Pakistan’s Persecution of Baloch Women: Beyond Rhetoric – Ambreen Baloch

Writer: Ambreen Baloch

Pakistan frequently touts its commitment to women’s empowerment at the UN, yet it ranks dead last (148/148) in the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Global Gender Gap Index. In Balochistan, gender inequality escalates into systematic state violence amid a long-running insurgency and heavy militarization. Human Rights Watch and other monitors have long documented a “pick up and dump” policy by Pakistani security forces, including the ISI and Frontier Corps: abducting suspected nationalists, activists, and civilians, subjecting them to torture, and often killing them before dumping bodies.

Thousands of Baloch, men, women, and children, have been forcibly disappeared. Baloch human rights groups report dozens of female cases in recent years, including students, activists, and housewives. Some women endure sexual torture, with accounts of “rape cells,” gang rapes, and exploitation.

Baloch women have emerged as visible leaders in the struggle for justice. Figures like Dr. Mahrang Baloch and the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) organize peaceful protests against disappearances and extrajudicial killings. Authorities respond with beatings, arbitrary arrests, tear gas, live fire, and reprisals, such as abducting male relatives.

More than thousand reports show women being roughly handled during demonstrations. Families of the disappeared, often led by women, face harassment. Bodies recovered frequently bear torture marks. Raids involve assaults on women and children, looting, and home demolitions.

Balochistan, resource-rich yet Pakistan’s poorest province, compounds these abuses with extreme poverty, low female literacy, and restricted mobility. Independent monitors like Paank, Voice for Baloch Missing Persons and Baloch Voice for Justice continue tracking cases, despite state denial and blame-shifting to insurgents. UN experts and groups have repeatedly called for investigations, accountability, and an end to impunity.

Pakistan’s official denials contrast sharply with patterns documented by HRW, Amnesty International, and local groups. Genuine commitment requires transparent probes, prosecutions of perpetrators, safe protest spaces, and media access in Balochistan. The world should listen to Baloch voices, not just official denials.