Yesterday,Jordanian lawmakers voted to scrap a law that lets people get away with rape as long as they marry their victim, the Guardian reports.
Jordan is an Arab country in the Middle East that thinks rape shames a woman’s family – but not if the rapist marries her. Now the country’s saying ‘actually this is completely effed up’ and is moving toward changing the rules so rapists can be punished.
It follows other countries in the region, including Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco, which have made similar changes to their laws. And Lebanon might join the human rights party next. But first, Jordan’s Upper House of Parliament and King Abdullah II still have to sign off on it. It’s looking like they will.
