Activists welcomed Kuwait’s decision to abolish Article 153 of the Penal Code, which has long been lambasted for giving lenient sentences for so-called ‘honour killings’ and reforms that raised the minimum age of marriage to 18, so that ‘child marriages’ will no longer be allowed.
The decision was announced on Sunday when a decree abolishing the controversial article was published in the national gazette Kuwait al-Youm.
‘Honour killings’
The end of Article 153 was celebrated as a landmark reform in Kuwait that could ensure greater justice and protection for women.
Before the reforms, a man who caught his wife in the act of adultery, or found his daughter, mother, or sister in an indecent situation with a man, and immediately killed her, was given a maximum sentence of three years or a maximum fee of 3,o0o Kuwaiti dinars ($9,739).
Kuwaiti Justice Minister Nasser al-Sumait said reduced sentences for such killings had no place in a fair legal system or basis in Islamic law, calling it a discriminatory provision that undermined justice.
“It granted legal leniency to certain perpetrators of murder, violating fundamental human rights and drawing criticism from international human rights organisations,” he said.
The change to the law means that such killings will be treated and prosecuted as murder.
Al-Sumait said Article 29 aligns with Kuwait’s constitution as it guarantees “equality in human dignity, public rights, and duties, and prohibits discrimination based on gender, origin, language or religion”.
‘Abolish 153’, a campaign launched in 2015 to track violence in Kuwait and end laws that justify honour killings, welcomed the development.
In 2020, the group said they were able to contribute to the Family Protection Law after the Covid-19 pandemic saw a rise in harassment, honour killings and violence against women.
Many praised the group for raising awareness of the discriminatory law.
“One cannot celebrate this Kuwaiti win without acknowledging Abolish 153 who I have watched for years advocating for this very simple ask,” one person wrote on Instagram.
Raising the legal age of marriage
The announcement on Sunday was also paired with an amendment to Article 26 of the Family Law, which prohibits marriages for men and women who are under the age of 18.
The decision says that the move is also in line with Kuwait’s constitution, which protects families, mothers, and children in compliance with Islamic laws.
Many have praised the amendment, highlighting Kuwait is now fulfilling its international obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Before the amendment, the minimum age for marriage in the country was 15 for girls and 17 for boys. However, Article 24 of the law also stipulates that men and women can get married before the minimum age if they have reached puberty.
The amended article also supports the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
Previously, Al-Sumait said that foreign nationals account for around 30 percent of the underage marriages in Kuwait, with many of them being from Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Afghanistan. Â
Human Rights Watch has previously called on Kuwait to take measures to combat the prevalence of child marriage as well as develop monitoring strategies that would eradicate child marriage, educate on reproductive health and implement monitoring systems to identify children most vulnerable to child marriage.
