Daanika Kamal, "Domestic Violence in Pakistan: The Legal Construction of 'Bad' and 'Mad' Women" (Oxford UP, 2025)

Jul 3, 2025

Daanika Kamal, a Lecturer in Law at Royal Holloway University, focuses on gender law and domestic violence in Pakistan. She discusses how societal labels of 'bad' and 'mad' women undermine the credibility of victims in the legal system. Through her research, she reveals the cultural narratives and legal challenges faced by women seeking justice. Kamal addresses the gap between legal protections and actual policing practices, highlighting the biases in courtroom dynamics and the need for a broader understanding of domestic violence that includes psychological harm.

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INSIGHT

Labels Undermine Abuse Claims

Allegations against women claiming domestic abuse often label them as 'bad' or 'mad' to discredit their claims.
These character attacks serve to undermine women's credibility and shield perpetrators from accountability.

ANECDOTE

Custody Case Misused Mental Labels

A man sought child custody, dismissing his ex-wife's abuse claims by branding her mentally disordered without medical evidence.
This tactic negated the abuse allegations and questioned the mother's fitness based on subjective mental health claims.

INSIGHT

Legal Framework vs Implementation Gap

Pakistani domestic violence laws exist but face opposition and poor implementation, limiting their effectiveness.
Many abuse cases go unprosecuted under these laws and are instead dealt with under general legal provisions.

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Pakistani women are increasingly pursuing legal avenues against acts of domestic violence. Their claims, however, are often dismissed through character allegations that label them as 'bad' women in need of control, or 'mad' women not to be trusted. Domestic Violence in Pakistan: The Legal Construction of 'Bad' and 'Mad' Women (Oxford University Press, 2025) by Dr. Daanika Kamal explores why the subjectivities of women victims are constructed in particular ways, and how these subjectivities are captured and negotiated in the Pakistani legal system.
Drawing on feminist poststructuralist accounts relating to the use of gendering strategies in institutional and disciplinary settings and based on an analysis of over a hundred case files and judgements, seventy-two interviews, and court observations in three cities of Pakistan, this book shadows the experiences of women victims of domestic violence in both criminal law and family law proceedings. It captures and offers empirical insights in relation to gendered subject formation in discursive spaces; ranging from the use of societal narratives that minimise and silence women's harms, to the deployment of police mechanisms that assist in maintaining the 'secrecy' of familial violence, and the application and enactment of boilerplate lawyerly strategies to present alternative legal 'truths.'
Amidst regulations of the public versus the private and understandings of rights versus duties, Domestic Violence in Pakistan explores how these practices construct the victim-subject of domestic violence in a way that not only subjectivise her, but also secure her within the field of that subjectification; setting her up to be viewed by the judiciary through the lens of the allegations applied to her.

This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda’s interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts.

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