In recent weeks, the Tunisian, Jordanian, and Lebanese parliaments have repealed provisions in their penal codes that allowed rapists to escape punishment by marrying their victims. Provisions like these, largely colonial-era relics, remain on the books in many other countries in the region and beyond. Some permit exoneration for a range of offences, including kidnapping, rape, and sex with a child (statutory rape) if the perpetrator marries the victim.
On July 26, the Tunisian parliament repealed article 227bis in full when it passed its landmark law on eliminating violence against women. Less than a week later, on August 1, the lower house of Jordan’s parliament approved the full repeal of article 308. Jordan’s penal code amendment still has to go to the appointed upper house for approval and requires the king’s signature to become law. On August 16, Lebanon’s parliament repealed article 522, that had allowed rapists to escape prosecution by marrying the victim, but allowed a loophole in offences relating to sex with children between the ages 15-17 and seducing a virgin girl into having sex with the promise of marriage.
Continue to Aljazeera.com article: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2017/08/middle-east-roll-repeal-marry-rapist-laws-170822095605552.html
