Discriminatory laws and poor enforcement foster victim-blaming and harmful stereotypes, enabling impunity for perpetrators in League of Arab States countries. Equality Now’s report, In Search of Justice: Rape Laws in the Arab States, identifies how discriminatory penal codes and poor enforcement of laws foster victim-blaming, perpetuate harmful stereotypes, and enable perpetrators to evade criminal liability. Various forms of sexual violence are not adequately recognised legally, and critically, no Arab League country has explicitly criminalised marital rape. RAPE LAWS BASED ON FORCE, NOT CONSENTMost LAS countries use force-based definitions of rape, failing to recognise sex without free and informed consent as rape. Equality Now’s examination of rape laws around the world has found that stigma and victim-blaming fuel silence and re-victimisation globally.

Source: Libya Today January 07, 2026 20:40 UTC