Space for women

Handling legal affairs is already a Herculean task in Pakistan, but when women are added to the mix, it turns into an ordeal made as complex and grueling as possible. Therefore, Chief Justice Yahya Afridi's announcement that women facilitation centers will be built in courts nationwide deserves praise - albeit cautious praise.

For decades, women navigating Pakistan's judicial system whether as litigants, lawyers or simply visitors, have had to contend with courtrooms that are designed with no regard for their basic comfort or safety. Women do not have separate entrances, which might be termed a needless frivolity only by someone who has not witnessed the way a woman is stared down in a courtroom. They also have no private waiting spaces, no dedicated washrooms and little in terms of psychosocial support even in instances where they are fleeing abuse, fighting for custody or seeking inheritance rights denied to them for years.

Furthermore, Pakistan's judiciary has a long history of well-intentioned announcements that bear no fruit at the provincial or district level. A facilitation centre inaugurated with fanfare in one city means little if dozens of other courts, particularly in smaller towns and rural districts, are left waiting years for their turn.

The real test of the CJP's announcement will come in the face of funding, timelines and follow-through. If implemented seriously, these centres could meaningfully lower the threshold at which women decide if a legal problem is even worth pursuing. If not, they risk becoming another statistic - except for the part where there is no conclusive data on a crime due to women's hesitation in filing a report. The judiciary must treat this year's designation as more than a symbolic gesture, instead aiming to be transparent about and achieving its very first deadline.