Jordan to abolish law that protects rapists

Jordanian legislators have voted to abolish a law that lets rapists off the hook if they marry their victims, rights campaigners said on Tuesday.

The campaigners hailed the move as an important step towards ending impunity for sexual violence.

Activists have said such laws, which exist in a number of Middle Eastern countries, condemn girls to a lifetime of sexual violence and domestic abuse.

“It is a historical achievement in Jordan today,” said Suad ABUDAYYEH of Equality Now.

“I think it is a really positive step forward towards ending impunity for sexual assault and ending violence against women, but also [for] improving the rule of law,” said Adam Coogle, Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch.

Jordanian parliamentarian Wafa Bani Mustafa, who has campaigned to end the law, said last week that parents often agreed to such marriages to minimise “family shame”, but she said no girl should be “presented as a gift” to her rapist.

Rights groups said they hoped Lebanon would be the next country to follow suit.

Some countries in the region have closed similar loopholes. Egypt repealed its law in 1999 and Morocco overhauled its law in 2014. Such laws also exist outside the Middle East including in the Philippines and Tajikistan, said Equality Now.