Activities Illegal in Pakistan but Legal Elsewhere

Pakistan's legal code, rooted in Islamic law (Sharia) influences and British colonial statutes, criminalizes several acts that are legal in many Western and other nations:

1. Homosexuality — Penal Code §377: up to 10 years imprisonment. Legal in 130+ countries.
2. Adultery — Zina Ordinance (Hadd): up to 5 years (tazir) or stoning (hadd, rarely applied). Legal in most secular states.
3. Blasphemy — §295-C: death penalty (prophet), life (Quran). No executions carried out, but mob violence occurs. Legal in secular states.
4. Apostasy — No statutory death penalty, but hudood interpretations allow it; social death certain. Legal elsewhere.
5. Alcohol (for Muslims) — Prohibition (Hudood) Order 1979: 80 lashes / 3 years. Non-Muslims may buy with permit. Legal globally.
6. Gambling — Prevention of Gambling Act 1977: up to 1 year. Legal in many jurisdictions (regulated).
7. Prostitution — Penal Code §371A, Suppression of Prostitution Ordinance: illegal. Legal/regulated in Netherlands, Germany, NZ, parts of Australia, Nevada.
8. Drug Use — Control of Narcotic Substances Act 1997: severe penalties (death for trafficking). Decriminalized/legal in Portugal, Canada (cannabis), Uruguay, US states.
9. Polygamy — Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961 permits up to 4 wives with conditions; but polyandry illegal. Polygyny legal in Saudi Arabia, UAE, parts of Africa.
10. Extramarital Sex (Zina) — Criminalized for all. Legal in most secular countries.

Enforcement varies—urban elites often evade; poor, minorities, women disproportionately targeted. Reform debates persist.