The World's Shame: The Global Rape Endemic

Key Findings:

1. Rape is a largely-ignored global epidemic.
According to UNICEF, one in ten girls alone experiences rape or sexual assault around the world and the WHO estimates that 7% of women have been assaulted (not including by intimate partners) – yet laws and justice systems continue to fail them on all continents.

2. Rape of a woman or girl by her husband is expressly legal in at least 10 (out of 82) jurisdictions. These are Ghana, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Lesotho, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Tanzania. In four of these, marital rape is expressly legal even where the “wife” being raped is a child “bride” and the “marriage” is in violation of minimum age of marriage laws.

3. It is legally possible for a perpetrator of rape or sexual assault to escape punishment if he marries the victim in at least 9 (out of 82) jurisdictions. These are Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestine, Philippines, Tajikistan and Tunisia. It also appears possible in Greece and Russia, Serbia and Thailand, in circumstances where the couple are in a sexual relationship and under the law the girl is otherwise deemed
too young to consent to sexual intercourse.

4. A perpetrator can be exempt from punishment by reaching a “settlement”, financial or otherwise, with the victim or the victim’s family in at least 12 (out of 82) jurisdictions. These are Belgium, Croatia, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Palestine, Nigeria, Romania, Russia, Singapore and Thailand.

5. Penalties imposed for paid sex with a minor may be significantly and improperly lower than for other forms of rape of a minor including, for example, in Indonesia where there is only a small overlap in penalties, i.e up to 15 years imprisonment for statutory rape and only up to 5 years for buying sex from a minor of the
same age.

6. Rape is treated as an issue of morality rather than one of violence in at least 15 (out of 82) jurisdictions. These are Afghanistan, Belgium, China, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Nigeria, 
Pakistan, Palestine, Peru, Singapore, Taiwan and Yemen. In these jurisdictions, sexist terminology of humiliation, outrage, honour, modesty, chastity or morality is used in legal provisions on rape.

7. Burdensome evidence and witness corroboration requirements under the law exist in various countries around the world. In Lebanon, Malawi, Pakistan, Panama, Peru and Yemen for example, a medical examiner’s report is absolutely required as part of evidence and in all of these, except possibly Malawi, such a report can only be obtained through specially designated and accredited medics whose availability nationwide is unlikely to be adequate.

8. Judicial discretion to reduce charges or define evidence is not uncommon and allows judges to be influenced by stereotypes around survivor’s behaviour. In Bolivia, judges are reducing charges of rape and in Luxembourg, Morocco and Spain the standard of evidence required to prove rape is at the judge’s discretion.

9. Unless governments fix their laws on rape and sexual assault and implement them effectively and sensitively, we are unlikely to see an end to this worldwide abuse of women and girls anytime soon.


https://www.equalitynow.org/sites/default/files/EqualityNowRapeLawReport2017_Single%20Pages.pdf

Rape is a heinous crime. Heavier sentences are needed. No one has the right to rape anyone.