Jordan: Victory for Activists as Parliament Repeals Controversial Law

Women’s rights activists have welcomed the decision of the Jordanian parliament to overturn a controversial law involving rape victims and their attackers.

Until yesterday, the Penal Code of Jordan contained a provision that allowed a rapist to escape jail time if he agreed to marry his victim. The victim, on the other hand, would have no say in the matter, and more often than not, would be forced to become the wife of her attacker.

Several women’s rights groups fought against the controversial law for years, and hailed Tuesday’s vote by the Jordanian parliament’s lower house as a ‘major victory’ for women in the country.

Before the decision was made to repeal the law, a debate was held as to whether the law should be repealed or amended.

A parliamentary legal committee proposed on Tuesday that girls between the ages of 15 and 18 be able to marry their rapists, justifying the option of marriage as a ‘way of protecting minors’.

This proposal was met with great contention from activists present in parliament on Tuesday.

When the decision to repeal the provision was eventually announced, cheering and applause broke out in the parliamentary hall.

Salma Nims, Secretary General of the Jordanian National Commission for Women, had been at the forefront of the fight to protect women rape survivors from their attackers.

“This is a victory for the women’s movement and human rights movement in Jordan,” she said.

While archaic and controversial to the rest of the world, this provision is still legally recognised in several countries.

According to international human rights group, Human Rights Watch, this law still stands in Lebanon, Algeria, the Philippines, Syria,Palestinian territories, and several South American countries.

However, progress in being made.

In Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia, the law has been overturned.

Image credit: Activists protest Jordanian law (2017) [online image] sourced on 2 August 2017 at http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/jordan-repeals-law-allowing-rapists-evade-prison-marrying-their-victims-n788546