Islamabad: A new Bench Book on the Adjudication of Rape Cases has been launched in Islamabad as a tool to address persistent challenges in Pakistan's handling of sexual and gender-based violence cases. The manual aims to improve the judicial process for rape trials by offering practical guidance to judges.

According to Pak NGOs, the Bench Book was developed collaboratively by the Ministry of Human Rights, the Legal Aid Society, and the United Nations Population Fund. It is intended for use by judges in specialized Gender-Based Violence courts, providing a structured approach to handle various stages of rape adjudication.

The manual outlines key areas such as protecting survivors from secondary victimization, understanding delays in reporting, strengthening forensic evidence, and improving the quality of judicial decisions. These guidelines aim to ensure that judicial decisions are grounded in evidence and legal principles, rather than stereotypes.

The launch of the Bench Book coincided with a national study highlighting the low conviction rates in sexual violence cases, which stand at less than 3%. The study attributes these rates to weaknesses in investigation, evidence evaluation, and the treatment of survivors during judicial proceedings.

Supreme Court Justice Ayesha Malik emphasized the need to challenge attitudes that blame women for sexual violence and to ensure that crimes of this nature are treated with the seriousness they deserve. The Bench Book aims to support this by promoting fair and evidence-based judicial processes.

While the introduction of the Bench Book is a step forward, its effectiveness will rely on consistent application in courtrooms and improvements in broader institutional capacities, including police investigations and forensic capabilities. The ultimate goal is to ensure that survivors receive justice, their testimonies are assessed impartially, and perpetrators are held accountable.