Pakistan, May 3 -- Hafizabad's morning quiet was broken when a mother found her 13-year-old daughter weeping outside her school. She said men on a motorcycle had dragged her to a house where one raped her while others stood guard before dumping her back outside.

By the time the case surfaced, only one suspect had been arrested, while two unidentified suspects remained wanted. The FIR cited sections 375-A and 365-B of the Pakistan Penal Code, and police said the medical examination had provided evidence of sexual assault. The story is as sickening as it is familiar.

The Sustainable Social Development Organisation counted 32,617 incidents of gender-based violence in 2024 and recorded 5,339 rape complaints. Punjab alone reported 4,641 rape...