Sunday, August 27, 2017

The law which forgives the rapist if he marries his victim is imported from France

"But while the activism challenging these laws is rooted firmly in the community, it may be surprising to some that the laws themselves are not a product of local tradition. Article 308 is a remnant of the Ottoman rule, but its origin is even more distant – historically and geographically – as the Ottomans had imported it from the French penal code. In countries that were under French colonial rule, such as Lebanon and Tunisia, laws like Article 308 are a direct hangover."