95% of rapists in Jordan escape punishment

A Jordanian human rights group has called on the government to scrap Article 308 – a law in the country’s criminal code which allows rapists to go unpunished if they choose to marry their victims. A statement by human rights organisation Tadamun pointed to statistics showing that 95 percent of rapists walk free and urged the government, especially “female MPs” to “stand by victims of sexual violence, support them and provide them with medical and psychological care." The statement also described Article 308 as "a blatant violation of women's rights" and said it "metes out a double punishment to victims of rape: one that is of a social nature but also enforced by the law."   Many campaigns have demanded the removal of this clause which has often resulted in families exerting pressure on victims of rape to marry their attackers. As it stands, Article 308 stipulates that a rapist's sentence is suspended if he marries his victim and is carried out if the suspect divorces the woman five year of the marriage "without legitimate cause."