*Originally published in 2023. Get E-International Relations delivered to your inbox, free of charge. As you sign up, consider becoming a paid subscriber, or make a donation, to support our work.

Blasphemy laws exist in many states, yet their enforcement significantly limits the rights of citizens in only a few of these nations. Pakistan probably is the most extreme case, with blasphemy punishable by death and the law often being used to target religious minorities (Haq 2019). This religious discrimination has put the blasphemy laws high on the agenda of Western governments and their international religious freedom policies (e.g., Bettiza 2019; Wolff 2021). However, in the context of our research on the case of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy in 2010 and finally acquitted in 2018, we noticed that both international and local debates about blasphemy charges often focus exclusively on their religious dimension. On the one hand, that is not surprising given that blasphemy refers to sacrilegious speech about religion. On the other hand, we argue, it neglects other aspects of the discrimination that religious minorities and those accused of blasphemy face.

To address this gap in both research and practice, we highlight some of the literature and anecdotal evidence that demonstrate existing intersections between religion, socioeconomic status, and gender in the case of blasphemy accusations in Pakistan. We draw on an intersectional perspective to make these links visible. We first define the concept of intersectionality, and then provide some background information on the blasphemy laws in Pakistan, before exploring how socioeconomic status and gender intersect with religion in blasphemy charges in Pakistan. For a more systematic analysis, however, more research is needed, which we seek to encourage with this essay.

The concept of intersectionality was first introduced by Kimberlé Crenshaw (1989) to draw attention to the ways in which intra-group differences, both among women and among people of colour, are often overlooked to the detriment of black women. According to Ange-Marie Hancock intersectionality can be defined as:

[A research paradigm] that emphasises the interaction of categories of difference (including but not limited to race, gender, class, and sexual orientation) … recognising that these key components influence political access, equality, and the potential for any form of justice (2007, 63-64).

[A research paradigm] that emphasises the interaction of categories of difference (including but not limited to race, gender, class, and sexual orientation) … recognising that these key components influence political access, equality, and the potential for any form of justice (2007, 63-64).

An intersectional perspective broadens the view of the disadvantages and privileges of groups defined by multiple categories that intersect. In countries where the state and society engage in religious discrimination, for instance, women who are poor and belong to a religious minority often become targets of political and ideological struggles due to their particular powerlessness (Tadros 2020). We argue that such intersections also exist in Pakistan and that they merit more attention when dealing with blasphemy accusations and their consequences.

Pakistan’s blasphemy laws

The blasphemy laws in Pakistan are a legacy of colonial rule in the Indian subcontinent. They were originally introduced by the British government to protect religious sensibilities and to reduce hostilities between Hindus and Muslims. Since the 1980s, the blasphemy section of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) was first sharpened by General Zia-ul-Haq as part of his Islamisation policies and, further, by subsequent governments to appease Islamist parties, dropping, for example, life imprisonment as a penalty and thus making the death penalty compulsory in the case of derogatory remarks about the Prophet Muhammad (Ahmed 2021; Haq 2019; Hussain 2022; Rumi 2018). In January 2023, the National Assembly adopted amendments to the laws further increasing punishment for insulting Prophet Muhammad’s companions and family members from three to ten years of imprisonment, along with a hefty fine. Human rights groups have warned that these amendments will fuel further rights abuses against religious minorities (CSW 2023).

However, the blasphemy laws have not only impacted minority non-Muslims but also Shia Muslims and Ahmadiyya Muslims, as well as many Sunni Muslims in Pakistan. Since General Zia’s amendments, the number of accusations of blasphemy have significantly increased (Nafees 2021; Rumi 2018: 325). Yet, accusations are often used as a backdrop to settle personal disputes and to act out power by radical leaders (International Commission of Jurists 2015: 6). Up to 2022, around 40 people have been sentenced to death for blasphemy. However, none of the accused has been legally executed. But the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) documented at least 89 related vigilante killings between the years 1947 and 2021 (Nafees, 2021).

Intersections of religion, socioeconomic status, and gender in blasphemy accusations

There is an extensive body of literature related to Pakistan's blasphemy laws (e.g., Ahmed 2021; Haq 2019; Hussain 2022; Rumi 2018). However, most of the research has neglected intersectional........

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