Effectiveness of Legal Amendments in Protecting Women’s Rights in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Abstract

Women’s rights protection remains a critical governance and human rights concern in Pakistan, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where socio-cultural constraints and institutional inefficiencies often limit the effectiveness of legal frameworks. Despite several legal amendments introduced to safeguard women’s rights, their practical impact remains inconsistent, necessitating empirical investigation. This study examines the effectiveness of legal amendments in protecting women’s rights in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by analyzing the roles of awareness of women protection laws, accessibility of legal institutions, implementation of legal amendments, and support from law enforcement agencies, while incorporating women’s legal awareness as a mediator and rural versus urban residence as a moderator.

A quantitative, cross-sectional survey design was employed, with data collected from 1035 respondents across selected districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the relationships among variables, along with mediation and moderation analysis using bootstrapping techniques. The results revealed that all independent variables significantly and positively influence the protection of women’s rights, with support from law enforcement agencies (β = 0.33, p < 0.001) and implementation of legal amendments (β = 0.29, p < 0.001) showing the strongest effects. Model fit indices indicated a good fit (CFI = 0.94, TLI = 0.92, RMSEA = 0.045, SRMR = 0.041). Mediation analysis confirmed that women’s legal awareness significantly mediates the relationship between institutional factors and women’s rights protection, while moderation analysis showed that rural–urban residence significantly weakens the effects of awareness and accessibility in rural areas.

The study contributes to Legal Efficacy Theory and Empowerment Theory by highlighting that legal reforms are most effective when combined with enforcement strength and public awareness. It offers important policy implications for strengthening institutional capacity, improving legal awareness, and reducing rural–urban disparities in access to justice, thereby contributing to evidence-based governance and gender-inclusive legal reforms in Pakistan.