Dear JOhn,

Laws matter. Sex discrimination in law can promote and perpetuate violence against women and girls.

In 1995 governments pledged to remove all sex discriminatory laws. But it’s now 25 years later and gender equality is far from being realized.

We need your help to hold governments to account for the commitments they have made to remove all sex discriminatory laws. Laws that take away women’s ability to make their own decisions and can leave them vulnerable to violence.

Laws like Article 182 of Kuwait’s Law no. 16 of 1960 promulgating the Penal Code, which allows an abductor, who rapes the person he abducts, to escape punishment if he marries the person that he abducted.

Article 182: If the abductor marries the one he abducted, in a legally-recognized marriage with the permission of her guardian, and the guardian agrees that the abductor not undergo punishment, then he is not sentenced to punishment.

Laws that allow a perpetrator to go unpunished if they marry their victim sanction violence in the law itself and may contribute to violence against women and girls, including the possibility of further sexual violence within marriage.

This is not acceptable. Call on Amir Sheik Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber to turn words into deeds. Take action today.

In solidarity,

Bryna Subherwal

Advocacy Campaign Manager