Since the beginning of history, women have been treated with inequality and discriminatory ideals. As the world began to globalize, women slowly started to fight for equal treatment, a common theme in all of world history. Living in the U.S., many people easily forget that this is an occurring battle in the Middle East, specifically Pakistan. On Thursday, October 6, the Pakistani Parliament passed legislation which increased the sentencing for rape crimes and honor killings. This action caused an extreme turning point in Pakistani culture.

 Honor killings, which is the act of killing a woman due to their actions that shame the family’s reputation, has been a recurring practice for hundreds of years. Most of these murderers go without punishment due to Islamic Law that allows killers to be free if they are forgiven by the woman’s family, which is common since family members are usually the ones who are guilty. The new law passed states that the family would only be able to pardon the killer if he is sentenced to capital punishment. In addition, the legislation also requires a minimum sentence of 25 years for honor killings, the rapings of minors and the physically/mentally disabled to become punishable under the law, and mandatory DNA testing of convicted rapists.

 Pakistani officials have been fighting for passing of such laws for years. In fact, the bill which was just passed had been introduced in March of this year, but failed to gain any traction. The parliament engaged in a debate over the legislation lasting for hours, in which many Islamic political parties insisted the bill be approved by a clerical panel before being passed. This card has been played multiple times in order to enact legal protection for women.

 Conditions of women in Middle Eastern countries such as Pakistan are far worse than most realize. Mr. Cope, a world history teacher at Millbrook, comments on the significance of this law and how he believes it can thoroughly improve Pakistani society: “Banning honor killings and increasing sentencing for raping is a great idea for it suggests that gender equality is increasing in Pakistan. However, Pakistani courts will have to enforce pre-existing laws and these new ones in order to have a bigger impact. The enforcement of laws has always shown clearer efficiency on the impact of people’s actions than the strictness of laws. For example, it was not the strictness of Hammurabi’s Law Code that lessoned crime, rather the enforcements of the code.” Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, has the same idea in mind,  claiming how passionate he is about enforcing this legislation. According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, almost 300 women were victims of honor killings in the first half of 2016. For instance, a teenage girl’s head was smashed by her brother because he disapproved of her pending marriage. Such incidents are frighteningly so common in Pakistan; Pakistan is ranked 144 out of 145 countries on gender disparity.

  Being aware of other countries’ fights and difficulties is a crucial part of educating yourself. Junior Mariel Vazquez emphasises how important such changes are for the world: “I’m glad there is change finally occurring and that actions are being taken for such important things. Small changes in countries will lead to change in the world over all.” Though such laws seem to be overdue, it is a slow movement in the right direction for the Pakistani women.