Laws & Policies
There are many laws and policies (linked to religious beliefs) in Pakistan which put down women’s rights.
- Females are not allowed to choose their husbands, get a divorce, or get the custody of their children.
- When a female marries someone without the approval of her family, the marriage is considered invalid and they can even be accused of adultery.
- When a female victim of a crime goes to the police for help, some of them may be abused or even raped by the police while they are kept in custody for further investigation.
- In the Holy Quran, there is a law stating that females in the landlords class cannot marry. This law is advantageous to the males because they can use it to take the land belonging to their sisters and daughters.
- According to the Islamic Law of evidence (Hudood Ordinance), in order for the accused rapist to be charged, at least 4 male adult Muslims must be able to testify for it as a female is not considered a “full witness” and hence are not useful in giving testimonies. Also, sexual intercourse is presumed to have occurred with a female’s consent if there is no proof of the female’s consent. 52% of the women in jails are involved in rape/ adultery cases; they are kept in jails while waiting for the ruling of the court. If there is no concrete evidence to proof that she has been raped, she may be prosecuted for illicit sex.
- However, in 2006, the Hudood Ordinance was revised with the Women’s Protection Bill- rape was put under the civil law instead of the Sharia (Islamic) law and hence 4 adult male witnesses were no longer needed to prove a case of rape. The punishment for someone convicted of consisted sex outside of marriage was also reduced to a 5 years imprisonment and a fine. These changes were met with a lot of criticism. The human-rights group felt that the Pakistani government were still not doing enough to protect women rights while the conservative Islamic groups felt that these changes were “un-Islamic”.