Women's Protection Bill

The Women's Protection Bill (Urdu: تحفظِ نسواں بل) 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.^[1][2] Critics of the Hudood Ordinance alleged that it made it exceptionally difficult and dangerous to prove an allegation of rape, and thousands of women had been imprisoned as a result of the bill.^[3] The bill returned a number of offences from the Zina Ordinance to the Pakistan Penal Code, where they had been before 1979, and created an entirely new set of procedures governing the prosecution of the offences of adultery and fornication. Whipping and amputation were removed as punishments. The law meant women would not be jailed if they were unable to prove rape and their complaints of rape would not be seen as confession of adultery.^[4]

Some religious parties have called the bill un-Islamic and by extension unconstitutional, however the Supreme Court of Pakistan has not overturned the bill on the grounds that it violates the Islamic provisions in Pakistan's constitution, hence it stands to the present day. The province of Punjab passed another women's bill which instituted further reforms. This is pending before the courts on grounds of unconstitutionality.^[5]

In 2016, Criminal Law (Amendment) (Offense of Rape) Act 2016 was passed by Pakistan's parliament which introduced harsher punishments for perpetrators of rape and honour killing.^[6] The new law provided legal aid to victims and DNA testing was made mandatory in rape cases. The law also required Police to record the statement of the female survivor of rape or sexual harassment in the presence of female police officer.^[6] The use of technology such as video links will also be permitted under the new law to record the statements of the victim and witnesses so that they won't have to face any humiliation or risk entailed by court appearances. The new law was hailed by Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women.^[7]