From Hudood Ordinances to Women Protection Act: Analysis of Rape Laws in Pakistan Pakistan has a very complicated relationship with rape. Many times their legal response to rape, along with other sexual crimes, has earned them the spotlight on the international stage. Pakistan is now known for its poor treatment of rape victims and, according to the UN and Global Citizen, is consistently rated one of the worst countries to live in for women, officially joining the ranks of countries like Yemen and Saudi Arabia. How exactly did conditions for women regarding rape become so terrible? Has it always been so difficult for women to seek justice against their rapist? What, if anything, has been done to combat the challenges rape victims face since the Hudood ordinances of 1979; and if so, was the attempt successful? Focusing on the Hudood Ordinances of 1979 and the subsequent response to the ordinances, namely the Protection of Women Bill, 2006, I will analyze how and whether the Protection of Women Bill brought about significant changes in the way rape was dealt with in court and whether it has changed the rape culture in Pakistan from what the Hudood ordinances intended. I will begin by outlining the history of rape in Islamic law, providing a brief overview of how Islamic law deals with rape. Then, I will explain what laid the foundation for the strict implementation of Hudood ordinances and Sharia law in Pakistan. Next, I will describe the Zina ordinance, which is the section of the Hudood ordinances that specifically deals with fornication and adultery, and explain the various defects of this ordinance. Next, I will describe the case of Mukhtar Mai and how her case brought international attention to rape laws in Pakistan, subsequently influencing the decision to create the Protection of Women Act in 2006. After explaining the Protection of Women Act , I will describe argue that it has failed women in Pakistan and that the judiciary set up in Pakistan is not ideal for dealing with sexual violence. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay To understand the current view of rape in Pakistan, it is necessary to establish what the history is behind the interpretation of rape in Islamic law. In Hina Azam's book, Sexual Violation in Islamic Law, it is argued that this story does not begin with the Quran and the prophet Muhammad, but in the pre-Islamic period because "Islamic legal discourse on sexual violation was unlikely to have been purely Islamic." "of origin". Many principles, institutions, and practices derived from pre-Islamic Arabia and the broader late ancient Near East. Previous ethical-juridical systems that have influenced rape in Islamic law include pre-Islamic Hebrew, Latin, and Arabic. Azam then goes on to state that from the earliest times of Islam, Muslim legal authorities maintained the idea that sexual violence was a punishable crime; incapacity and lack of consent were taken into account. Early Muslim legal authorities in the formative period of Islam used their understanding of the Quran and prophetic legacy within a theological, ethical, and cultural framework to condemn rape. Muslim legal authorities of the late medieval period used the earlier works of others and intertwined ideas such as divine and human claims, as well as sexuality and property, effectively making rape laws more complex. How, exactly, then, do these seemingly acceptable conceptions ofrape have been transformed for the worse in Pakistan through the Hudood ordinances and Sharia law? A significant event occurred in Pakistan that set the stage for this transition; Pakistan gained independence from Britain in 1947. After being under British rule for 98 years, it is no mystery why the Hudood ordinances and Sharia law were implemented in Pakistan. Feeling resentment towards the British and lack of identity, three constitutions were enacted; one in 1956, 1963 and 1973. There was a clear trend; each constitution brought the laws closer to the Islamic faith. With every constitution created, the implementation and punishment of crimes including rape still fell under Pakistan's penal code. It was only with the regime of General Zia-ul Haq in 1977 that adherence to Sharia and Hudood ordinances (in 1979) became mandatory. Zia has been credited with initiating the "Islamization" of Pakistan by inserting the Islamic faith into Pakistan's penal code. Whatever the repercussions of this, it is clear that "Islamisation" and the strengthening of the Muslim religion through laws was a direct reaction to the past British control over Pakistan. General Zia-ul Haq then effectively instituted the Hudood Ordinance when he was in power, which required strict adherence to Sharia law. Sharia law, just like any other religiously based legal system, has its major flaws. These flaws already make the building blocks on which rape laws in Pakistan are based are not at all stable. Sharia law derives from the Quran and the Sunna (life example of the Prophet Muhammad) and was created by Muslim legal scholars to form an interpretation of what they understood to be God's law. Inherently, all conclusions drawn from their studies were based on individuals' interpretations, creating different interpretations of the law and multiple schools of law. Having multiple law schools all under Sharia law in Pakistan has created different rulings on similar, if not identical, issues, and has somehow almost always not worked in favor of rape victims. The reason why rape victims did not get justice was partly because of the Zina ordinance. The Zina Ordinance specifically deals with adultery and fornication and provides for severe punishment such as flogging with one hundred lashes, as stated in the Quran. Legal scholars have interpreted the section of the Quran to punish fornication (having sex while unmarried) with one hundred lashes and to punish adultery with stoning to death. Therefore, illicit sex in every sense of the word has become a non-bailable crime punishable by death. Previously, illicit sex was considered a personal crime against husbands and fathers, but now it was considered a crime against the state. Furthermore, the Zina ordinance did not distinguish between adultery, fornication, and rape, so everyone was held to the same standard. The term “Zina-bil-jaber” was used when intercourse occurred without being validly married and without consent, which meant that if coercion could not be proven, the victim immediately became guilty of Zina. This was absolutely harmful to women who were victims of rape. Most women in Pakistan do not report rape because coercion is extremely difficult to prove in court, as four male witnesses to the actual rape are needed to testify. As mentioned above, if the victim cannot produce four male witnesses, she will automatically be charged with Zina. Up to 90% of women who report their rape cases end up being incarcerated for Zina due to the impossible standard of.”