Today, the Parliament of Lebanon finally abolished Article 522 of the penal code, which is also known as the “marry the rapist” law. Basically, this law allows rapists to marry their victims in order to avoid prison. After many years of conducting protests and staging sit-ins, rape victims are finally protected by the law. To note, this law has been created in the 1940s and activists have been fighting to abolish this law for a very long time. In fact, these victims are exposed to a double-abuse: rape and marrying their rapist.
The wedding dresses campaign in Beirut
There are many campaigns that educated the Lebanese people about this issue. One of the most notables ones was the campaign that was organized at the seafront in Beirut.
there to show that marriage does not cover rape. Abaad, a Lebanese NGO, has also raised awareness about Article 522. The NGO created a powerful video to show that marrying the victim does to eliminate the fact that she is still a victim of rape and that the abuser is still a criminal. https://youtu.be/a-gKu9yw6eI
