blog 4 Lebanese women take on Muslim judges who call rape a 'marital right'

Lebanese women take on Muslim judges who call rape a 'marital right'

This article focuses on the struggle for Lebanese women to assert their personal autonomy within their marriage. Feminist activists in Lebanon are urging the courts to ignore pressure from religious organizations and pass a law that would offer women more protection against physical and sexual violence. However, due to the nature of the bill, it has been stalled in parliament because of religious Sunni and Shia authorities. The law, written to criminalize domestic abuse and framework proper restraining orders against abusers, but the law has been diluted because Lebanon’s religious courts claim that issues within a marriage are “personal matters” that the courts should have no jurisdiction over. Furthermore, that bringing attention to to these abuses would be an embarrassment to both families and authorities. Sheik Ahmad Al-Kurdi, a judge in the Sunni religious court, claims that a man is exercising his marital rights when he rapes his wife. Lebanese women are still fighting, both politically and socially, but have little agency because of their status as women.
Its disheartening to see married women worldwide struggle to assert their human rights both within a marriage and their course. Many societies require marriage, for social and financial gain, and then due to coverture, the woman is superseded by the man. This was even a problem in the United States until around 30 or 40 years ago, as there was little to no protection for women who suffered domestic abuse within a marriage. To this day, marital abuse and rape is far more common than stranger abuse. This is a worldwide epidemic, as evidenced by my prior articles.

2:11pm
http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/17/world/meast/lebanon-womens-rights-law/