80% of Women in Pakistan Prisons Are There For Having Been Raped

"In spring 2005 Fareeda was raped by her family's neighbour, a postman, and his teenage son. She fell pregnant - and later miscarried - as a result. Her mistake was to tell her parents. With their consent, under Pakistan's orthodox Islamic laws, she was charged with fornication outside marriage and sentenced to 100 lashes, later reduced to 50 and then 25 because of her age, and sent to jail...

Up to 80 per cent of women in Pakistan's jails are charged under rules that penalise rape victims. For a rape trial to go ahead in Pakistan, four adult Muslim men, 'all of a pious and trustworthy nature', must have witnessed the attack and be willing to testify. Evidence from female and non-Muslim witnesses is considered worthless. A woman who can't produce those witnesses can be prosecuted for fornication and alleging a false crime, the penalties for which are stoning, lashings or prison."

full article

More on Women's Rights in Pakistan here:

"Pakistan's Human Rights Commission (HCRP) estimates that up to 1,500 people, mainly women, are murdered in honour killings annually. Sometimes the authorities collude in such cases. On September 1, HCRP reported that for the "crime" of falling in love with the daughter of a local government official in Vehari near Multan, a 17-year old boy had his tongue cut off by police, and his family implicated in various crimes.

The situation of women in rural areas can similarly be made worse by the involvement of government officials. One leading proponent of women's rights is Mukhtar Mai, herself a victim of a rape ordered by a Muslim village court in Punjab province. She had committed no crime, but her younger brother had been seen walking with a girl from another tribe. The village court ordered Mukhtar to be gang raped. She was publicly stripped naked after being raped and displayed to the village."

Update: David Frum - Instead of Protesting the Pope...