By African View Staff Writer
Rape survivors across the Arab League face a painful reality. Justice systems that are meant to protect them are instead compounding their trauma. A new report by Equality Now reveals how outdated laws, stigma, and entrenched discrimination leave women and girls without meaningful protection or redress.
The study, In Search of Justice: Rape Laws in the Arab States, covers all 22 member states of the League of Arab States (LAS), including North African countries like Egypt, Sudan, Tunisia, and Morocco. Its findings paint a troubling picture: rape is often defined narrowly, justice depends on outdated evidence rules, and survivors are re-victimized by the very institutions tasked with protecting them.
“Access to justice is hindered by excessive evidence requirements based on narrow legal interpretations of rape,” explains Dima Dabbous, Equality Now’s Representative in the Middle East and North Africa. In many countries, survivors must prove physical resistance or report within 72 hours, a near-impossible standard for many traumatized victims.
In most LAS states, rape is still defined by the use of physical force, not by the absence of consent. Marital rape remains legal everywhere in the region, with some penal codes explicitly protecting a husband’s “right” to sexual access. Even more disturbingly, in places like Algeria, Iraq, and Lebanon, rapists can still escape prosecution by marrying their victims.
Child marriage also continues to expose girls to sexual violence disguised as tradition. Despite international conventions banning marriage under 18, some countries still allow girls to wed as young as nine.
Beyond the courtroom, survivors face relentless stigma. Rape is often framed as a crime against a family’s “honor” rather than a violation of individual rights. Women and girls who report sexual violence are shamed for their clothing, behavior, or personal history. Many withdraw their complaints, too afraid of social and legal repercussions.
Equality Now notes that this toxic mix of cultural norms and discriminatory laws is not unique to the Arab world. Globally, stigma and victim-blaming continue to silence survivors. But in LAS countries, legal loopholes and poor enforcement deepen the injustice.
Equality Now is urging Arab League governments to overhaul their laws with survivor dignity and consent at the center. Recommendations include criminalizing marital rape, revoking “marry your rapist” provisions, raising the marriage age to 18 without exceptions, and ensuring all non-consensual sexual acts are treated equally under the law.
However, laws alone are not enough. Survivors need access to healthcare, psychosocial support, legal aid, and safe reporting systems. Justice sector staff must also be trained in survivor-centered approaches to avoid retraumatizing victims.
The report makes clear that rape survivors across the Arab region are fighting a battle on two fronts; against their attackers, and against legal systems that often betray them. Reform is not just a legal necessity; it is a moral imperative to ensure women and girls can live with safety, dignity, and justice.
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