Sara Malkani, Advocate of the High Courts of Pakistan
Progressive Laws in Patriarchal Societies: Lessons from Pakistan by Sara Malkani was published by Bloomsbury in July 2025.
What is this book about?
Pakistan has seen major legal changes related to gender-based violence over the last two decades. Legislatures have passed laws to criminalise domestic violence, increase the minimum age of marriage, enhance penalties for rape and other sexual offences, and set forth procedures to improve prosecution of gender-based violence (GBV). In spite of the steady stream of legal changes, particularly in the area of criminal law, reports of violence against women and girls are endemic and conviction rates remain low.
This book analyses the barriers to implementation of criminal law reform in Pakistan to address GBV. By exploring the effects of legal changes in the areas of rape, domestic violence, child marriage and honour killings, the book shows how the impact of laws is mediated by structural flaws in the formal justice system, patriarchal attitudes of law enforcement and judiciary, and socio-economic restrictions that prevent women and girls from accessing the criminal justice system.
I argue that while the state has been receptive to demands of women-led activism to strengthen criminal legislation, it has not reformed institutional and governance practices to adequately enforce legal and policy measures. The book sheds light on the limitations of legal responses that rely on punitive powers of the state without prioritizing social protection and welfare policies necessary to enable women and girls to access justice.
Why did I write it?
As a lawyer in Pakistan, I regularly represent women and their families in domestic violence and sexual abuse cases as well as family law proceedings. While doing my work I encounter first-hand how laws enacted to protect and punish violence against women and girls are poorly implemented by law enforcement and courts. The burden remains largely on survivors and families of victims, sometimes with the support of lawyers and activists, to take advantage of newly enacted laws. To achieve positive outcomes, for example through protection orders or convictions, survivors often have to overcome the resistance of state actors, who go to great lengths to avoid enforcing laws.
I wrote this book to document and analyse barriers in the way of implementation. Because of frequent media reports of GBV cases as well as feminist activism, there is widespread awareness that laws are poorly implemented. This acknowledgement has not, however, precluded the steady stream of laws adding new criminal offences and increasing penalties for GBV without an assessment of their effectiveness. This book asks and attempts to answer critical questions about strategies to address GBV by increasing criminalization.
How did I go about doing the research and what further work is needed in these fields?
My research was based on mixed methods. I analysed court judgements as well as case files of criminal proceedings. I also interviewed survivors, lawyers and activists who work with survivors, as well as advocates for law reform. I collected some data on registration of criminal complaints and outcomes by submitting right to information requests. Academic literature on criminalization of GBV, particularly based on experiences in the United States and India, helped me to conceptualise my arguments.
I provide some accounts of survivor experiences with the criminal justice system, but more research is needed on perspectives of survivors and their experiences with police, courts and other state actors when they pursue gender justice. For instance, data on outcomes of rape and domestic violence proceedings indicate that many survivors choose to settle cases with perpetrators out of court. While there are some general, intuitive impressions about the motivations behind out of court settlements – for example threats to survivors, delay in court proceedings – we need a deeper understanding of reasons why survivors settle cases rather than pursue them to a conclusion.
A sharper understanding of the causes of GBV is also required. Law and policy responses presume that GBV persists because of cultural values and patriarchal mindsets. This justifies legislation targeting honour killings and child marriages as well as court judgments against traditional justice mechanisms such as jirgas. While archaic cultural values remain a cause of GBV, contemporary socio-economic factors and ongoing disruptions to community life could also be major factors contributing to vulnerability of women and girls. The impact of political and economic changes on GBV must also be studied in order to propose effective legal and policy measures.