Christian Phillipines has it even today.
FRANCE Removed in 1996.
URUGUAY Removed in 2006.
Jul 23 2017 : The Times of India (Bangalore)
FRANCE Removed in 1996.
URUGUAY Removed in 2006.
Marry-your-rapist laws on way out in Arab world
Somini Sengupta
|
Beirut
NYT NEWS SERVICE
 |
Jul 23 2017 : The Times of India (Bangalore)
Gruesome billboards of a woman in a bloodied and torn bridal gown appeared around Beirut recently , captioned in Arabic: “A white dress doesn't cover up rape.“ This spring, a women's rights group, Abaad, hung similarly defiled gowns along the city's famous seaside promenade.Such provocative public-awareness campaigns are part of a new push in Lebanon and across the Middle East to repeal longstanding laws that allow rapists to avoid criminal prosecution if they marry their victims.
The laws were built around patriarchal attitudes that link a family's honour directly to a woman's chastity; the marriage option is aimed at shielding the victim's family from “the scandal,“ as one victim's brother put it.
Morocco repealed a provision that allowed convicted rapists to evade pun ishment by marrying their victims in 2014. Parliamentary votes are expected as early as this summer here in Lebanon and in Jordan after government committees in both places have recommended repealing similar exemptions for both the accused and the convicted.
Any change would come too late for Basma Mohamad Latifa (22), who was allegedly raped three years ago in in southern Lebanon by a man more than twice her age. Her family did not go to the police, making a deal not to file charges in exchange for a wedding.
In June, just after the middle-ofnight Ramadan meal, the man went to Latifa's brother's house, where she was staying, and shot her nine times.
Marriage loopholes in rape cases are not unique to the Arab world, though countries in the region are among the last to retain them. The Philippines, a predominantly Catholic country , still has a marry-your-rapist loophole, according to an 82-country survey by Equality Now, a women's rights group. Until 2006, so did Uruguay , and until 1994, so did France, according to Human Rights Watch.
Bahrain's Parliament voted last year to repeal a similar law.
If the Lebanese law is repealed, it will be “a moral victory ,“ said Maya Ammar, a spokeswoman for Kafa, a Lebanese group that works with domestic violence survivors. More survivors will have to file charges, she said, instead of settling it privately . “These are cases that are not discussed in public,“ she said.
The laws were built around patriarchal attitudes that link a family's honour directly to a woman's chastity; the marriage option is aimed at shielding the victim's family from “the scandal,“ as one victim's brother put it.
Morocco repealed a provision that allowed convicted rapists to evade pun ishment by marrying their victims in 2014. Parliamentary votes are expected as early as this summer here in Lebanon and in Jordan after government committees in both places have recommended repealing similar exemptions for both the accused and the convicted.
Any change would come too late for Basma Mohamad Latifa (22), who was allegedly raped three years ago in in southern Lebanon by a man more than twice her age. Her family did not go to the police, making a deal not to file charges in exchange for a wedding.
In June, just after the middle-ofnight Ramadan meal, the man went to Latifa's brother's house, where she was staying, and shot her nine times.
Marriage loopholes in rape cases are not unique to the Arab world, though countries in the region are among the last to retain them. The Philippines, a predominantly Catholic country , still has a marry-your-rapist loophole, according to an 82-country survey by Equality Now, a women's rights group. Until 2006, so did Uruguay , and until 1994, so did France, according to Human Rights Watch.
Bahrain's Parliament voted last year to repeal a similar law.
If the Lebanese law is repealed, it will be “a moral victory ,“ said Maya Ammar, a spokeswoman for Kafa, a Lebanese group that works with domestic violence survivors. More survivors will have to file charges, she said, instead of settling it privately . “These are cases that are not discussed in public,“ she said.
No comments:
Post a Comment