The Pakistan of 2025 is not easy for women. It is the worst place in the world to be one, at least according to the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Report 2025, which ranked Pakistan as 148 on a list of 148 countries, with 56.7 per cent gender parity. This highlights how terrible this state has become in defending the essential rights of women.
The report also highlighted the gap in women’s participation in the economy and the country’s political empowerment. This is not news because women in Pakistan have always suffered one way or another.
According to the National Commission of Human Rights, 90 per cent of women in Pakistan have been victims of some sort of domestic violence in their lifetime, including sexual violence, psychological abuse, economic abuse, and stalking; cybercrime has also been witnessed extensively. Due to this, a majority of women suffer from the worst mental health conditions, like depression and anxiety.
Many of them even commit suicide, as has been witnessed in villages, because they can’t bear the stress they are put in. From the traditional practice of honour killings to the brutal murders like that of Sana Yousuf recently, all highlight the vulnerability of women in Pakistan, a country that has become an epicentre of fear for them.
The State of Pakistan must act urgently and impactfully to provide legal rights to women and empower them in every sector to at least reduce the existential gender gap.
Mohammad Ali Soomro
Usta Mohammad, Balochistan
