Pakistan has called for renewed efforts to dismantle the discrimination and legal obstacles that continue to limit women’s and girls’ rights worldwide.
“When women cannot access justice, the objective of gender equality and women’s empowerment weakens at its core,” Senator Bushra Anjum Butt, the Pakistani delegation leader, told the 70th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) being held at the UN headquarters in New York.
Speaking in a general debate on the theme ‘strengthening access to justice for all women and girls’, she cited Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, the first Muslim woman elected prime minister, as telling the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing that discrimination against women begins to erode when women are empowered to claim their rights.
“This Session’s theme calls upon us to translate that moral clarity into institutional reality – to ensure that laws protect, systems respond, and justice reaches every woman and girl without discrimination or access barriers,” Senator Bushra Butt said.
The Commission is meeting in New York through 19 March with ministers, feminists, and civil society in attendance.
In Pakistan, Senator Bushra Butt said, access to justice is anchored in constitutional guarantees of equality before law, dignity, and due process. Institutional reforms have focused on strengthening both the reach and responsiveness of justice systems.
More than 480 specialized Gender-Based Violence Courts are operational in the country, complemented by legal aid, family courts, ombudsperson mechanisms, laws to protect women’s rights and integrated protection services designed to deliver justice to women and girls, she said.
“Women now constitute approximately 21% of the judiciary and 17% of prosecution services, with increasing presence in policing,” the Pakistani delegation leader said, adding female judges serve at High Courts and the Supreme Court – shaping gender-sensitive jurisprudence at the highest levels.
Yet, Sen Bushra Butt noted that structural barriers persist across the world for women and girls, from discriminatory norms to economic constraints.
“Addressing these requires integrated action: repealing discriminatory laws; investing in gender-sensitive judicial infrastructure; expanding digital and legal aid services; and embedding legal literacy to empower women to claim their rights.”
Describing access to justice as a bridge between rights promised and rights realized, she said, “If laws exist but cannot be accessed, justice is theoretical. If institutions exist but do not include women, justice is partial. If barriers remain unaddressed, equality remains aspirational.”
Senator Bushra Butt called for moving from symbolic commitment to structural transformation.
“For when women trust the law, democracy deepens; when institutions serve women equally, societies become inclusive; and when justice is accessible to every woman and girl, equality ceases to be an ideal – and becomes reality.”
In her opening remarks, Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN-Women, said that ending violence against women and girls is “its own imperative and an accelerator” for other development goals. Noting that this is an evolving challenge, she pointed to the impact of conflicts and fast-moving technology. Further, women’s organizations are seeing their resources decline as rates of violence rise. “The gains of the past turn out to be more fragile than we had hoped,” she said.
Against this background, Ms. Bahous thanked the many Member States who have partnered with the UN to improve global standards on preventing violence against women and girls.
“Your engagement of men and boys, your guarantee of survivor-centered justice and services for survivors, and your embrace of strong and autonomous women’s rights movements” have led to transformative success, she said.
Among other examples, Ms.Bahous highlighted the Spotlight Initiative which helped launch 540 legal and policy reforms, with campaigns reaching 385 million people.