This morning, 20 women “fell dead” before Lebanon’s House of Parliament, to express their anger about the work of the parliamentary sub-committee assigned to study the draft law to protect women from domestic violence.          

The protesters said that a woman dies every month as a result of domestic violence. Their slogan read: “Each month one woman dies, something we cannot deny!”           

After years of demanding for a law to protect women against inter-marital rape and domestic violence, Lebanese activists were stunned with what they called as “distortions and alterations” to the law which they had hoped for.                

One independent activist described the law as no longer useful for the sole protection of women from domestic violence, but instead has been “altered” to include all family members, which thus dilutes the purpose of a women’s protection law.               

This dealt a harsh blow to activists who were hoping the revised law would restore the balance of power within the family, in relation to personal status laws which come in favor of men. The law, according to the activist does not recognize the existence of violence against women as a sole entity and hence lays the dilemma.                

“The act of inter-marital rape has not been criminalized, but instead has been encouraged,” one activist explained. The draft law states that should no negative repercussions derive from the act of rape itself, then it is permissible within the institution of marriage.         

Article 26 of the bill which became Article 22 stipulates the following:               

With the exception of the jurisdiction of Family Courts and Personal Status Provisions of  which remain in place without further discussion canceled all contrary provisions of this law or that do not agree with its content.                     

”We as women reject this whole article which grants absolute priority to family courts and the provisions of personal status within the Penal Code without any exception - and  which eliminate the role of the Court of Cessation, which can intervene in accordance with the law in decisions taken by the two.”               

“We called for a law to protect us, but instead received a law which further “slaughters” our rights and our status,” they said.                     

“We shall boycott the upcoming parliamentary elections should this law fail to be revised for the protection of women,” the concluded. 


For the full LBCI report, please watch the video above