Lebanon Abolishes Law Allowing Rapists to Marry Victims to Avoid Punishment

The Lebanese Parliament has repealed a law that exempted rapists from punishment if they married their victims. According to the Associated Press, the repeal of this law during the session on August 16 is the result of years of struggle by women's rights advocates in Lebanon. This law had been in effect since the 1940s in Lebanon. In recent years, Tunisia, Morocco, and Egypt have also repealed similar laws. The Jordanian Parliament also abolished this law in recent weeks. However, according to Human Rights Watch, this law is still enforced in Algeria, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Syria, and several Latin American countries, the Philippines, and Tajikistan. A group of religious individuals in the Middle East believes that such a marriage restores the honor of the victim's family. Under Lebanese law, a rapist is sentenced to more than eight years in prison, and if the victim has any mental or physical disability, the punishment for the rapist is increased. Article 522 of the law stated that if the rapist marries the victim, his punishment would be suspended. According to the Associated Press, Ibrahim Kanaan, a member of the Lebanese Parliament, emphasized that 'women's rights are exactly equal to men's' and stated, 'We live in a society where freedom, equality, and justice prevail, and we must not have such injustice and violation of women's rights.' Following the removal of this law in the Lebanese Parliament, Human Rights Watch welcomed this action, stating that we must ensure the protection of women's rights. The trend of abolishing this law is ongoing in some countries, while the Turkish government proposed drafting such a law last year; a proposal that was withdrawn in the face of widespread opposition from women's rights activists in Turkey. In this context, following protests, the Turkish government withdrew the bill related to sexual assault against children.