Advancing Human Rights Through Parliamentary Mechanisms: A Five-Year Institutional Review Of The Senate Of Pakistan (2020-2025)

Abstract

The study examines how the Senate promotes human rights within Pakistan, using parliamentary records, reports of Senate committees and relevant policy papers from 2020 and 2025. Even though the Senate first became involved in human rights in the late 20th century, its responsibility has grown significantly in recent years. Issues the Senate has discussed include domestic violence, child protection, rights for people with disabilities, workplace harassment and defending against any discrimination based on race, religion, gender or gender identity, based on expert guidance and human rights rules worldwide. In addition, it joined forces with these organisations, such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the United Nations Human Rights Council, to encourage diplomatic actions supporting human rights. Civil society and similar groups have been very important in supporting legislative efforts on marriage and legal aid. Even with these efforts, certain problems persist, for example, when it takes a long time to process bills, not much progress is made on transgender rights, budgets are not always sufficient, and it is often challenging to enforce delivered resolutions. Visible progress has been made, although real improvement needs strong legislative changes to improve how things are handled, increase oversight and hold the Senate more accountable for human rights