, comprising 143 acid attacks and 299 stove-burning incidents, Pakistan Observer reported.
Sexual violence emerged as another major category, with 20,560 cases reported during the period. These comprised 16,827 rape cases, 2,183 gang-rape cases, 189 instances of custodial sexual violence and 1,361 incest cases.
According to the report, Punjab recorded 90,965 cases of kidnapping and abduction from 2021 to 2025, the highest among the reported categories. It also documented 68,165 cases involving other forms of gender-based violence that were not individually classified.
The province recorded 23,032 cases in 2021, followed by 28,080 in 2022 and 35,238 in 2023. The figure rose significantly to 52,824 in 2024 and further to 56,613 in 2025.
The report also warned that the police data represents only formally reported incidents, leaving the broader extent of violence against women and girls potentially underreported.
Last month, a report stated that an effective multi-sectoral approach is needed to combat Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in Pakistan, as the issue is deep-rooted and multi-faceted in society, stemming from individual attitudes, family dynamics and community norms.
Prevention measures and conviction rates in cases related to gender-based violence in Pakistan remain low despite the passage of anti-rape legislation, domestic violence laws and several amendments addressing crimes against women, according to a report in The Friday Times.
Lack of political will, stereotypes, societal taboos, and judicial processes mired in caveats and complexities together prevent effective action against gender-based violence in Pakistan. Authorities might be making some efforts to curb gender-based violence in Pakistan; however, it is clearly not enough or is not being conducted in a way that produces any discernible results, the report detailed.
"If we are serious about nipping GBV in the bud, the whole ‘ecosystem’ nurturing violence against women must be disabled, and we need to decide where to start. GBV is a deep-rooted, multi-faceted challenge in our society, stemming from individual attitudes, family dynamics, community norms, and so much more, and hence requires a commitment to multi-sectoral approaches before we can even cause a dent in this scourge," it mentioned.