Panel restricts pardon in rape cases but activists not satisfied

AMMAN — The Legislation and Opinion Bureau (LOB), which is affiliated with the Prime Ministry, has made changes to the notorious Article 308 of the Penal Code, which allows rapists to escape punishment if they marry their victims.

Under the amendment, the article, which has been subject to bitter criticism by women and rights activists, has limited this exception to those who have consensual sex with minors between 15-18 years old.

“Following thorough examination of Article 308 and meeting with women groups, a legal ministerial committee at the Justice Ministry made recommendations that go in harmony with the demands made by the women’s movement and was approved last week by the LOB,” said Judge Yassin Abdullat, who heads the panel, which is revisiting the Penal Code.

Before its amendment, Article 308 allowed sexual assault perpetrators to escape punishment if they marry their victims, given that they remain married to their victims for periods ranging from three to five years, depending on the nature of sexual assault.

The committee comprises veteran jurists, police officers, academics, and civil society representatives who have met for over a year to make amendments to several clauses of the 1960 law. 

Abdullat explained that “the only way a perpetrator would be pardoned is if the sexual act was committed with minors aged between 15 to 18 and was consensual”.

Under the Penal Code, sexual intercourse with minors aged 15 to 18 is considered rape.

“Now it is up to Parliament to approve the amendments,” Abdullat, who is a serving judge at the Cassation Court, told The Jordan Times on Sunday.

The amended law needs Cabinet endorsement before it is referred to Parliament and if it is approved by both Houses and the King, it goes into effect upon its publication in the Official Gazette, according to the Constitution. 

Officials have said that the reason they kept a window for pardon in cases where the victim were between the ages of 15 to 18 was “to protect them, because in some instances she could be harmed or killed by her family if she does not marry her rapist”.

Women’s groups have rejected any exceptions in the draft law, saying that “allowing a man to marry a girl aged 18 and below who was subjected to rape or even involved in consensual sex has a negative impact on the child’s life” in case the woman became pregnant.

Instead, the women’s movement stressed that the minors should
“be treated as victims, who cannot make sound judgements or consider the consequences of such a marriage, and should not marry the rapist regardless of whether it was consensual or not”.

Activists have said recently that a staggering 95 per cent of rapists continue to go unpunished under Article 308.

A recent study by a local NGO in Jordan indicated that 71 per cent of surveyed Jordanians were opposed to allowing perpetrators to escape punishment if they marry their victims as stipulated in Article 308.

Meanwhile, 73 per cent cited shame and honour as the reasons why victims are wed to their sexual offenders. The study also revealed that many of the women who have married their sexual offenders ends up divorced before the end of minimum legal period, and there has been no legal prosecution by any party despite this breach.

Lawyers, journalists, activists, Muslim and Christian scholars have repeatedly called for eliminating Article 308 and adopting better psychological therapy and legal measures to protect victims of rape and molestation in Jordan.
Supporters of the article claim that “it is meant to protect the honour and reputation of the victim”.