The Daily Star

BEIRUT: A Lebanese lawmaker has caused an uproar among activists following a statement in which he suggested that women are sometimes to blame for their own rape. “In some cases, we need to ask if women play an active role in pushing men to rape them,” Kataeb MP Elie Marouni said during a conference organized Wednesday by the Lebanese Democratic Women’s Gathering (LDWG) at the Zouk Mikael Municipality.

The conference centered on the abolition of the Lebanese Penal Code’s Article 522, which allows rapists to avoid prosecution if they marry the victim.

Responding to the remark, journalist and co-founder of women’s rights group FE-MALE, Hayat Mirshad, accused Marouni of offending every woman in the room.

“As a female Lebanese citizen, I am ashamed that people like you represent me in Parliament,” Mirshad told Marouni at the conference.

When asked later about Mirshad’s intervention, Marouni told LBCI that he “didn’t know what that woman’s name was” and that “the way she voiced her objection was inappropriate.”

“If only she had waited until the end of the conference, she’d have seen many women asking to take pictures with me,” he added.

KAFA, a local NGO that defends women from violence, called Marouni’s statement “extremely offensive and misogynistic.”

In a statement issued Thursday, the LDWG urged Kataeb leader Sami Gemayel to condemn his party member’s comments.

“We were shocked to hear what MP Marouni had to say, especially since we asked about the Kataeb Party’s official stance on rape, not his own personal beliefs,” the statement said.

The LDWG also discussed at the conference how Lebanese law forbids women from passing citizenship rights to their spouses or children.

The Zahle MP told conference attendees that he was in favor of granting Lebanese women nationality rights, but that “it would disrupt the country’s demographics” if an “overwhelming” number of Palestinian and Syrian refugees in Lebanon were included.

The LDWG called Marouni’s comments regarding that law “disgraceful” and “offensive to Palestinian and Syrian refugees” in its statement.

In July, Lebanese Forces MP Elie Keyrouz proposed a bill to Speaker Nabih Berri that would cancel Article 522.

Parliament has not met for a legislative session since last year