Campaign against the Lebanese rape-marriage law Article 522
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The Campaign against the Lebanese rape-marriage law Article 522, officially known as "A White Dress Doesn't Cover the Rape", was launched by the Lebanese non-governmental organization Abaad MENA in December 2016. Its aim was to abolish Article 522 of the Lebanese Penal Code, which allows a man to avoid punishment for rape if he produces a valid marriage contract with the victim.[1] The campaign included street protests, the hashtag #Undress522 in social media, and a video of a raped women covered in bruises turned into a bride.
A month before the launching of the campaign, the NGO[2] executed a country-wide plan to raise awareness on the article, to which only 1% of Lebanese population were discerned of.[1]
It is not the first time that Lebanon repeals a law considered to be against human rights.[3] Article 562 of the penal code was amended in 1999,[4] which legalized honor killings whenever a man found his spouse, sister, ascendants or descendants in a situation of unlawful sexual intercourse.[5] Furthermore, on April 1, 2014, the parliament passed a law with the aim to protect women against domestic violence.[6] There are no accurate figures about sexual assaults on women since most women do not report due to the sensitivity of the topic.[7]
Within the first few weeks of the campaign, influential figures expressed their support for the movement against Article 522; for example, Prime Minister Saad Hariri did so on his Twitter account.[8] Despite the fact that Lebanon ratified the 1979 United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women,[9] and other international treaties such as the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, which supplements the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime,[10] the country used to maintain what it has been described as ‘crimes of honor.’[11]
In 2017, Lebanon abolished Article 522 and declared reexamination of Articles 505 and 518.[12]