Content Note:
This article discusses sensitive topics, including:

• Gender-based violence
• Honour killings in Pakistan (with reference to real cases)
• Forced marriage and systemic discrimination against women

When Autonomy Becomes a Death Sentence 

Woman’s right of choice in Pakistan, whether it’s her partner, her path, or her identity is often seen as an act of rebellion. Beneath layers of tradition, tribalism, and patriarchy, the so-called concept of “honour” still thrives where for women, that “honour” is often measured not in dignity or respect, but in obedience, silence, and submission. Once the order is broken, it is perceived as direct threat to patriarchal structure that places a woman’s body, choices, and life under male supervision. The consequences are isolation, forced marriages, social exile and in most brutal expression it takes the form of “honour killing”.  

In June 2025, a horrifying video spread across social media of a planned execution of a woman named Bano Satakzai and her husband carried out on the orders of a tribal jirga, a body that, despite being outlawed, still enforces a patriarchal code stronger than state law in many rural areas for exercising her right to choose and marry without her family’s approval. The video was not only a piece of brutal evidence but a warning that a woman’s right to choose, particularly when it comes to her body or her relationships, is still considered a punishable offense in many parts of Pakistan.  

This was not an isolated case but a recurring reality as weeks later another 18 years old Sidra Bibi, was reportedly suffocated to death with a pillow after marrying by choice. Every year, hundreds of women are murdered in Pakistan under the guise of “honour.” While legal reforms have tried to curtail this deeply embedded practice, cultural enforcement of gendered control often through jirgas, family councils, or community threats continues to silence, shame, and ultimately erase the women who defy oppressive social structures. These are the cases that caught medica attention however, there are many that buried in silence, passed off as suicides or natural deaths, hidden behind community walls or never registered with police. Pakistani rights activists estimate that there are about 1,000 “honour killings” in Pakistan every year. 

When Culture Becomes a Weapon, Law Loses Power 

Honour killing in Pakistan is not only a symptom of cultural tradition; it is a weaponized form of gender-based violence that uses culture as its shield. Perpetrators justify murder in the name of family reputation, tribal codes, or religious misinterpretation. But at its core, the motivation is always the same, a refusal to let women own their lives. 

In 2016, Pakistan passed a landmark reform as the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act with the aim to close the “forgiveness loophole” in honour killing cases following a brutal murder of Qandeel Baloch by her brother. Prior to this, families could legally forgive the killer who, in many cases, was a relative of the victim. The reform declared honour killings a crime against the state, instructing life imprisonment regardless of whether the victim’s family forgave the perpetrator. 

Although Pakistan passed a significant legal reform in 2016 removing the option for family members to pardon honour killers loopholes and poor enforcement persist. Trials move slowly, if at all or witnesses refuse to testify. Victim Blaming and victims’ families, under societal and economic strain, are often coerced into reconciliation. Police are reluctant to interfere in “private” family matters, especially in areas where state authority is weak or non-existent. The enduring influence of jirgas (Traditional councils) that issues extrajudicial verdicts often including punishment for “immoral” female behaviour keeps the law enforcement at halt. Though declared illegal by Pakistan’s Supreme Court, jirgas remain active and widely respected in tribal and rural communities. Their authority often overshadows that of state institutions. Community silence, media framing, and even political hesitation signal that women’s right to choose is still considered negotiable when it comes to gender based violence often masked as culture.  

The Role of Media and Public Outcry  

Despite systemic failures, social media emerged as a disruptor. The video of Bano Satakzai and Ehsanullah’s execution circulated online, ignited a wave of collective outrage with hashtags like #JusticeForBano. Protesters marched in cities i.e., Lahore, Quetta and Karachi led by women’s rights groups and activists. Similarly, the Aurat March, an annual feminist protest held in major cities across Pakistan, has become a key space for resisting honour-based violence. Slogans like “Mera jism, meri marzi” (My body, my choice) are not just slogans they are declarations of autonomy in a society that still treats women as extensions of their families. Yet, despite public outrage, media attention is fleeting while facing the challenge of transforming visibility into sustained pressure not only on perpetrators, but on the structures that protect them. 

Beyond Outrage: What Needs to Change 

If Pakistan is to move beyond performative outrage and symbolic reforms, it needs to dismantle the environment that enables these killings in the first place. It is important to enforce the law with strong institutional will and treating killings in the name of honour as premeditated murders. The jirgas-traditional councils should be outlawed in practice with legal penalties on those who participate and enforce the verdicts of violence and injustices. Additionally, the protection of women at risk is important including the survivors of forced marriage, and those seeking to escape honour-based violence must have access to shelters, legal aid, and mental health support. There is a dire need to spread awareness around legal reforms among the masses while challenging the cultural practices of honour-based violence. The narrative must shift from one of shame and control to one of autonomy and dignity. Finally, providing socio-legal protection to whistleblowers is equally important as reported in HRCP that Jirgas not only punish the women in the name of honour but if reported, kills the whistle-blower for bringing dishonour to the tribe. 

Honour killings in Pakistan are not about honour, tradition or religion but about control of women’s bodies, choices, voices, and lives. They are about a fear of female autonomy, wrapped in the language of morality and custom which continue to thrive because of silence, impunity, and cultural complicity which protects them.