Article 182 of Kuwait’s Law no. 16 of 1960 promulgating the Penal Code allows an abductor to escape punishment if he marries the person that he abducted.
- Country: Kuwait
- Law status: Discriminatory law in force
- Law Type: Rape
Sex discrimination in laws purporting to address violence, or silence on the issue within the law, can actually promote or perpetuate violence against women and girls because there is little to deter perpetrators from committing crimes or inadequate recourse for victims; intimate partner and sexual violence is disproportionately inflicted upon women and adolescent girls.
Laws that allow a perpetrator to go unpunished if they marry their victim sanction violence in the law itself and may contribute to perpetuating or promoting violence against women and girls, including by exposing them to a possibility of further violence within marriage.
The Law:
Article 182 of Kuwait’s Law no. 16 of 1960 promulgating the Penal Code allows an abductor 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.
Note: Article 29 of the Constitution of Kuwait: The people are peers in human dignity and have, in the eyes of the Law, equal public rights and obligations.