Pakistan, July 11 -- Two recent cases have once again laid bare Pakistan's systemic failure to protect women-from violence, from stigma, and from societal neglect. In Islamabad, a woman named Sanya died after allegedly being set on fire by her husband and father-in-law. In Karachi, actress Humaira Asghar Ali's decomposed body was found in her apartment weeks after her death, with reports suggesting even her own family initially refused to claim her remains.

These two tragedies, though different in circumstance, point to the same rot: the deep-seated misogyny that renders women disposable in both life and death.

In Sanya's case, her lawyer has called for prosecution under the Anti-Terrorism Act, describing the crime as "tantamount to ter...