Chasm Between Law and Practice
Sabiha Hussain
GENDER EQUALITY AND WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT IN PAKISTAN by Rashida Patel Oxford University Press, 2011, 283 pp., 695
March 2011, volume 35, No 3

The book Gender Equality and Womens Empowerment in Pakistan by Rashida Patel provides the reader a comprehensive understanding of the issue of violence that confront women in Pakistan on the basis of her experience as a practicing lawyer and being a member of various womens organizations which deal with womens issues. A critical analysis of the continuous and increasing misinterpretations of the principles of Islam through legal acceptance is followed by several references to laws which have recently been changed and have an effect on womens lives, particularly alterations to the Criminal Procedure Code 1898 (section 174, (a) has been added) and Pakistan Penal Code 1860. The book is enriched with cases and judgments. The author feels that inspite of the country being signatory to various international conventions to protect the rights of people, especially the women, the position of women continues to deteriorate.

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