When honour kills: culture justification, Legal failures, and the fragility of women's rights in Pakistan

Abstract

By analyzing how patriarchal norms, tribal traditions, and state inaction combine to undermine women's rights, especially in the areas of education, mobility, and civic engagement, this paper provides a feminist-legal critique of honor-based violence. This paper examines several cases from Balochistan, Punjab, Sindh, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including the 2025 execution of Bano Bibi and Ahsan Ullah, the 2016 murder of Qandeel Baloch, and the 2023 killings of Saima and Arif, using intersectional theory, legal pluralism, and global gender gap metrics. Gender inequality is reinforced by these examples, which show how legal loopholes and cultural myths, such as Qisas and Diyat legislation, allow offenders to evade punishment. The need for reform is highlighted by Pakistan's position as 148th out of 148 nations on the Global Gender Gap Index 2025. The study goes on to examine how honor murders reinforce the gender gap in education by preventing girls from speaking up, limiting their access to education, and fostering fear. In order to eradicate honor-based violence and restore women's dignity, agency, and constitutional rights, it suggests a gender-transformative framework for legal responsibility and educational reform through comparative analysis and policy suggestions.