Laws

 BANGLADESH:

• The Penal Code lists kidnapping, wrongful confinement, trafficking, slavery, assault, battery, causing miscarriage, rape, acid throwing and forced labour as crimes committed specifically against women. See
  http://www.sdnpbd.org/sdi/international_days/
  women_day/2003/Organized%
  20and%20Institutionalized%20Sexual%
  20Exploitation%20and%20Violence.htm
• The Dowry Prohibition Act of 1980, amended as the Dowry Prohibition (Amendment) Ordinance, 1982, prohibits dowry in all forms and makes it punishable by imprisonment.

• The Cruelty to Women Ordinance, 1983, provides punishment for kidnapping or abducting women, trafficking in women, dowry-related cruelty and rape, as well as abetment to such offences.
   
• The Muslim Family Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 1992, restrains indiscriminate divorce and polygamy .
   
• The Family Courts Ordinance, 1985, provides for summary trial of offences regarding marriage, dower, maintenance and guardianship and custody of children.
   
• The Special Tribunal Act, 1995, is used in cases of rape or death due to rape for which punishment is 14 years rigorous imprisonment or death.
   
• The Suppression of Immoral Traffic Act provides penalties for detaining girls under 18 in a place where prostitution is carried out.
   
• The Nari o Shishu Nirajaton Domon Ain 2000 (The Women and Children Repression Prevention Act 2000), has stringent provisions for crimes such as rape, trafficking, abduction, death caused by rape, gang rape or rape in police custody.
   
• The Legal Aid Act, 2000, provides free legal aid to citizens of the State and the Acid Crime Prevention Act 2002 punishes acid throwers whereas the Acid Control Act 2002 aims to control accessibility of acid.
   
• Apart from constitutional laws, there are General Law or laws that are not directly governed by the Constitution. Personal or Family Laws fall under these and are mostly governed by the civil law.
   
• Personal laws are not uniform and there Muslim, Hindu, Christian and General Personal Laws - all of which subject women to the same discrimination. See Pereira, Faustina (2002), The Fractured Scales: The Search for A Uniform Personal Code, Stree, Calcutta.
   
• Bangladesh has also ratified the CEDAW in 1984 with reservations on Articles 2, 16.1 (9c). The argument is that they conflict with the country's personal laws.

• Nepal’s constitution states that there will be no discrimination of any kind on grounds of sex, caste, religion and race. See Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal
   
• Rights to inheritance, property, marriage and divorce, tenancy and transaction rights, however, favour men
   
• As trafficking is a grave problem, the New Muluki-Ain 1963 states that no one should allure persons to cross the border with the intent of trafficking or strike a deal in this regard. If persons trafficked are found, the trafficker will be penalised with ten years of imprisonment in case of deal not completed and double that if trafficking deal is final
   
• The Human Trafficking (Control) Act 2043, (1987) says a human trafficker is liable for punishment of between ten to twenty years prison sentence
   
• The Anti-Trafficking Bill was passed in 2002. It punishes traffickers with a hefty monetary penalty for the offence and an imprisonment of 15 to 20 years
   
• In 2002, the apex court in Nepal stated that sexual intercourse between spouses without the consent of the wife is to be taken as rape
   
• In 2002, an amendment to the Civil Code guaranteed equal property rights on parental property; conditional abortion rights to women; bans on child marriage and polygamy. Women’s rights organisations remain dissatisfied and are lobbying for amendments. See Inheritance Rights of Nepali Women: Journey towards Equality (1995), Forum for Women, Law and Development and International Rights Action Watch, Publication No 74
   
• A Domestic Violence Bill has already been formulated and awaits final presentation in the Ministry of Law. Domestic violence has been divided into mental and physical torture. In the first case, the local authority has the power to reconcile both parties and in the second case the police have the right to take action
   
• The Supreme Court’s verdicts on ending the practice of chhaupadi (the practice of alienating a women during her periods from her own home); considering marital rape as rape; giving women the right to abortion and on resolving the citizenship issue (allowing citizenship to a child whose paternity is unknown) has gone a long way to ensure women’s rights
   
• But women’s groups say these verdicts need to be transformed into laws and implemented
   
• The Nepal government ratified CEDAW in 1991 and formulated a National Plan of Action to ensure the fulfillment of women’s human rights but a majority of the concerns in the twelve critical areas remain unaddressed. For critical overview, see publications Nepal Beijing and Beyond: Beijing +10 NGO Country Report 2004 and Nepal CEDAW Alternative Advocacy On Second and Third Combined Report Submitted by His Majesty’s Government
   
• At the 11th SAARC Summit in 2002 in Kathmandu, Nepal adopted two conventions: Convention on Prevention and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution and Convention on Regional Arrangements for the Promotion of the Welfare of Children. These aim to stem trans-border trafficking and allow for the rehabilitation of victims
   

• Pakistan's constitution guarantees women equal rights and empowers the government to take action to protect those rights.
   
• Over the years, however, parallel Islamic legal systems have been encouraged which undermine those rights.
   
• The controversial Hudood Ordinances were introduced in 1979 when General Zia modified the country's legal system in accordance with Islamic scriptures. It stripped women of the legal protection and rights previously available to them.
   
• Rape laws were dramatically changed. No longer part of the Penal Code, rape was included in the Zina Ordinance (a sub category of the Hudood Ordinance). It blurred the line between rape and adultery and strengthened the possibility that a woman can be convicted of adultery if she cannot prove rape.
   
• The Federal Shari'a Court was established by the General in 1980. Under this, women were subject to unequal rights on inheritance, termination of marriage, minimum age of marriage, and natural guardianship of children.
   
• The Qanun-e-Shahadat, the Evidence Act was introduced in 1984. It reduced the value of a single woman’s testimony to half that of a man.
   
• The Qias and the Diyat Ordinance, promulgated in 1990, lets off men who perpetuate violence against women. It was passed as an Act without parliamentary debate or consent.
   
• The jirga system (traditional system where village elders sit together to make a decision) also works to pull down women’s rights.
   
• There is at present no legislation against domestic violence in Pakistan. Redress is possible only in the most extreme cases.
   
• Pakistan ratified Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1996 with a reservation on Clause 29 pertaining to disputes and a clarification that the Constitution of Pakistan would hold supremacy over the provisions of CEDAW. Implementation or the filtering down of the laws to the administration and the judiciary has not as yet happened.
   
• The issue of killing for honour began to appear on the political agenda in 1999 as a result of growing pressure from NGOs, the media, activists and UN agencies.
   
• In 2000, General Pervez Musharraf, the Chief Executive of Pakistan announced that such killings would be treated as murder. But the killings continue.
   
• The Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan has recently endorsed that killing in the name of honour would be treated as intentional murder.
   
• Positive legislation has come in the form of Women and Distress Fund Act, 1966, that provides relief to victims of violence; amendments in Section 167 of the Criminal Procedure Code that provides that a magistrate cannot detain a female in police custody, except in cases of dacoity and murder; and making death penalty mandatory in case of gang rape.