Between Promise and Practice: A Constitutional Analysis of Women’s Rights in Pakistan

Abstract

This study critically examines the constitutional protection of women's rights in Pakistan under the 1973 Constitution. While Articles 25, 27, 34, and 37 clearly articulate equality and prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, the lived experiences of Pakistani women often reflect systemic disparities. The research employs a qualitative, doctrinal legal methodology, analyzing constitutional provisions, judicial decisions, legislative enactments, and scholarly literature to assess how legal ideals diverge from real-world enforcement.Judicial interpretations are occasionally progressive but are still patchy, with weak institutional backing for gender-sensitive judgments. In addition, socio-cultural obstacles like patriarchy, illiteracy in law, economic dependency, and fear of stigma also persist in exclusion of women from the justice system, especially in rural and disadvantaged places. The study also criticizes Pakistan's minimum incorporation of global commitments, i.e., CEDAW, into the national legal system. It discovers that even though institutions like the Ministry of Human Rights and NCSW are present, their impact is diluted through the absence of enforcement, funding, and political will.Finally, the study concludes that constitutional protections are mostly symbolic unless there is judicial accountability, social change, awareness among citizens, and participatory policy-making. Filling the gap between legal promise and real experience needs not only legal reform but institutional and cultural change to achieve substantive gender equality in Pakistan.

Keywords:    Women’s Rights,Constitution of Pakistan 1973,Gender Equality,Fundamental Rights.