Lebanon abolishes law protecting rapists

Article 522 of the Lebanese Penal Code, which protects rapists who marry their victim, was scrapped by the Administration and Justice Committee in a unanimous vote on Wednesday.

Parliamentarians acknowledged that the lobbying by the NGO ABBAD proved effective.

A week ago, the NGO paraded a single woman wearing a wedding dress made out of bandages in front of parliament to protest against the law.

Under the article, rapists would escaped prosecution if they married their victim. a practice that is still prevalent in the country, especially among conservative families whose chief aim is to preserve the family’s so-called “honour.”

Activists aver that such ‘protection’ is, more often than not, a second trauma for victims

Committee chair Robert Ghanem told local media outlets that members no longer accepted “Article 522, as marriage cannot decriminalise such crimes”.

He affirmed that authorities should pursue and prosecute accused rapists, and a convicted rapist’s sentence would not be overturned if he or she marries the victim.

He revealed that efforts were continuing to introduce specific modifications with added penalties and stricter punishments that could allow judges to sentence rapists up to seven years in prison.

Deputy Élie Keyrouz (Lebanese Forces) who introduced the bill to abolish Article 522 pushed for a higher sentence but accepted the lower figure to accelerate the decision-making process.

The committee will hold another meeting on December 14 to work out the details involved in cancelling the infamous article according to parliamentary by-laws.

A full endorsement is expected before the bill is submitted to parliament for a final vote, though it is unclear when that would happen given that the legislative body is not scheduled to meet before early 2017.

The news was greeted with joy and received widespread coverage that also acknowledged how NGO activism could produce legislative victories

source : gulfnews