Based on recent studies conducted by several NGOs around the world, authorities and officials in Lebanon have not been meeting the standards imposed by international legal obligations to protect women and girls from violence as well as to end discrimination against them. These groups claim that Lebanon has failed to make progress since its last review in 2015.

Human Rights Watch recently submitted a report to the United Nations Committee tasked with reviewing how compliant Lebanon has been with the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), a committee whose next meeting is set for June of 2021. Upon comparing it to the previous review in 2015, Lebanon hasn’t made progress in implementing the multiple recommendations, including mending certain laws that limit the rights a married Lebanese woman has access to.

One of the largest issues being protested is the fact that the Lebanese government hasn’t taken any steps towards creating an optional civil code or adjusting its personal status laws and the religious courts that apply to them, all based on 15 different religions. In these courts, women experience profound discrimination regardless of their religion and are deprived of basic human rights, especially when speaking in terms of divorce, property, and custody of children after divorce.

Another law that has not been reformed is the country’s nationality law, one that, in simple terms, doesn’t allow Lebanese women married to non-Lebanese men to pass on their citizenship to their children or spouses, whereas men in this situation can pass on their citizenship. By prohibiting a woman from passing her citizenship, almost every aspect of the children’s and spouses’ lives is affected, including access to work, education, health care, legal residency, social services, and many more, also leaving some children at risk of statelessness.

Women have limited to no protection from harassment, domestic violence, or sexual assault in Lebanon. Three years ago, in August 2017, the government repealed article 522 of the penal code, one that permitted rapists to get out of punishment if they married their victims, however, they left a wide loophole regarding offenses related to sex with children between 15-17 years old, and sex with virgin girls with promises of marriage.

Lebanon has faltered in providing a specific definition of domestic violence and closing in on the criminalization of marital rape in its law regarding domestic violence. Even though multiple members of parliament have submitted several draft laws since 2017 on sexual harassment, parliament itself hasn’t taken any meaningful action. Not only is addressing domestic violence being avoided, but there has also been a complete lack of coordination in the government’s response to sex trafficking, specifically the trafficking of young Syrian women and girls living in Lebanon.

Thanks to documentation from Human Rights Watch, women and girls, especially transgender women, sex workers, refugees, and migrants, have been able to share the systemic abuse they face from Lebanese officials, significantly in detention centers. In the case of trans women, they have been placed in men’s cells, been denied food and water, and been forced to confess to false crimes. It is not uncommon to see claims of sexual violence circling these facilities, however past events have shown that when women speak out on these happenings, the consequences only become worse.

The economic crisis that Lebanon has been facing is also a large contributor to the problem, highlighting systemic inequalities that marginalized populations suffer. In the case of migrant domestic workers, the majority of which are coming from African and Again countries, there has been a spike in incidents of abuse by their employers during lockdown. At least seven have committed suicide since March of this year. Migrant domestic workers are not protected by Lebanon’s labor law, and their legal status within the country depends entirely on their employer thanks to kafala, a system of visa sponsorship.

“Another five years have passed, and Lebanon has done little to end discrimination against women and girls under its international obligations. Lebanon’s authorities should show that they are serious about women’s rights by coming through on long-overdue reforms before they have to answer to the United Nations again for their failures.”

Aya Makzoub, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch

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