Pakistan’s minister for women, Nilofar Bakhtiar, has said more needs to be done to rid the country of oppressive attitudes toward women.
| I'd suggest tilting the country onto one side, hosing it off, and starting over from scratch, but that's probably not feasible... |
Bakhtiar said she welcomed moves to repeal harsh legislation passed 20 years ago under the Islamic dictatorship of General Zia-ul-Haq, under which thousands of women were imprisoned for adultery after being raped, or because their families denounced them – although the proposed reforms have yet to be passed by parliament. There are around 5,500 women in Pakistani prisons – most of them tried under the Zia-era laws, under which a woman who has been raped can be locked up for adultery unless the rape can be confirmed by four pious Muslim men.
| Assuming they weren't expressing their piety by raping her... |
Women are often jailed as adulterers for revenge – after being denounced by their parents for marrying a man of their choice, for example, or by a former husband if they remarry after a divorce. |