Sri Lanka has finally scrapped a law that had prevented women in the country from legally purchasing alcohol or working in a licensed premise for the past sixty years.

On Wednesday the Sri Lankan government confirmed this week that it was amending a 1955 law that had prohibited the sale of alcohol to women, as reported by the BBC.

Section 12 (c) of the 1955 Excise Notification had stated: “No liquor shall be sold or given to a woman within the premises of a tavern”, which is interpreted as anywhere with a licence to sell alcohol.

The law effectively barred women from purchasing or being in possession of alcohol within an on-trade premise, preventing women, technically, from working in such venues.

While the law was not always strictly enforced, and many women in Sri Lanka choose not to drink alcohol due to cultural and religious beliefs, the change in the law has been widely welcomed.