The legal system is failing to protect women and girls from sexual violence in many developing countries — but also in parts of Europe, in some cases enabling rape, according to a new report by human rights organization Equality Now.
At the same time, gender experts told Devex that ensuring victims’ access to justice goes well beyond reforming inadequate laws and also requires institutional and cultural change in both the developed and the developing world.
The Rape Law Report, which looked at laws in 82 jurisdictions from 2014 and 2015, found that a perpetrator of rape or sexual assault can escape punishment by marrying the victim in nine countries; that rape laws are only applicable in many jurisdictions if the victim can demonstrate that they were unable to resist the attack; and that marital rape is expressly legal in at least 10 countries — in four of these, even when the wife is underage.
About the author
Sophie Edwards
Sophie Edwards is a Devex Contributing Reporter covering global education, water and sanitation, and innovative financing, along with other topics. She has previously worked for NGOs, and the World Bank, and spent a number of years as a journalist for a regional newspaper in the U.K. She has a master's degree from the Institute of Development Studies and a bachelor's from Cambridge University.
