RIGHTS-BAHRAIN: Weak Laws Let Rapists Off the Hook

By Suad Hamada
MANAMA, Mar 16 (IPS) Cunning rapists in Bahrain can avoid victimising
virgins so they could escape the
maximum penalty provided by law, and those who force themselves on young
girls can evade punishment by promising to marry their victims.

These are two of the biggest loopholes in the penal code of the Gulf
island
nation of more than one million people, a country that has become one of
the
best financial hubs in the region but still has outdated provisions on
rape and
sexual harassment.

While there have been amendments in the penal code, which was passed in
1958, the changes were insignificant.

The law’s weaknesses do not help in a society where many rape
cases
already remain unreported because victims fear social rejection and where
those who do pursue lawsuits face humiliation throughout the long and
tiring
court process.

"The penal code is clear that rape takes place only if the victim
is a virgin
and only if she loses her virginity, while raping a woman is a crime
damaging
honour, which has less punishment than rape," lawyer Fawziya Janahi,
a
member of the Arab Bar Council who takes up rights cases, said in an
interview.

According to sources from the Ministry of Interior, the police
registered 144
sexual abuse cases, including 13 involving minors, in 2009. The police
also
recorded 361 sexual harassment cases in which females were the victims.

Activists are campaigning for amendments to the penal code or the
enactment of a new law that would deal with sex crimes, as well as
domestic
violence.

For instance, one discriminatory provision in Bahrain’s penal
code is Article
353, which stipulates that no penalty will be imposed on a man who has
sexual intercourse with a woman against her will provided he marries her,
according to the Bahrain Human Rights Centre.

This effectively allows criminals to escape punishment and does not
address
the physical and psychological suffering of the victim.

Already, Bana Buzabon, president of Batelco Anti-Domestic Violence
Centre
here, says that the centre has been seeing an increase in the number of
rape
cases where victims were women younger than 21 years old.

"The law needs urgent amendments because rapists could escape
punishment by marrying their victims and then divorcing them after few
months," she said, adding that many of the younger victims were raped
by
men they knew.

The Bahrain Human Rights Centre says Article 334 of the Criminal
Procedure Code is also biased because it states that persons who catch
their
spouses in acts of adultery and kills or assaults them in the process will
not
be imprisoned. This extends to individuals who catch their relatives or
sisters
in the act of adultery.

While this provision covers both male and female spouses, it more often
benefits men more in this society.

Activist and lawyer Shahzalan Khamis outlines the law’s other
weaknesses
in protecting women. In a research paper, she pointed out that the
toughest
punishment rapists could get is 20 years’ imprisonment and that this
could
even be reduced upon appeal. The law imposes the maximum penalty of 20
years if the victim is below 14 years old and this becomes shorter if the
victim is older.

Khamis says the law does not provide for a minimum penalty and it is up
to
the judge to impose a prison sentence of only a few months.

This happened last year in the case of a Bangladeshi imam who was at
first
convicted for molesting his 14-year-old student. After he appealed the
sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment and deportation, it was reduced
to one
year – without deportation. He was later pardoned, further angering
activists
who want stronger legislation against rape.

Likewise, Buzabon explains that some rape victims who do not file
lawsuits
against their attackers to protect the honour of their families keep their
pregnancies a secret. This in turn means they need to give birth at home
instead of at hospitals, and often dump their babies near hospitals or
orphanages subsequently.

Estimates of the number of such cases are difficult to make. But Akbar
Mohsen, chairman of the Child Care Home, says the orphanage has received
about 5,000 infants whose parents could not be traced.

Many women fear being ostracised in this situation and while hospitals
would accept them, giving birth without being married would be seen as a
dishonour to their families. Likewise, without the father’s name on
his or her
birth document, a baby would not be able to get identification papers
later on
because under the law, Bahraini mothers cannot pass their nationality to
their
children.

At the same time, experts like Khalid Ismaeel Al Alawi, professor of
psychology and special education, believe that addressing the issue of
protecting women’s rights and addressing sexual abuse and rape also
depends on changes in attitude within society.

If legislation by itself cannot help reduce the number of rape cases
and
protect victims, then better sexual education can, he says.

In an interview, he says that introducing sex education in the school
curriculum could make young people more aware of their rights, the dangers
they might face and how to protect themselves.

"There is no doubt that the penal code needs to be amended, but in
the
meantime sex education could correct sexual disorders that a child might
develop during adulthood (lead to aggressive or criminal behaviour). It
also
could solve many sex ignorance-related issues present in conservative
societies," Al Alawi said.

But some women have decided that they had better know how to look after
themselves.

In December, 20 Bahraini women enrolled in a one-year self-defence
course, the first of its kind in Bahrain organised by the Al Shams (Sun)
Academy, ‘Al Arabiya Net’ reported. The course teaches the
women martial
arts techniques so they can fend of attacks in cases of harassment, rape
and
robbery.