A major overhaul of the country’s Islamic personal laws, allowing unmarried couples to cohabitate, loosening alcohol restrictions and criminalizing so-called “honor killings” was announced by UAE on Saturday. State-run WAM news agency reported as the reforms aim to boost the country's economic and social standing and “consolidate the UAE's principles of tolerance".

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A historic U.S. brokered deal to normalize relations between the UAE and Israel, which is expected to bring an influx of Israeli tourists and investment by announcement. The changes also reflect the efforts of the Emirates’ rulers to keep pace with a rapidly changing society at home. “I could not be happier for these new laws that are progressive and proactive,” said Emirati filmmaker Abdallah Al Kaabi, whose art has tackled taboo topics like homosexual love and gender identity.

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“2020 has been a tough and transformative year for the UAE," he added. Another amendment allows for “cohabitation of unmarried couples,” which has long been a crime in the UAE. In a move to better “protect women's rights,” the government said it also decided to get rid of laws defending “honor crimes,” a widely criticized tribal custom in which a male relative may evade prosecution for assaulting a woman seen as dishonoring a family. The punishment for a crime committed to eradicate a woman's “shame," for promiscuity or disobeying religious and cultural strictures, will now be the same for any other kind of assault.

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