After years of continuous activism, rapists in Lebanon will no longer escape punishment by marrying their victims.

On Tuesday, Lebanon's Parliament repealed Article 522 of the Lebanese penal code, which dismisses rape charges if a rapist marries his victim.

"If a legal marriage was held between the person who committed any of the crimes mentioned in this chapter and the victim, prosecution will be stopped; and if a verdict in the case was issued, the punishment implementation is suspended," Article 522 stated.



Said article does not only cover cases of rape. It applies to cases of sex with a minor, molestation of children, sexual harassment of children, exploitation of someone in a less powerful position and the kidnapping of women or girls.



The fight to abolish the law has been ongoing for years and has been championed by ABAAD, a MENA based non-profit organization. In 2016, the organization launched a massive and haunting awareness campaign in an effort to bring the controversial rape law to an end.

Soon after, Parliament promised to scrap the article. This, however, was not followed up with action.

A draft law to abolish Article 522 was sent to Parliament in February for ratification.



Now, the article has officially been repealed, though long overdue.

