National Coalition for Protection of Women from Violence rejects a law that does not clearly recognize violence against women

The National Coalition for the Protection of Women from Violence declared in a statement issued following the meeting of its members after the endorsement of the domestic violence bill last week, that the said law fails to protect women and does not recognize the violence to which they are subjected.  Furthermore, and according to the statement of the Coalition, the new approved law legalizes marital rape through endorsing the concept of “marital duties” and does not recognize all the penalties stipulated in the penal code against crimes that may be committed within the family.  Other critiques of the new law include the fact that it does not allow women to protect their children unless they are in her custody.  The Coalition noted that it will continue with its Campaign even if it takes decades especially since the issue has become a public concern especially amongst the youth.  The Coalition asked the President of the Republic to reject subjecting the state to the will of the present confessional system and to give women their right to be protected from all forms of crimes against them within the family, through returning the law to the Parliament to be duly revised and brought back to its original version. Sources in the presidential palace have told the As Safir newspaper that the president and his team will be studying the law and will take action accordingly and may return it to the Parliament if he finds that it violates women’s rights.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal, Al-Safir 7 April 2014