Pakistan is set to close a loophole allowing people who commit so-called "honour killings" to go unpunished in the wake of the high-profile murder of Qandeel Baloch (pictured above).
The practice was outlawed more than a decade ago but the victim's family are legally allowed to pardon the killer and help them evade prosecution.
The planned legislation was announced by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's daughter, Maryam, an increasingly influential member of his party.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"We have finalised the draft law in the light of negotiations," she told Reuters. It could be put before parliament within a matter of weeks.
Baloch, a 26-year-old social media star, was killed by her brother, Waseem, in the Punjab province earlier this month. He confessed to strangling her to death while their parents were asleep upstairs because "girls are born to stay at home". He was "proud" of what he did, he added.
He has since been arrested and charged with crimes against the state, which means he cannot be pardoned even if his family forgives him for the murder.
Baloch was a household name in Pakistan for her "bold, unapologetic videos celebrating her sexuality". Her huge popularity exposed the "deeply ingrained misogyny and hypocrisy" that cuts across Pakistan, Shaista Aziz writes for the Globe and Mail.
"[Pakistani men] watched her videos behind closed doors with glee, and then hissed and cursed her publicly for her so-called 'un-Islamic and filthy ways'," she says.
"In a country with reportedly one of the highest Google searches for pornography in the world, Ms. Baloch became the target for the self-proclaimed male and female moral and religious police."
More than 1,000 women were killed for "honour" in 2015, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. One woman reportedly had her throat slit by her brother after she was accused of talking to a man on the phone.
-
One great cookbook: ‘The Woks of Life’The Week Recommends A family’s opinionated, reliable take on all kinds of Chinese cooking
-
Digital addiction: the compulsion to stay onlineIn depth What it is and how to stop it
-
Can Trump bully Netanyahu into Gaza peace?Today's Big Question The Israeli leader was ‘strong-armed’ into new peace deal
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American citiesUnder the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctionsThe Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
-
China looms large over India and Pakistan's latest violenceIN THE SPOTLIGHT Beijing may not have had troops on the ground, but as South Asia's two nuclear powers bared their teeth over Kashmir, China eyed an opportunity
-
Kashmir: India and Pakistan's conflict explainedThe Explainer Tensions at boiling point in the disputed region after India launched retaliatory air strikes on its neighbour
-
India strikes Pakistan as tensions mount in Kashmirspeed read Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called it an 'act of war'
