Pakistan has taken the first step to amend its controversial and draconian rape laws, which require that a rape victim provide at least four male witnesses to the crime or else the victim risks prosecution for adultery.

The amendment, which was approved today by one house of Parliament and still requires further Senate and Presidential approval, would allow rape cases to be tried in civil courts, not the religious or Sharia courts.

Rape is a rarely punished crime in Pakistan, mostly because rape charges are nearly impossible to prove. The religious court requirement that a victim provide four male witnesses is part of the controversial Hudood Ordinance, which also allows stoning and the death penalty for crimes such as adultery.

President Pervez Musharraf has backed the change in the face of Pakistan's six-party Islamic Alliance. The leader of that alliance told parliament today that the Women's Protection Bill would "turn Pakistan into a free-sex zone."

While human rights advocates have called for the total repeal of the Hudood Ordinances, they acknowledge that some progress was made today.

"The Hudood Ordinances are hopelessly flawed and should be repealed," said Ali Dayan Hasan, South Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, "but this bill will provide at least modest relief to victims."