Jordan to scrap marriage loophole for rapists

PanARMENIAN.Net - A law which protected Jordan's rapists from punishment if they married their victims looks set to be scrapped, BBC News reports.

The Jordanian cabinet revoked Article 308 on Sunday, April 23 after years of campaigning by women's activists, as well as Muslim and Christian scholars and others.

The law had meant rapists could avoid a jail term in return for marrying their victim for at least three years.

Its supporters said the law protected a victim's honour and reputation.

But last year, it was amended so a rapist could only use the loophole to marry his victim if she was aged between 15 and 18 and the attack - which it would be classed as due to the girl's age - was believed to have been consensual.

Then in February, a royal committee suggested the law should be scrapped in its entirety - which the cabinet has now done.

At the time, the move was welcomed by activist Lailla Naffa as a "dream that has come true," according to the Jordan Times.

However, the cabinet's decision must now be voted through by MPs, and could still be blocked.

As Jordan's cabinet took steps towards abolishing Article 308, Lebanese activists were hanging wedding dresses along Beirut's famous sea front, in protest against Lebanon's version of the law.

They are hopeful it will be scrapped in May, and activists hope the repeal in both countries could lead to change in countries like Iraq, the Philippines and Tunisia, where similar laws exist, according to Equality Now.