Violence against women is one of the most prevalent crimes in Pakistan. In fact, over one-third of all criminal cases are of domestic violence. The problem, however, does not end there. The problem remains the lack of identification of the issue across Pakistan and how it is being dealt with. Punjab is the only province that unilaterally accepted the Violence Against Women Act 2016 and took steady action due to the vigilance of party majority (Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz PML-N) in the province and the recognition that women are at the losing end of the spectrum. As a result, under the initiative of the Strategic Reforms Unit (SRU), Violence Against Women Centers (VAWC) were constructed in several parts of Punjab.

These centers provided first aid care, police reporting, investigation, prosecution, provision of legal aid, medical examination and treatment, collection of forensic and other evidence, psychological evaluation, counseling, and rehabilitation to women who were under duress. However, the programme was only functional in Punjab, whereas, the rest of the provinces refuse to even acknowledge the issue. The tracking device for the criminal was also considered an item of shame for the man of the house. The programme did, however, help several women across the board. It was the result of the vision of the previous government. The problem now is that not only the VAWCs are not operational due to the lack of funding by the current government, the current also has no vision for the gendered issues plaguing Pakistan. While their focus is on the development of the human index in the country, the party lacks the vision to identify how deeply patriarchal values are affecting more than half of the population. A report confirmed Pakistan as the sixth most dangerous country for women in the world. This alone should prompt the current government to introduce gender-specific reforms, especially the female leadership of the party.

The last and the year before has witnessed a women uprising in the country in the form of different processions - Aurat March and Bike Rally. It is important to stand behind these movements in order to create space for women in the public and the policy sector so that multiple initiatives can be introduced. The government can, if not more, continue the previous initiatives and try to implement them in the rest of the provinces, especially when it comes to crimes like domestic violence. It is important to add to the efforts of the last government.