This week hundreds of Pakistani women joined the second rally in Islamabad to be organised by civil society groups, including ActionAid, in protest over the controversial Hudood ordinances. It is estimated that up to 80% of women in Pakistan's jails face charges related to Hudood laws.

As part of ActionAid’s global campaign to end violence against women and girls, ActionAid Pakistan has been working hard to provide food and legal support to those who find themselves at the sharp end of laws which discriminate against women.

The Hudood Ordinances, introduced to Pakistan by General Zia in 1979, have resulted in thousands of women being falsely imprisoned for adultery. The women face the possibility of being sentenced to death by stoning. These laws mean that any relationship outside marriage is a crime against the State. To prove rape, a woman needs the testimony of four Muslim men and pregnancy is considered proof of consensual sex even when it was the result of rape.

After two and a half decades of advocacy work by human rights groups against a backdrop of suffering endured by thousands of innocent women, many of whom were too poor to afford bail or legal advice, President Musharaf and his government appear to have finally recognised the discriminatory aspects of these laws.

However the government recently backed down from reforming the Hudood Ordinances  – ActionAid hopes that the recent rallies attended by many Pakistani women will encourage those in power to continue with plans to repeal these harmful laws. Dr Rubina Saigol, head of ActionAid Pakistan said, "Women’s rights are non-negotiable - we want the laws repealed without further delay. It is within President Musharraf’s power to take action."