Lebanon: Treatment of a Palestinian Sunni woman returning to a refugee camp with children she allegedly had outside Lebanon with a Lebanese Shiite man whom she could not marry because of parental opposition; whether the situation could be resolved by marriage; prevalence of honour crimes in Palestinian Sunni families living in Lebanon (1998-2005)
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 10 March 2005 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | LBN43435.FE |
| Reference | 1 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Lebanon: Treatment of a Palestinian Sunni woman returning to a refugee camp with children she allegedly had outside Lebanon with a Lebanese Shiite man whom she could not marry because of parental opposition; whether the situation could be resolved by marriage; prevalence of honour crimes in Palestinian Sunni families living in Lebanon (1998-2005), 10 March 2005, LBN43435.FE, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/42df611f14.html [accessed 3 November 2019] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Recent information on honour crimes in addition to that found in LBN42425.FE of 25 February 2004 was scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.
An assistant professor in the Women's Studies Program at the University of California, Irvine, made the following comments:
... it is a situation that depends very much on the individual people involved, their relationships, and their ideas about the world.
If you are asking me whether the Palestinian woman with children will be allowed to marry the father of her children in the legal sense, the answer is yes. But if you are asking me whether her parents and the community will allow it, I have no way of answering that question.
... [W]ith regard to the second question, "will her honor be saved"-I really have no way of answering it without knowing the people. For some families and in some communities it would be, in others it would not be (7 Mar. 2005).
Legal protection against honour crimes
Article 562 of Lebanon's penal code covers honour crimes (ISIS 17-19 Jan. 2003). That article was amended in 1999 to increase the severity of sentencing for perpetrators of honour crimes, because some accused had been acquitted, and others had received fairly light sentences (United Nations 27 Feb. 2003; The Daily Star 9 Sept. 2004). However, according to a number of sources, despite the 1999 amendment, a man who commits an honour crime would still receive a reduced sentence if he believes that the woman has committed adultery or has had an extramarital affair (United Nations 27 Feb. 2003; ISIS 17-19 Jan. 2003; The Daily Star 9 Sept. 2004; Committee to Defend Women's Rights 3 July 2002).
Marriage
According to one source, marriage can save the honour of a woman who has been raped or whose chastity has otherwise been violated (The Middle East Quarterly Dec. 2000). The woman may marry the person who violated her honour or someone else (ibid.).
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Assistant professor, Women's Studies Program, University of California, Irvine. 7 March 2005. Correspondence.
Committee to Defend Women's Rights in the Middle East. 3 July 2002. No. 3. Women in the Middle East Bulletin. "Lebanon: Violence Against Women and the Legal System in the Arab World."
The Daily Star. 9 September 2004. Jessy Chahine. "Laws in Arab World Remain Lenient on Honor Crimes: Hundreds of Women in Region are Murdered Each Year in Name of Family Reputation."
Institute for the Secularisation of Islamic Society (ISIS). 17-19 January 2003. Azam Kamguian. "The Lethal Combination of Tribalism, Islam and Cultural Relativism."
The Middle East Quarterly. December 2000. Yotam Feldner. "'Honor' Murders – Why the Perps Get Off Easy."
United Nations. 27 February 2003. Commission on Human Rights. Integration of the Human Rights of Women and the Gender Perspective: Violence Against Women – Report of the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, Its Causes and Consequences. (E/CN.4/2003/75/Add1)
Additional Sources Consulted
Internet sites, including: Amnesty International, BBC, Committee to Defend Women's Rights in the Middle East, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2004, Freedom House, Innocenti Research Center, Lebanese Council to Resist Violence Against Women (LCRVAW), Le Monde, Minority Rights Group International, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, UNIFEM, United Nations, World News Connection.
Oral sources: Lebanese Council to Resist Violence Against Women (LCRVAW); University of California, Davis.
