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The Hudud Ordinances are laws in
Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
enacted in 1979 as part of the Islamization of Pakistan by
Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (12 August 192417 August 1988) was a Pakistani military officer and statesman who served as the sixth president of Pakistan from 1978 until Death of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, his death in an airplane crash in 1988. He also se ...
, the sixth
president of Pakistan The president of Pakistan () is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The president is the nominal head of the executive and the supreme commander of the Pakistan Armed Forces.
. It replaced parts of the British-era Pakistan Penal Code, adding new criminal offences of
adultery Adultery is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal consequences, the concept ...
and
fornication Fornication generally refers to consensual sexual intercourse between two people who are not married to each other. When a married person has consensual sexual relations with one or more partners whom they are not married to, it is called adu ...
, and new punishments of
whipping Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, the knout, etc. Typically, flogging has been imposed on ...
,
amputation Amputation is the removal of a Limb (anatomy), limb or other body part by Physical trauma, trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as cancer, malign ...
, and stoning to death. Lau, "Twenty-Five Years of Hudood Ordinances", 2007: p.1296 Lau, "Twenty-Five Years of Hudood Ordinances", 2007: p.1292 After much controversy and criticism parts of the law were extensively revised in 2006 by the
Women's Protection Bill The Women's Protection Bill () which was passed by the National Assembly of Pakistan on 15 November 2006 is an attempt to amend the heavily criticised 1979 Hudood Ordinance laws which govern the punishment for rape and adultery in Pakistan. Crit ...
. The Hudood Law was intended to implement
Shari'a Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...
law or bring Pakistani law into "conformity with the injunctions of Islam", by enforcing punishments mentioned in the
Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
and
sunnah is the body of traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time supposedly saw, followed, and passed on to the next generations. Diff ...
for ''
zina ''Zināʾ'' () or ''zinā'' ( or ) is an Islamic legal term referring to unlawful sexual intercourse. According to traditional jurisprudence, ''zina'' can include adultery, fornication, prostitution, sodomy, incest, and bestiality. ''Zi ...
'' (extramarital sex), ''qazf'' (false accusation of ''zina''), theft, and consumption of alcohol. The system provided for two kinds of offences — ''hadd'' and ''tazir'' — with different punishments to go with them. ''
Hadd ''Hudud'' is an Arabic word meaning "borders, boundaries, limits". The word is applied in classical Islamic literature to punishments (ranging from public lashing, public stoning to death, amputation of hands, crucifixion, depending on the c ...
'' offences (fixed punishment) require a higher standard of proof than ''
tazir In Islamic Law, ''tazir'' (''ta'zeer'' or ''ta'zir'', ) lit. scolding; refers to punishment for offenses at the discretion of the judge (Qadi) or ruler of the state. and critics alleged that there were "hundreds of incidents where a woman subjected to rape, or even gang rape, was eventually accused of ''
zina ''Zināʾ'' () or ''zinā'' ( or ) is an Islamic legal term referring to unlawful sexual intercourse. According to traditional jurisprudence, ''zina'' can include adultery, fornication, prostitution, sodomy, incest, and bestiality. ''Zi ...
''" and incarcerated. In 2006 the laws were updated, excusing such women who failed to prove the rape.


Ordinances

The ordinances follow the classical mainly ''
Hanafi The Hanafi school or Hanafism is the oldest and largest Madhhab, school of Islamic jurisprudence out of the four schools within Sunni Islam. It developed from the teachings of the Faqīh, jurist and theologian Abu Hanifa (), who systemised the ...
'' jurisprudence doctrine. One non-classical feature is that ''Hadd'' punishments can only be carried out after an appeal to the
Federal Shariat Court The Federal Shariat Court (FSC) is a constitutional islamic religious court of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, which has the power to examine and determine whether the laws of the country comply with Sharia law. The court was established in ...
has failed. The Federal Shariat Court, which has "exclusive jurisdiction" to examine whether or not a law is in accordance with the injunctions of Islam, was created along with the Ordinances. Lau, "Twenty-Five Years of Hudood Ordinances", 2007: p.1294 Under the ordinances, ''tazir'' punishments often involve flogging.


Offences Against Property (theft) ordinance

Officially known as "The Offences Against Property (Enforcement Of Hudood) Ordinance (VI of 1979)." *Offences Against Property liable to ''hadd'' must be **theft of something ''nisab'' level of value, i.e. property worth more than 4.457 grams of gold (about USD $258 ) **from a place where the property was protected. Kennedy, ''Islamization of Laws and Economy'', 1996: p.56 **evidence must be from a confession by the accused, or at least two Muslim adult male witnesses who are `''tazkiyah-al-shuhood''`, (truthful and non-sinners). *Punishment for "theft liable to ''hadd''"; **first offence: "amputation of his right hand from the joint of the wrist"; **second offence: "amputation of his left foot up to the ankle"; **third offence: imprisonment for life; * Theft liable to ''tazir'': Whoever commits theft, which, is not liable to 'hadd' or **for which there is no confession or evidence provided by two qualifying Muslim adult male witnesses, or **for which 'hadd' may not be imposed or enforced under this Ordinance; *Punishment for theft liable to tazir: is stipulated in the Pakistan Penal Code (Act XLV of 1860). For robbery liable to ''hadd'', the right hand of the offender and his left foot should be amputated by a surgeon.


Zina (extramarital) Ordinance

Officially known as "The Offence of Zina (Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance (VII of 1979)" refers to
fornication Fornication generally refers to consensual sexual intercourse between two people who are not married to each other. When a married person has consensual sexual relations with one or more partners whom they are not married to, it is called adu ...
,
adultery Adultery is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal consequences, the concept ...
and ''zina bil jabbar'' (
rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...
). The most controversial of the four ordinances, Lau, "Twenty-Five Years of Hudood Ordinances", 2007: p.1302 it has several distinct categories of sexual offences and assigned punishments for each: *''zina'' liable to hadd; punishable by **stoning to death for the adulterer **public whipping of 100 lashes for a fornicator *''zina'' liable to ''tazir''; punishable by **imprisonment for up to ten years *''zina-bil-jabr'' liable to ''hadd''; *''zina-bil-jabr'' liable to ''tazir''; Further Zina offenses are (or as of 1991 were) Kennedy, ''Islamization of Laws and Economy'', 1996: p.80 *kidnapping *sodomy *enticement *attempted rape *abetment of ''zina'' crime *deceitful marriage *conspiracy to engage in prostitution Under ''hadd'', eyewitnesses evidence of the act of penetration by "at least four Muslim adult male witnesses", about whom "the court is satisfied", that "they are truthful persons and abstain from major sins (''kabair'')" (''
tazkiyah () is an Arabic-Islamic term alluding to , meaning 'sanctification' or 'purification of the self'. This refers to the process of transforming the (carnal self or desires) from its state of self-centrality through various spiritual stages ...
al-shuhood''). Because of this stringent standard, no accused has ever been found guilty and stoned to death in Pakistan, and punishments have been awarded only under the
Tazir In Islamic Law, ''tazir'' (''ta'zeer'' or ''ta'zir'', ) lit. scolding; refers to punishment for offenses at the discretion of the judge (Qadi) or ruler of the state.false accusation of rape; *Proof of "''qazf'' liable to ''hadd''" includes the accused confessing to it in court, the accused committing ''qazf'' in court, or if two Muslim adult male witnesses (other than the victim of the ''qazf'') testify that the defendant committed qazf. (If the accused is a non-Muslim, the witnesses may be non-Muslims.) *Punishment of "''qazf'' liable to ''hadd''" will be a whipping numbering 80 stripes. *"''Qazf'' liable to ''Tazir''" applies whenever **proof in any of the forms mentioned above is not available, **or when the perpetrator has committed 'qazf' against any of his descendants, **or when the victim of ''qazf'' has died during the "pendency of the proceedings"; *punishment of "''qazf'' liable to ''tazir''" shall be imprisonment for up to two years, a whipping of up to 40 stripes, and may also include a fine.


Prohibition (alcohol) Order

Officially known as: "The Prohibition (Enforcement of Hadd) Order of 1979", described the offence of producing, importing, selling, owning, possessing or consuming
alcohol Alcohol may refer to: Common uses * Alcohol (chemistry), a class of compounds * Ethanol, one of several alcohols, commonly known as alcohol in everyday life ** Alcohol (drug), intoxicant found in alcoholic beverages ** Alcoholic beverage, an alco ...
. *Producing, bottling, selling alcohol is punishable by imprisonment of up to five years, or flogging of up to 30 stripes, and may also be fined. *Owning or possessing is punishable by imprisonment of up to two years, or flogging of up to 30 stripes, and may also be fined. *Drinkers liable to ''hadd'' are adult Muslims who "takes intoxicating liquor by mouth" if they confess to drinking or evidence is given by "two Muslim adult male witness" of good character. **They "shall be punished" with flogging of "eighty stripes". *Drinkers liable to ''tazir'' include **non-Muslim citizens of Pakistan who have been drinking (unless it is "part of a ceremony prescribed by his religion"): **non-Muslim, non-citizens of Pakistan, who have been drinking in a public place; **Muslims for whom "the offence stands proved by the evidence on the record" but not by ''hadd'' evidence of two Muslim witnesses, etc. **these drinkers shall be punished by imprisonment of up to three years, flogging of up to 30 stripes, or both. *Owning or possessing heroin, cocaine, opium or coca leaf is also punishable with imprisonment, flogging and fines.


Whipping Ordinance

"The Execution of the Punishment of Whipping Ordinance of 1979" was developed to regulate the punishment of whipping/flogging. It specifies that whips shall be made of leather, or a cane or a branch of a tree, be no longer than 1.22 meters and no thicker than 1.25 cm. Convict shall be medically examined before flogging to determine if the flogging should be "applied in such manner and with such intervals" that it does not kill the offender being flogged. Flogging may be postponed if the offender is ill, pregnant, or if the weather is too cold, etc. Stripes shall not be applied to "the head, face, stomach or chest or the delicate parts of the body of the convict," and should not lacerate the skin of the convict.


Controversy and revision


Whipping

In 1996 the Abolition of Whipping Act (passed by Benazir Bhutto's
Pakistan People's Party The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is a political party in Pakistan and one of the three major Pakistani political parties alongside the Pakistan Muslim League (N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. With a centre-left political position, it is cu ...
), forbade sentences/punishments of whipping offenders except when imposed as a ''hadd'' punishment. It has "greatly reduced" the instances of corporal punishment.


Zina (extramarital) Ordinance

In the two and a half decades the law was unchanged, several Pakistani government appointed commissions recommended the Zina Ordinance's repeal (such as the National Commission for the Status of Women in 2003, the Special Committee to Review the Hudood Ordinances, 1979, Commission of Inquiry for Women). Lau, "Twenty-Five Years of Hudood Ordinances", 2007: p.1297-8 Critics of the law alleged that while no one had actually been executed by stoning or had their hand or foot amputated in punishment as a result of the law, Lau, "Twenty-Five Years of Hudood Ordinances", 2007: p.1305 the ordinance made it dangerous to file rape charges as the women could be punished under ''tazir'' if they failed to prove an allegation of rape. In 1979, before the ordinances went into effect there were 70 women held in Pakistani prisons by 1988, there were 6000. In 2004, eighty-eight of the two hundred and forty-six women held at the Karachi Central Jail were held under the Hudood Ordinance's Zina laws all most all the women were working class, factory and domestic workers, and almost all were there because of a complaint filed by a family member saying they had committed Zina. According to legal scholar Martin Lau
While it was easy to file a case against a woman accusing her of adultery, the Zina Ordinance made it very difficult for a woman to obtain bail pending trial. Worse, in actual practice, the vast majority of accused women were found guilty by the trial court only to be acquitted on appeal to the Federal Shariat Court. By then they had spent many years in jail, were ostracized by their families, and had become social outcasts.
A woman alleging rape was Initially required to provide eyewitnesses of good standing and moral character (Tazkiyah-al-shuhood) and the witnesses would have to witness "the act of penetration" for the death penalty to apply to the rapist or if there was no witnesses then Ta'zir would apply. In principle, the failure to find such proof of the rape does not place the woman herself at risk of prosecution. According to
Mufti A mufti (; , ) is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion ('' fatwa'') on a point of Islamic law (''sharia''). The act of issuing fatwas is called ''iftāʾ''. Muftis and their ''fatāwa'' have played an important role thro ...
Taqi Usmani Muhammad Taqi Usmani (born 3 October 1943) SI, OI, is a Pakistani Islamic jurist and leading scholar in the fields of Qur'an, Hadith, Islamic law, Islamic economics, and comparative religion. He was a member of the Council of Islamic Ideology ...
, who was instrumental in the creation of the ordinances:
If anyone says that she was punished because of Qazaf (false accusation of rape) then Qazaf Ordinance, Clause no. 3, Exemption no. 2 clearly states that if someone approaches the legal authorities with a rape complaint, she cannot be punished in case she is unable to present four witnesses. No court of law can be in its right mind to award such a punishment.
However, in practice, these safeguards have not always worked. In addition, because the ordinance abolished Pakistan's statutory rape law, girls as young as twelve were prosecuted for having extra-marital intercourse "under circumstances that would previously have mandated
statutory rape In common law jurisdictions, statutory rape is nonforcible sexual activity in which one of the individuals is below the age of consent (the age required to legally consent to the behaviour). Although it usually refers to adults engaging in sex ...
charges against their assailant," according to
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...
. Stories of suffering by women who claimed to have been raped appeared in the press in the years following the passing of the Hudood Ordinance stirring protests by Pakistani activists and lawyers and international human rights organizations. One case was that of Safia Bibi, an unmarried blind woman from the northwest frontier who was prosecuted for ''zina'' because of her illegitimate pregnancy. She was given a jail sentence of 3 years with 15 stripes of lashings and a fine of 100 rupees under ''tazir''. Her rapist was acquitted. The judge ruled that there insufficient evidence to link him with rape.
The evidence of guilt was there for all to see: a newborn baby in the arms of its mother, a village woman named Zafran Bibi. Her crime: she had been raped. Her sentence: death by stoning. Now Ms. Zafran Bibi, who is about 26, is in solitary confinement in a death-row cell. Thumping a fat red statute book, the white-bearded judge who convicted her, Anwar Ali Khan, said he had simply followed the letter of the Qur'an-based law, known as hudood, that mandates punishments. "The illegitimate child is not disowned by her and therefore is proof of zina," he said, referring to laws that forbid any sexual contact outside marriage. Furthermore, he said, in accusing her brother-in-law of raping her, Ms. Zafran had confessed to her crime.
The appeal judgment of the Federal Shariah Court cleared the girl of the accusation of zina. Another scenario for some of the accusations of adultery leading to imprisonment was following divorce by the husband and remarriage by the ex-wife.
A triple
talaq Divorce according to Islamic law can occur in a variety of forms, some initiated by a husband and some by a wife. The main categories of Islamic customary law are ''talaq'' ( repudiation), ''khulʿ'' (mutual divorce) and ''faskh'' (dissolution o ...
is pronounced. The woman returns to her parental home. She goes through her period of ''iddat''. After a while the family arranges another match and she gets married. The husband then claims that sans the confirmation of divorce by the local authorities the marriage is not over and launches a zina prosecution. It is necessary to delete this definition f a valid marriageto shut this door. Lau, "Twenty-Five Years of Hudood Ordinances", 2007: p.1310-311
A number of international and Pakistani human rights organizations argue that Hudood Ordinance goes beyond what is required by
sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...
. They are opposed by right wing religious parties (
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal The Muttahida Majlis–e–Amal (MMA; Urdu: , ) is a political alliance consisting of conservative, Islamist, Religion in Pakistan, religious, and right-wing parties of Pakistan. Naeem Siddiqui (the founder of Tehreek e Islami) proposed such a ...
(MMA)), who accuse them of departing from Islamic values. Furthermore, the ordinance became a tool of misuse to quell and compromise women’s fundamental rights.


Case study

A study by Charles Kennedy of the Hudood Ordinances based on random stratified sample of cases tried by the Federal Shariat Court (FSC) from 1980–84, found 88% of cases heard by the FSC were Zina Ordinance-related, that the court acquitted over half (52%) of the appellates (an "extraordinarily high" number), and "fully upheld" less than one in five (19%) of the convictions. Around 90% of the cases were overturned based on misappreciation of the facts, not misappreciation of the law. Kennedy, ''Islamization of Laws and Economy'', 1996: p.56-8 The average time that defendants had to wait for disposition of their cases (in jail unless they were granted bail) after the "First Information Report" in district and sessions courts was around eighteen months. Kennedy, ''Islamization of Laws and Economy'', 1996: p.58 However the acquitted defendants still had to contend with high legal fees, social consequences facing even acquitted defendants, and time in jail until their appeal was heard unless they were granted bail. Kennedy, ''Islamization of Laws and Economy'', 1996: p.65 Kennedy, ''Islamization of Laws and Economy'', 1996: p.78 The study that found the ordinance was used to file "nuisance or harassment suits against disobedient daughters or estranged wives." Kennedy, ''Islamization of Laws and Economy'', 1996: p.64 Three common patterns in the cases were:
# a man and a woman are accused of ''zina'' by the father or older brother of the accused woman, the complainant(s) not consenting to the marriage or relationship; #a complainant accuses his "former" spouse of ''zina'' when she remarries; #a girl bring charges of rape against her 'boyfriend' after she is confronted by her relatives with alleged evidence of possible wrongdoing or dishonor.
Kennedy states that "clearly the perception that Zia's program significantly discriminated against women's rights is fundamentally flawed". Kennedy, ''Islamization of Laws and Economy'', 1996: p.79 84% of those convicted in district and sessions courts under Hudood law were men, and 90% of those whose convictions were upheld by the FSC were men, Kennedy, ''Islamization of Laws and Economy'', 1996: p.62 the law cannot be accused of gender bias. He does not argue with statements such as "eight out of every ten women in jail today are those charged with the offence of Zina". He also states "it is undoubtedly the case" that the Hudood Ordinances, or at least their implementation, "discriminated against Pakistan's lower socioeconomic classes". Only 2% of those convicted were middle-class (and none upper-class). Kennedy, ''Islamization of Laws and Economy'', 1996: p.77 Human rights attorney Sadakat Kadri replies that "Kennedy reached that mistaken view" because he compared male and female "conviction statistics as though they were alike, ignoring the fact that most men would have been rapists, whereas the women would all have been rape victims or alleged consenting adulterers."


Reforming the Hudood Ordinance

Attention to the Ordinance and suggestions for revising it were given by a number of government appointed commissions, a several-weeks-long televised debate on the subject of "No debate on Hudood Allah (Allah's laws as prescribed in Quran and Sunnah)-is the Hudood Ordinance (Man's interpretation of Allah's law) Islamic?" on Geo television channel, and a 2005
University of Karachi The University of Karachi (; informally Karachi University, KU, or UoK) is a public research university located in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Established in June 1951 by an act of Parliament and as a successor to the University of Sindh (which is ...
Department of Public Administration workshop. In 2006, then
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
Pervez Musharraf Pervez Musharraf (11 August 1943 – 5 February 2023) was a Pakistani general and politician who served as the tenth president of Pakistan from 2001 to 2008. Prior to his career in politics, he was a four-star general and appointed as ...
again proposed reform of the ordinance. On November 15, 2006, the " Protection of Women (Criminal Laws Amendment) Act" was passed in the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...
, allowing rape to be prosecutable under civil law. The bill was ratified by the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
on 23 November 2006, and became law after President Musharraf signed it on 1 December 2006. The bill *returns a number of offenses from the Zina Ordinance to the Pakistan Penal Code, where they had been before 1979; **since rape, unlike ''zina'' and ''qazf'', is not mentioned in the Quran, rape is now excluded from Islamic criminal law. *reformulates and redefines the offenses of ''zina'' and ''qazf'' (the wrongful accusation of ''zina''); **no complaint of adultery or rape can be converted into one of fornication; *creates an entirely new set of procedures governing the prosecution of the offenses of adultery and fornication. Lau, "Twenty-Five Years of Hudood Ordinances", 2007: p.1308 **adds to the Pakistan Penal Code a new offense of false accusation of fornication, so that an accusation of fornication runs the risk of a lengthy prison sentence if his complaint does not result in a conviction; **adultery is the only offense retained in the Zina Ordinance. A complaint of adultery must be made to a judge with at least four witnesses testifying under oath that they witnessed the act of penetration. Lau, "Twenty-Five Years of Hudood Ordinances", 2007: p.1308-12 Legal experts have claimed that the original law was not so unbalanced as its opponents claimed or that the reforms will be impossible to enforce. Human rights groups and activists in Pakistan have also criticized the bill, with one group complaining: "The so-called Women's Protection Bill is a farcical attempt at making the Hudood Ordinance palatable". The concern is that thousands of rapes go unreported as victims fear that they would be treated as criminals. In contrast Martin Lau has said that the Act "cannot be dismissed as a mere window dressing undertaken to satisfy a Western audience." Lau, "Twenty-Five Years of Hudood Ordinances", 2007: p.1314


Criminal Law (Amendment) (Offense of Rape) Act 2016

On 7 October 2016, Pakistan's parliament unanimously passed new anti-rape and anti-honour killing bills. The new laws introduced harsher punishments for the perpetrators of such crimes. According to the new anti-rape bill, DNA testing was made mandatory in rape cases. Sabotaging or disrupting the work of a police officer or Government official could result in imprisonment of 1 year under the new law. Government officials who are found taking advantage of their official position to commit act of rape (e.g. custodial rape) are liable to imprisonment for life and a fine. According to the new law, anyone who rapes a minor or a mentally or physically disabled person will be liable for the death penalty or life imprisonment. The recording of the statement of the female survivor of rape or sexual harassment shall be done by an Investigating Officer, in the presence of a female police officer, or a female family member of the survivor. Survivors of rape shall be provided legal aid (if needed) by the Provincial Bar Council. The new law also declares that trials for offences such as rape and related crimes shall be conducted in-camera and also allows for the use of technology such as video links to record statements of the victim and witnesses, to spare them the humiliation or risk entailed by court appearances. The media will also be restricted from publishing or publicising the names or any information that would reveal the identity of a victim, except when publishing court judgements. The trial for rape shall conclude within three months. However, if the trial is not completed within three months then the case shall be brought to the notice of the Chief Justice of the High Court for appropriate directions. The new bill also ensures that sex workers are also included in the law's protection.
UN Women The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, is a United Nations entity charged with working for gender equality and the empowerment of women. UN Women is charged with advocating for the righ ...
Executive Director, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, hailed the Government of Pakistan's decision to pass the anti-rape and anti-honour killing bills.


See also

* Hudood * Pakistan penal code *
Women related laws in Pakistan The legislative assembly of Pakistan has enacted several measures designed to give women more power in the areas of family, inheritance, revenue, civil, and criminal laws. These measures are an attempt to safeguard women's rights to freedom of spe ...


Bibliography

* Khan, Shahnaz. Zina and the Moral Regulation of Pakistani Women, Feminist Review, Volume: 75 issue: 1, page(s): 75-100, Issue published: December 1, 2003; Sage Journals,


References

* * {{IslamismSA 1979 in law 1979 in Pakistan 1979 controversies Law of Pakistan Repealed Pakistani legislation Sharia in Pakistan Women's rights in Pakistan Military government of Pakistan (1977–1988)