On the occasion of International Women’s Day, the Lebanese Forces Department for Activating Role of Women, announced that LF MPs Sitrida Geagea and George Akis, have on March 6 submitted to the legislature a draft bill criminalizing marital rape. On the proposal, Akis said the wife is not a commodity or body accessible as a sex tool at all times, rather she is a partner in life and decisions. Akis stressed, “it is unacceptable that while we seek to enact legislation prohibiting domestic violence to ignore the fact that coerced sex is a horrendous form of violence. It is inadmissible as well to differentiate, as does the current penal code, between the rape of a wife and the rape of women in general, criminalizing the second and accepting the first.” In an interview with L’Orient Le Jour, Akis reminded that the LF Party was a pioneer back in 2014 to suggest the amendment of articles 503 and 504 of the Penal Code criminalizing marital rape, but did not succeed. As our society is a patriarchal one, we should push forward to revoke discriminatory laws and adopt fairer ones that ensure the dignity of women, Akis noted. Similarly, LCW president, Iqbal Doughan, maintained that marriage is a partnership between two parties, hence agreement is key in marital relations, stressing that violence of any form is intolerable. (L’Orient Le Jour, March 12, 2019)