Artistic exhibition aiming at revoking Article 522

In the framework of civil society’s activities to eradicate Article 522 of the Penal Code which exempts a rapist from legal pursuits if he decided to marry his victim, Abaad organization held an artistic exhibition along the capital’s coastal walkway. Under the slogan, ‘a white dress does not cover rape’, some 31 wedding dresses proudly made of white lace and wrapping paper by Lebanese fashion designer Mirreille Honain hung between palm trees on the Corniche of Ain Mreisseh. To recall, the Parliament’s Administration and Justice Committee studying the amendment of the 1st Chapter of the 7th Section of the Penal Code which covers all crimes related to the violation of honor, has abolished Article 522 and submitted it to the Parliament for ratification. Honain told AFP that she designed the dresses in Paris where she lives and brought them to Lebanon. They are made out of white paper to highlight the transient nature of such marriages and of relevant laws in effect, she explained. “I hung up the dresses, because this type of law is demeaning to women,” she added. For her part, the campaign officer in Abaad, Alya Awada, stressed that during 31 days of every month and every single day, a woman could be raped and forced to marry her rapist. Abaad, Awada explained, is trying as much as possible to bring focus on the subject to tell the Parliament that the time is now to cancel Article 522. Likewise, the minister of state for women’s affairs, Jean Ogassapian, who had joined the activists, described the Article as coming from the “Stone Age”, and said that the draft law is among the items on the list of the upcoming agenda of the Parliament. (An Nahar, April 24, 2017)

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