Lebanon ranks low in women’s rights while the Ministry of Justice prepares a civil marriage law

As indicated on a previous news brief, Lebanon rates 16th out of 22 Arab countries mapped by the Thomson-Reuters Foundation in terms of respect to Human Rights. Avenir Liban presented this result during a seminar  it organised last Wednesday on the situation of women in Lebanon during a seminar entitled “CEDAW: Woman and Tomorrow in Lebanon”.  The event was organised at the Bar Association under the auspices of Minister of Justice, Shakeeb Kortbawi.  The seminar included several interventions on the realities of women inLebanon.  Nahlah Haidar, member of the UN CEDAW committee highlighted the importance of girls education whilst the Secretary General of the NCLW, lawyer Fady Karam, outlined the legal reforms achieved to date.  The president of the NGO Post Beijing Committee, Fahmieh Sharafeddeen, called for granting women the right to transmit their nationality to their children, as well as for abolishing clause 252 which protect perpetrators of so-called “honor crimes” and the imposition of a minimum age for marriage. For his part, the Minister of Justice, disclosed that his Ministry is currently preparing a civil marriage law that will allow couples to have a recognized civil marriage according to a Lebanese law which will rule over marriage, divorce and child custody but not over inheritance.

Source: Al-Safir, Al-Nahar 6 December 2013