By Olivia Alabaster
BEIRUT: Amendments to the draft law against domestic violence,
including the removal of the criminalization of marital rape, were slammed by
the gender rights organization KAFA (Enough Violence and Discrimination)
Wednesday.
At a news conference held at the Press Federation in Beirut,
director of KAFA, Zoya Rouhana, said that a patriarchal mentality was shaping
attitudes toward the draft law, rather than a respect for international human
rights.
There is currently no legislation to protect women from domestic
abuse, and neither is marital rape outlawed.
A draft law on domestic violence was passed by Cabinet in April
2010 and is currently being debated by a parliamentary sub-committee,
established around four months ago.
Rouhana warned that the members of the sub-committee would be
judged harshly if the amendments were carried out. A media campaign was also
launched Wednesday, addressing the members of the sub-committee, warning: “MPs,
marital rape is also a crime!” and “The law is a reflection of you: do not
distort the law.”
Amendments to the draft law, which were leaked to the media,
remove the criminalization of marital rape and render the law no longer
specific to women.
“With this stance they have trampled on woman’s humanity and
dignity. They have allowed for the humiliation and oppression of women,” the
KAFA director said.
The draft law has faced fierce criticism from several sectors,
including the two highest Muslim bodies in the country, which said the new law
would lead to the breakup of the family. Domestic violence is currently covered
by religious courts.
Maya al-Ammar, media officer in the exploitation and trafficking
in women unit at KAFA, told The Daily Star that she believed the alleged
amendments are due to religious pressure.
The MPs in the committee, she said, “are really influenced by
religious leaders [and] the usual patriarchal traditions that lie beneath.”
Also, she said, the amendments are being made via consensus, rather than
through a democratic vote within the committee.
Metn MP Ghassan Moukheiber, a member of the sub-committee
debating the draft law, told The Daily Star that he was “extremely concerned”
about the removal of the marital rape clause, but that a majority of members,
of which there are eight, wanted it withdrawn.
The sub-committee will continue to discuss the issue, he said,
before the draft law goes to a joint committee for discussion – which is so far
unscheduled – and then on to a plenary debate within Parliament.
Rouhana urged all members of the sub-committee, and also all
other MPs, to review studies on the issue of marital rape which, she said,
reveal it has a deeper impact than rape carried out by strangers.
“Marriage is supposed to provide security and trust and be based
on love and mercy: not force and violence,” she said.
At KAFA, she said, staff members have seen firsthand the effects
of marital rape. “We see the state of abused women who have sought our help at
our centers. These women have confirmed that rape carried out by their husbands
is an additional means to oppress and humiliate them.”
The amendments to the draft law have also removed the
women-specific element.
“We want a law focused on women and which includes all forms of
abuse that women specifically are subjected to,” Rouhana said Wednesday, citing
sexual, economic and mental abuse, as well as physical.
When originally drafting the law, campaigners wanted “a law
which does not compromise on women’s rights to live, and to live decently, that
does not turn a blind eye to one form or another that women are subjected to.
“A law that ensures the protection of the weak from subjugation
and which compensates women for some of the patriarchal privileges that allow
violence from one gender against another,” Rouhana added.
“Violence against women is being ignored,” Ammar said. “And
that’s a major problem and we can’t be silent about it.”
However
Moukheiber defended the removal of this aspect of the draft law. “This actually
reinforces the law. It covers women and children, but also, in rare cases,
other members of the family who are subjected to abuse.”
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2011/Nov-24/155001-rights-group-slams-removal-of-marital-rape-clause-from-law.ashx#axzz1eXgY1TwC
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