Female MPs from Arab countries call on Abbas to repeal PA law which enables rapists to avoid punishment by agreeing to marry the rape victim
Headline: "Workshop participants demand that clause 308 of the Penal Code be repealed"
"Participants in a discussion for March 8 (i.e., International Women's Day) demanded that clause 308 of the Penal Code be repealed. The discussion was held yesterday [March 4, 2018] in Ramallah under the title No to Granting Crime Legitimacy and Legal Recognition, at the initiative of the Women's Center for Legal Aid and Counseling and the Coalition of Women Members of Parliament from Arab Countries to Combat Violence Against Women…
Secretary of the Women Members of Parliament from Arab Countries Sahr Qawasmi said… that the coalition… hopes that clause 308, which allows a rapist to marry the woman who is raped, will be repealed. She expressed hope that [PA] President [Mahmoud Abbas] will approve [amending] this law on March 8 [2018], because this clause means that the man who rapes evades punishment, and because it turns the woman into a victim twice.
Qawasmi emphasized that it is necessary to work for the necessary equality between women and men… and to repeal clause 308 of the Jordanian Penal Code, which is in use in Palestine, especially since it has been repealed in Jordan…
[PA] Judge Ahmed Al-Ashqar… noted that this clause has been repealed in Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, [and] Jordan."
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"Participants in a discussion for March 8 (i.e., International Women's Day) demanded that clause 308 of the Penal Code be repealed. The discussion was held yesterday [March 4, 2018] in Ramallah under the title No to Granting Crime Legitimacy and Legal Recognition, at the initiative of the Women's Center for Legal Aid and Counseling and the Coalition of Women Members of Parliament from Arab Countries to Combat Violence Against Women…
Secretary of the Women Members of Parliament from Arab Countries Sahr Qawasmi said… that the coalition… hopes that clause 308, which allows a rapist to marry the woman who is raped, will be repealed. She expressed hope that [PA] President [Mahmoud Abbas] will approve [amending] this law on March 8 [2018], because this clause means that the man who rapes evades punishment, and because it turns the woman into a victim twice.
Qawasmi emphasized that it is necessary to work for the necessary equality between women and men… and to repeal clause 308 of the Jordanian Penal Code, which is in use in Palestine, especially since it has been repealed in Jordan…
[PA] Judge Ahmed Al-Ashqar… noted that this clause has been repealed in Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, [and] Jordan."
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