In October 2016, The joint sitting of both houses of parliament on Thursday finally passed two key pro-women bills, The Anti-Honour Killing Laws (Criminal Amendment Bill) 2015 and the Anti-Rape Laws (Criminal Amendment Bill) 2015
A series of tragic events reinvigorated efforts for the passage of these bills, but efforts were stalled as the Committee of the Joint Sitting on Bills struggled to win over the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Jamaat-i-Islami (JI). Both considered it to be against tenets of Islam.
Anti honour killing Bill:
If a woman is murdered in the name of honour by a close family member, they will be liable to strict punishment even if they are pardoned by another family member.
directs judges to sentence someone accused of an honour-killing to a life-term in prison, whether the victim’s immediate family forgives the culprit or not.
Anti Rape Bill:
The most significant provision of this bill is the fact that it gives legal cover to the collection and use of DNA evidence to prove that rape has been committed.
This flies in the face of a ruling by the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), which had held in 2013 that DNA evidence could not be considered as primary evidence in rape cases, though it could be used as supporting evidence.
“Parliament has asserted its authority over the CII through this law,” Mr Babar told Dawn after the session.
The bill makes amendments to Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) 1860, Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) 1898 and the Qanun-i-Shahadat Order 1984, some of which are quite ground-breaking.
it holds officers who may sabotage or disregard the investigation to account by stipulating three years in prison, a fine, or both for those who do not pursue an inquiry diligently.
Anyone who rapes a minor or a mentally or physically disabled person will be liable for the death penalty or life imprisonment.
same punishment is prescribed if a public servant such as police officer, jailer or medical officer takes advantage of their position to commit rape.
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.
media has also been barred from publishing or publicising names
deletes provisions in the Qanun-i-Shahadat (law of evidence) relating to questioning the character of the rape victim, so that sex workers are not excluded from the law’s protection.
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