Campaign launched to change law on sexual assault in Lebanon
Authorities report an average of six reported sexual assaults per month amid calls to amend penal code
On Friday, ABAAD launched a campaign to demand the amendment of Chapter Seven of the Lebanese Penal Code on sexual assault, calling for stricter penalties for such crimes.
ABAAD Resource Center for Gender Equality is a UN-accredited organization that aims to achieve gender equality as an essential condition for sustainable social and economic development in the Middle East and North Africa.
The campaign coincides with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on Nov. 25.
The UN Commission for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women is launching a 16-day campaign to combat gender-based violence.
Some Lebanese parties and trade unions, such as the Free Patriotic Movement, the Lebanese Kataeb Party, and the National Federation of Worker and Employee Trade Unions, responded to this UN call by holding meetings on Friday. A recent ABAAD national survey showed that over half of women sexually assaulted in Lebanon did not report it.
The survey included 1,800 women and girls residing in Lebanon (1,200 Lebanese, 400 Syrians, and 200 Palestinians), whose ages ranged between 18 and 50 years, from different walks of life, living in various Lebanese regions.
Six in 10 said they kept quiet for their own dignity, and five in 10 women who were sexually assaulted did not report it because of the views of their families.
Four in 10 of the women who were sexually assaulted added that they did not report the assault because no one would believe them, whilst 20 percent claimed they did not believe that any action would be taken against the perpetrator whatever they did.
One survivor of sexual assault who shared her experience with ABAAD said: “I was raped, and discovered I was pregnant five months after the crime. My family forbid me to report the perpetrator because they feared what people would say, and my brother threatened to kill me. I was in a deep state of shock, and was very affected psychologically, experiencing constant fear, anxiety, and wanting to isolate.”
Another said: “I was raped. I did
not report it to the Security Forces because I did not have legal papers. I have been a refugee in Lebanon for years, and I was afraid that I would be arrested. I did not tell anyone about the crime, and what torments me most today is that the perpetrator was not punished.”
The survey stated: “Six out of ten women who were sexually assaulted in Lebanon did not report the crime due to considerations relating to dignity and honor. While 75 percent of women considered sexual assault primarily a physical and psychological assault on women, 71 percent stated that the society considers it an attack on the family’s honor.” According to the Lebanese Internal Security Forces’ figures, 57 cases of sexual assault were reported between January 2022 and October 2022 in Lebanon; 20 cases of rape and 37 cases of sexual harassment; an average of six cases per month. ABAAD’s main message is that sexual assault is a crime worthy of a serious sentence in order to achieve justice for survivors and to protect women and girls.
Ghida Anani, director of ABAAD, said: “We have already begun coordinating with all relevant … blocs in the Lebanese parliament to submit the proposed legal amendments of Chapter Seven of the Lebanese Penal Code. We count on the legislature in Lebanon to approve the proposed amendments and provide every survivor and victim of those crimes the justice they deserve.”
Articles 503 and 504 of the Lebanese Penal Code define the crime of rape as the coercion by violence, threats, deception, or abuse of a mental or physical impairment, of any person other than one’s spouse into sexual intercourse, and lay down the punishment for this offense.
“Sixty percent of the participants in the study supported increasing the penal sentences to life imprisonment for perpetrators of sexual violence, indecent acts, and threats, while 56 percent of the participants in the study considered that current sentences against perpetrators of sexual violence, indecent acts, and threats are unfair and are in favor of increasing them to life imprisonment,” the survey noted.
Organizations have previously worked on abolishing Article 522 of the Lebanese Penal Code, which exempts a rapist from punishment if he marries the victim.
The Gender Working Group, the Gender-Based Violence Working Group and the National Commission for Lebanese Women have stated: “Violence against women and girls remains the most widespread and pervasive human rights violation worldwide affecting more than an estimated one in three women, a figure that has remained largely unchanged over the last decade. The most recent global estimates show that, on average, a woman or girl is killed by someone in her own family every 11 minutes.”
Joanna Wronecka, the UN special coordinator for Lebanon, said: “The 16 days of activism are a reminder that we should not be silent to such a violation of women’s basic right to live in dignity, free from violence and fear. Lebanon’s recovery and building a better future for the country and its citizens depends to a large extent on empowering women and giving them the space to enjoy their full rights as active partners in society. The UN stands ready to support Lebanon in this process.”