As the world marks International Human Rights Day on Wednesday, at the end of the global ‘16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence’ campaign, the Women’s Action Forum (WAF) expressed deep concern over the latest United Nations global report on femicide.
An average of 137 women and girls are killed every day by someone in their own family. A United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)–UN Women research report estimated that around 50,000 women and girls were killed in the private sphere in 2024.
Between 2021 to 2024, over 7,500 women were murdered; 1,553 were killed for ‘honour’ in Pakistan.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the WAF said the findings of the UN’s latest report were alarming and demanded urgent national introspection.
Reflecting on the status of Pakistani women, the forum recalled the 1973 Constitution, unanimously adopted 52 years ago, which enshrined gender equality, affirmative action, democracy, justice, rule of law and fundamental human rights. Yet, the commitments had not translated into realities for women, the forum noted
In the statement, the WAF reiterated that it had never accepted military dictatorships or any unjust, discriminatory or undemocratic constitutional amendments imposed since the mid-1970s – and it “never will”.
As Pakistan approached important global milestones – 50 years since participating in the first UN World Conference on Women (Mexico, 1975), 30 years since the Beijing Conference (1995), and nearly 30 years since ratifying Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) (1996) – the WAF questioned whether the state acted in good faith.
Pakistan had signed and ratified numerous international charters, conventions and declarations, from the UN Charter (1947) and Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) to CEDAW and other treaties, it stated.
The forum posed a crucial question: “Were these commitments made with bona fide intent, or merely to comply with global pressure, secure economic benefits such as GSP+, or follow diplomatic convention – without any real intention of implementation or accountability?”
The forum consistently opposed Pakistan’s reservation on CEDAW and the lack of legislation on key clauses, including the definition of discrimination. With other fundamental human rights also eroding, the forum says it stands in solidarity with feminist, democratic and progressive movements nationwide.
The statement reiterated WAF’s longstanding demands, calling for concrete, verifiable and measurable action on constitutional guarantees, ratified international conventions and pledges made at global fora. The forum urged truthful, inclusive, participatory and credible state reporting on CEDAW, CRC, UPR, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Beijing+30, World Summit for Social Development (WSSD+30) and related frameworks.
The forum, in the statement, also sought the inclusion of comprehensive measures for women’s empowerment, political participation and representation, as well as prioritisation of population stabilisation in political parties’ manifestos.
The WAF demanded repeal of all discriminatory and unjust laws, including those stemming from the Hudood Ordinances of 1979. It also called for urgent action to address poverty, especially the feminisation of poverty, which is currently at a 3:1 ratio, women’s underemployment in the formal sector, and the exploitation of unregistered workers in agriculture, domestic labour and home-based industries.
In the statement, the forum also pressed for the implementation of the right to education for all children up to age 16, with attention to the 26 million out-of-school children, most of them girls, and for curriculum reform that incorporates life skills, respect for women, girls and transpersons, and dignity for all genders, religions and ethnicities.
It also called for free, universal primary and reproductive healthcare, with emphasis on rural communities, alongside provision of family planning services.
The WAF emphasised the need for gender-focused, community-based climate adaptation financing with transparency and accountability, as well as the adoption of gender-responsive budgeting and the inclusion of women at senior policymaking levels across economic development, education, health-population, environment-climate change and local governance sectors.
It further reaffirmed the right to freedom from all forms of gender-based violence, particularly femicide, and the right to freedom from religious extremism, coercion, sexism, patriarchy and misogyny.
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