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Lebanese women’s groups launch campaign to criminalise marital rape

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Summary of story from Womens eNews, December 9, 2011

Following the decision by Lebanon’s parliament recently to drop a bill that would criminalise violence against women, activists launched a campaign to criminalise marital rape during the global 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence.

The passage of the bill which proposed criminalising physical, mental and sexual abuse of women, along with marital rape,  was obstructed by religious leaders when it came up for discussion in Parliament.

The bill’s opponents attacked the proposals as an attempt to “destroy” the fabric of Lebanese society.

Religious authorities described the bill as an imposition of western values, even though it has been supported for years by a Lebanese coalition of 41 legal and women’s rights groups.

In Lebanon no law criminalises violence against women, and the constitution is widely interpreted as sanctifying domestic privacy.

The resultant effect is that no legal intervention in Lebanon exists to protect a woman in her home, where they are most at risk of violence.

Not only does the Lebanese criminal code not protect women from violence, but articles 507 and 508 do not consider marital rape as a crime.

In fact, Article 522 stipulates that the state will not prosecute a rapist and will nullify his conviction if the rapist marries his victim.

It was only recently that an article allowing for lenient treatment of perpetrators of so-called honor crimes was erased from the criminal code.

The Lebanese women’s movement is working to change this legal precedent.

KAFA, a Lebanese association for women’s rights based in Beirut, recently launched a campaign during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence (which culminates today) to criminalise marital rape.

The campaign was teamed with an event organised by the Lebanese feminist collective Nasawiya to raise awareness.

As part of the campaign an untitled play was staged by the theatre band Live Lactic Culture dramatized the daily life of a married couple in Lebanon.

Their initial domestic happiness deteriorates over the course of performance, as the husband became increasingly violent and controlling.

In a final scene the husband orders his wife to go wait for him on their bed. The play concludes with a woman stranded in a marriage that has descended into verbal, physical and sexual abuse.

The play was performed in an open mic scenario, where audience members were encouraged to voice their opinions following the performance.

Some participants felt strongly about the need for the woman to resist.

Others raised the problems in doing that: the woman’s financial dependence, her lack of supportive family members to help her out, a void of legal and public protections. Standing up for her rights, some audience members observed, could mean endangering her life.

Open discussion of this nature is crucial to building public understanding of why and how Lebanon’s criminal code must be changed.

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