Hard Work Always
Hard Work Always: Across Pakistan, Human Rights Day shows the struggles of girls and women in homes, villages, and neighborhoods. For example, families often take girls out of school long before they grow up. Similarly, women decide whether to report abuse or stay silent. Poverty, social pressure, patriarchy, and fear shape these impossible choices.
Legal Progress
This year, Pakistan took important steps. Balochistan passed a law banning child marriage and set the minimum age at 18. Earlier, Islamabad passed its own child marriage law in 2025. Most recently, parliament approved the Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Bill, 2025. This law defines abuse broadly and treats domestic violence as a public issue, not a private matter.
These laws reflect the experiences of women and children who carried silence for years. Human rights organizations, teachers, and health professionals documented the harms of early marriage: girls forced into adulthood too soon, interrupted schooling, and serious health risks. Additionally, studies of domestic violence show that women often face repeated harm with lasting effects.
Law Limits
By passing these laws, the state acknowledges what survivors have said for years: a child is not ready to marry, abuse does not require visible injury, and silence is not consent. However, laws alone cannot stop these harms. Problems like missing birth records, poverty, social norms, and slow justice systems block enforcement. Consequently, survivors fear police inaction, slow courts, and community backlash. Shelters and counseling services remain scarce, and referral systems remain unclear.
Moreover, patriarchy affects family documents. Almost 90 percent of nikahnama forms leave key sections blank, such as age, divorce rights, and maintenance. As a result, women’s rights are erased before marriage. Therefore, the challenge is not only stopping harm but also changing a social system that allows it.
Enforce the Laws
Now, the focus must be on enforcing the laws. For instance, these laws can help girls stay in school, allow authorities to act when a child is at risk, make police treat domestic violence as a rights violation, and strengthen shelters and support services.
Importantly, these laws also let us imagine a better future. Girls could be valued for their education and potential, not traded for honor or debt. Survivors could receive support instead of dismissal. Furthermore, communities could see safety as a shared responsibility. In fact, other countries have achieved change when legal reform, public education, and community organizing work together. Political will plus social effort produces real results.
Human Rights Day should remind us of what still needs work, not just what has been achieved. Although the 2025 progress is meaningful, it remains fragile. Without enforcement, training, social services, and public awareness, the laws may remain symbolic. Similarly, without monitoring, the country cannot know if promises are kept. Otherwise, momentum may fade, leaving the most vulnerable behind.
Build Systems
Therefore, we must build systems that ensure enforcement. Train police, judges, prosecutors, and protection officers. Strengthen shelters and counseling services. Support teachers and community workers who confront early marriage and domestic abuse. Also, improve registration systems so age cannot be falsified. Engage communities respectfully and build change through trust and shared effort.
The progress this year gives hope for a better future. However, the 2025 laws are only the start. Success will show when girls complete their education, survivors seek help without fear, communities protect rather than control, and safety and dignity become normal.
Crossroads Moment
This Human Rights Day, Pakistan stands at a crossroads. Laws opened new pathways. Now, people must walk these paths with seriousness, empathy, and determination. The country has taken steps that honor those who waited too long. Ultimately, the challenge is to turn these steps into lasting change.
Published in Dawn, 10th December 2025
