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How To Get Away With Rape - Miraflor
How To Get Away With Rape - Miraflor
____________________
Term Paper
College of Law
University of Cebu-Banilad
____________________
In Partial Fulfilment
Legal Research
Submitted by:
Submitted to:
December 2018
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 3
Rape defined .......................................................................................................................... 4
Marry Your Rapist/Forgiveness Clause ................................................................................. 5
BACKGROUND ....................................................................................................................... 7
History of Marry Your Rapist Law ........................................................................................ 8
DISCUSSION .......................................................................................................................... 13
How Marry Your Rapist Law Affects the Sanctity of Marriage .......................................... 13
Marry Your Rapist Law Only Favors the Rapist ................................................................. 14
Marry Your Rapist Law Condemns the Victims ................................................................. 15
Marry Your Rapist Law is Detrimental to the Child ........................................................... 16
CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................ 18
The Marry Your Rapist Law Must be Repealed to Diminish Misogyny ............................. 18
and Sexism ........................................................................................................................... 18
RECOMMENDATION ........................................................................................................... 19
BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................... 20
Books ................................................................................................................................... 20
Journal .................................................................................................................................. 20
Jurisprudence ....................................................................................................................... 20
Website ................................................................................................................................ 20
Newspaper ........................................................................................................................... 21
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INTRODUCTION
committing a felony. It is a debt incurred to the State where the criminal has to
indemnify through the imposition of the penalty by the State due to the social injury
caused. Social injury, as defined by Reyes (2017), is “produced by the disturbance and
innocence until proven guilty. A person can only be held criminally liable for a certain
act or omission if the facts presented before the Court evidently prove that such person
is guilty of a felony. Article 4 of the Revised Penal Code enunciates that “criminal
liability shall be incurred by: (1) any person committing a felony (delito) although the
wrongful act done be different from that which he intended; and (2) any person
performing an act which would be an offense against persons or property, were it not
Criminal liability can also be extinguished. Article 89 of the Revised Penal Code
death of the convict; (2) service of the sentence; (3) by amnesty (4) by absolute pardon;
(5) by prescription of the crime; (6) by prescription of the penalty; and by the marriage
of the offended woman, as provided in Article 344 of the Code.” Unfortunately, the last
provision results to the contrary of what the laws should entail--it perpetuates outright
injustice.
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Rape defined
Rape is classified as a crime against persons under the Revised Penal Code.
Chapter 3, Title 8 of the Revised Penal Code comprehensively provides the definition
and penalties of Rape, pursuant to the Article 266-A of the Anti-Rape law which was
otherwise unconscious;
authority; and
his penis into another person's mouth or anal orifice, or any instrument
Senate Bill No. 1252 proposed by Senator Risa Hontiveros recommends some
definition of rape to declare the absence of consent as the essential requisite of rape.
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Marry Your Rapist/Forgiveness Clause
The last mode of extinguishment has been controversial not only in the
Philippines, but also in other countries. The last provision—which is also known as the
published an article in and BBC posited that “[s]exual assault is a blow to beliefs about,
for instance, certain men (like a husband or a friend) being trustworthy. Some people
Similarly, for the brain to counteract any other terrible or traumatic shock with
denial, it may be more comforting to believe that it wasn’t actually rape. The victims
almost always apologize on behalf of their assaulters and frequently minimize the
sex’. Victims redirect the blame due to the several consequences of calling it rape –
which might range from gossip and feeling blamed to the loss of economic
Several factors have been associated with increased feelings of distress and
increased use of avoidance coping strategies when dealing with an event such as rape.
These include (1) a lack of positive social support (Ingledew, Hardy, & Cooper, 1997;
Terry, 1991; Ullman, 1996; Vitaliano et al., 1990), receipt of negative social reactions
(Atkeson et al., 1982; Campbell, Ahrens, Sefl, Wasco, & Barnes, 2001; Davis et al.,
1991; Ullman, 1996; Ullman & Filipas, 2001), perceived lack of internal control over
stressors (Collins & Ffrench, 1998; Folkman, Lazarus, Dunkel-Schetter, DeLongis, &
Gruen, 1986; Ingledew et al., 1997; Terry, 1991), feelings of self-blame (Aldwin &
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Revenson, 1987; Folkman et al., 1986), and multiple victimizations (Leitenberg,
Thus, it is not new for the victimized women to internalize the shame and
embarrassment, and blame themselves in anticipation of what skeptics will say. This
shame impedes recovery. However, this argument has loopholes that pins the
consequence more to the victim rather than the perpetrator. Rape, as it was previously
defined, emphasizes the lack of the essential requisite--consent. The victim did not
force. Hence, there is an absence of any justification as to why the victim should suffer
the harsh consequences of stigma notwithstanding the fact that she did not permit to the
The Marry Your Rapist Law or Forgiveness Clause was basically rooted in the
profound belief of women’s subordination to men. However, what the law defends in
this case is not the physical and psychological integrity of women but rather man’s
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BACKGROUND
Marry Your Rapist Law is prevalent in Latin and Arab countries, particularly
among others—Philippines.
Fortunately, as the zeal for Feminism becomes more compelling, more and more
countries start to recognize the loopholes of the forgiveness clause and decided to repeal
The law has been present for at least 50 years. In 1999, Egypt was brave enough
to be the first one to take a step ahead and repeal the Marry Your Rapist Law. 15 years
later, Morocco followed the move—after the pivotal suicide of Amina Filali, a 16-year-
old girl who allegedly consumed rat poison after having being forced to marry her
case, which garnered huge support and sympathy from all parts of the world, especially
through online movements such as the #RIPAmina. Thereafter in 2014, Morocco finally
was abducted twice and was forced to sign a marriage certificate on the second
abduction. Petitioners herein brought the case to the African Commission on Human
and People’s Rights where the Commission declared that “even though not expressly
listed under Article 5 of the Charter, rape is one of the most repugnant affronts to human
dignity and the range of dignity-related rights, such as security of the person and
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integrity of the person, respectively guaranteed under Articles 6 and 4 of the Charter.”
In Lebanon, activists who are fighting for women’s rights administered several
protests for the abolition of the Marry Your Rapist Law reflected in Article 522 of the
Lebanese Penal Code. Some of these movements include online petitions, viral videos,
and a billboard showing a woman in a bloodied and torn gown with the caption "A
named Abaad organized an art installation of 31 wedding dresses strung between the
palm trees of Beirut, Lebanon. Each wedding dress represents each day of the month in
which women could be subject to further abuse by attackers. The said organization also
conducted the protest called Dress 522 where several women were dressed with
wedding gowns made of bandages. With the collective efforts of fighting for women’s
rights, Lebanon’s parliamentary committee voted for the repeal of the forgiveness
Following the success of the aforementioned countries in fighting for the repeal
of such law, Tunisia, Palestine, Jordan also made a move. The Philippines still has a
long way to go before succeeding for the fight against the forgiveness clause, but it does
Contrary to popular belief, Marry Your Rapist law was influenced from
colonialism, not Islam (Osman, 2017). These countries which adopted the Marry Your
Rapist Law have one common denominator--they were colonized by the French Rule
or their subjugates. Mesbahi (2018) traced the roots of the Moroccan version of the
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Marry Your Rapist Law. In her study, she stated that Moroccan Marry Your Rapist
Law, otherwise known as the Article 475 of the Moroccan criminal law, was copied
dix-huit ans, est puni de l’emprisonnement d’un à cinq ans et d’une amende de
ravisseur, celui-ci ne peut être poursuivi que sur la plainte des personnes ayant
Translation:
attempts to remove or diverts a minor under the age of eighteen years, shall be
punished by imprisonment of one to five years and a fine of 200 to 500 dirhams.
When a nubile minor thus abducted or diverted married his abductor, the
request the annulment of the marriage and can not be condemned until after this
Surprisingly, the word rape was not expressly provided for in the provision, but
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The French law where Article 475 of the Moroccan Penal Law originated reads
as follows:
Celui qui, sans fraude ni violence, aura enlevé ou détourné, ou tenté d’enleverou
celuici ne pourra être poursuivi que sur la plainte des personnes qui ont qualité
Translation
When a (female) minor thus abducted or diverted marries her abductor, the
the annulment of the marriage and may be convicted only after the annulment
In Jordan, Marry Your Rapist Law is also reflected in Article 308 of the
Jordanian Penal Code. This law was adopted from the Ottoman Rule, but its origin is
even more distant – historically and geographically – as the Ottomans had imported it
from the French penal code (Osman, 2017). Jordan’s version of the Marry Your Rapist
Law states:
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crimes provided in this chapter and the victim, the prosecution shall be
punishment by marrying their victims between 2010-2013, and 300 rapes were recorded
annually on average during the same period – although activists point out the true figure
Fortunately, in August 2017, the Jordan parliament also voted for the abolition
France, where the Marry Your Rapist Law originated, also repealed the said
Majority of the statutes in the Philippines were adopted from the Roman Law,
since the Philippines was under the rule of the Spaniards for more than 300 years. The
Philippine laws of today is a coalescence of the Roman Law, Filipino customs, common
law, and Mohammedan Law. The influence of the Roman Law is evident in the New
Civil Code, while the Revised Penal Code was a reproduction of the Spanish Penal
Code. For instance, the latin maxim ignorantia lexis non excusat, facit reum nisi mens
sit rea, and cessante ratione legis cessat ipsa lex are still compelling when it comes to
perpetua to death. The original provision--which was copied from the Spanish Penal
Code--did not consider rape as a henious crime, but only as a private felony which
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“The crimes of rape and abuse against chastity are provided for and
penalized in the same chapter of the Penal Code. . . . It is true that said chapter,
in its caption, does not give the same name to both crimes, but says "Rape and
Abuse Against Chastity," devoting the first article of said title, that is, article
438, to rape, and the second, namely, article 439, to abuse against chastity. It is
clear that the crime of rape, which has for an element, among others, the
intention to lie, cannot, nor should it, be confounded with abuse against chastity
does not prevent these two crimes from being of the same nature.”
Hence, Philippines’ version of the Marry Your Rapist Law was abrogated from
the Spanish Penal Code. It is fortunate that the Philippines later amended the rape laws
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DISCUSSION
of the Family Code which provides that “[m]arriage is a special contract of permanent
union between a man and a woman. . . .It is the foundation of the family and an
Article 3 of the same Code also declares the three formal requisites of marriage
namely: (1) authority of the solemnizing officer, (2) valid marriage license, and (3)
formal ceremony where the both parties appear before the solemnizing officer.
The same Code also declares the essential requisites: (1) legal capacity of the
contracting parties and (2) consent freely given. Absence of such formal and essential
Freely given consent is a vital and essential requisite in contracts since contracts
carry with it certain responsibilities and liabilities. Ironically, the forgiveness clause
paves a way for a marriage wherein the rape victim may give her consent but does not
freely do so. As a result, the victims are forced to be liable of the responsibilities of
complete opposite of what marriage is all about. Such sacred act must not be the source
of horrible and agonizing deeds. Should this continue, it “[will] diminish[es] the whole
concept of marriage to the only peripheral aspect of the sexual component.” (Ayman,
2019)
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Marry Your Rapist Law Only Favors the Rapist
protection clause and it favors the perpetrator only. Added to that, the law also provides
that the extinguishment of such criminal liability also extends to the codefendants.
The law provides that the marriage of the rapist to his victim must be valid and
must be done in good faith in order to extinguish his criminal liability. In People vs.
Santiago (1927), the accused raped the niece of his deceased wife and afterwards
fetched a protestant minister to officiate their marriage. Such marriage was void ab
initio since there was no consent from the parents of his niece as she was still a minor,
and that there was no bonafide intention of making her his wife.
In Costa Rica, “[i]ts laws exonerated any rapist who expressed an “intention” to
marry the woman he had raped, even if that woman did not accept his offer” (McDaniel,
2013). Fortunately, the Philippines does not consider a mere Intent to marry in
extinguishing the criminal liability of a person who committed rape. It was ruled in
People vs. Ramos (1959) that the accused is guilty of rape and his criminal liability
relations with a person against that person’s will. Hence, absence of consent is condition
sine qua non in crimes of rape. However, the Philippine Laws does not expressly state
so. In a press release last May 2017, Senator Risa Hontiveros suggested that the
Republic Act No. 8353 otherwise known as the Anti-Rape Law of 1997 should be
urgently amended as it “puts unjust burden on rape victims and is a far very from doing
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“emphasize of the absence of consent as the essential element of the crime of rape.”
Sen. Hontiveros also recommended the repeal of the forgiveness clause. Sen.
Hontiveros believes that we cannot allow the proliferation of sexual harassment through
The forgiveness clause only provides a last-ditch plea to the criminal for him to
escape from his criminal liability. In the Philippines, rape is considered as a heinous
crime punishable by reclusion perpetua. In other words, a person found guilty of rape
can be imprisoned from 20-40 years. However, due to the existence of the forgiveness
clause, rapists can easily evade from such afflictive penalty instead of facing the
In Palestine, reports show that between 2011 and 2017 prosecution for rape has
been halted in 60 cases after the alleged rapist agreed to marry the victim. In 15 of these
respect sexual contact. Majority of these countries “often interpret sexual relations
Thus, if it is done outside of marriage, the only remedy available is to marry the girl to
avoid embarrassment. However, reality states otherwise. Marrying one’s rapist does not
protect the victim’s dignity—it saves the perpetrator from the embarrassment from his
heinous act.
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Marrying one’s rapist leaves a detrimental impact to the victim’s physical,
emotional, and mental state. Majority of these marriages end up in violence, divorce,
Amina Filali is not the only victim who decided to end her life than to live her
life together with her rapist. Such cases of death is also prevalent in India and in other
countries where the Marry Your Rapist Law is still in their books.
In the Philippines, no reports show of suicide due to marrying one’s rapist at the
moment. However, this does not necessarily mean that it is not happening in the
country. There is still an undeniable probability that this may have occurred or is
The welfare and the mental state of the victim should be paramount to all. The
purpose of the Anti-Rape Law of 1997 and other related statutes is to protect the victim
from all the psychological trauma. However, the forgiveness clause seemingly
contradicts its purpose. Such clause only aggravates the situation as it allows the source
There is one last party that is almost always obliterated but is also enormously
affected by the forgiveness clause—the child. The mother faces yet another difficult
decision on how to raise the unexpected offspring. As a result, the child is delivered to
a foster care or worse—gets illegally aborted. In the Philippines, the rapist is compelled
to acknowledge and give support to the child. Article 345 of the Revised Penal Code
declares that “Persons guilty of crimes against chastity shall indemnify the offended
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woman, acknowledge and support the offspring” provided that there be no legal
impediments on both parties. The main intent of such legislative act is to indemnify the
woman through acknowledging and the supporting the child as his own. However, such
indemnification is illogical. The parental rights of the rapist should not be compulsory.
The victim must have her own choice to compel the father to acknowledge the offspring
or not. Philippine laws which involve children are construed in favor of the general
welfare of the child. Above all, the mother knows what is best for her child therefore
she must not be deprived of the choice to terminate the parental rights of her rapist over
the offspring.
The equal protection clause provides every citizen with the fundamental right
to raise a family. Thus, courts are reluctant to terminate parental rights. However, such
a right is not absolute as it is limited to the welfare of the child. In Cervantes vs Fajardo,
the Court held that the minor who was less than one year old, should be reverted to the
custody of the adoptive parents since the biological parent is not only jobless but also
maintains an illicit relation with a married man. To compel the father to acknowledge
and support the child may incur moral impediments and create an undesired atmosphere
for the child. Thus, it is a well-founded argument that the role of the child’s preference
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CONCLUSION
deliver justice and equity--cessante ratione legis, cessat et ipsa lex. The main purpose
of the law is to give justice and respect the rights of every citizen. It is clear that the
Marry Your Rapist Law, or otherwise known as the Forgiveness Clause, ceases to
deliver justice as it violates the equal protection clause--it allows the rapist to evade
punishment while the victim suffers emotionally, mentally, and psychologically, and it
creates an undesired atmosphere for the child that may affect his/her welfare.
Under Article II, Section 14 of the 1987 Constitution, “the State recognizes the
role of women in nation-building and shall ensure the fundamental equality before the
law of women and men”. Further, under the same Article, the 1987 Constitution
declares that “the State values the dignity of every human person and guarantees full
respect for human“. Marry Your Rapist Law is thus unconstitutional since it posits that
a woman is merely a property that should be immediately given under the custody of a
man should there be a stain in her dignity--and in this case, a stain in her virginity. The
law simply strengthens a stimatized mentality where the dignity of a woman is limited
she experienced with her assaulter. It evidently brings the men to the pedestal and pulls
the women back to the bottom despite the fact that it was not their choice to be raped.
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It is still not too late for the Philippines to take a step forward and help make
the country a better place--a place where sexism and misogyny can no longer
proliferate.
RECOMMENDATION
Finally, the researcher suggests to look for more factors which affect the
Marry Your Rapist Law in the Philippines.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books
Reyes, L. (2017). The Revised Penal Code Book I (19th ed.). Rex Bookstore.
Suarez, R. (2017). Introduction to Law (6th ed.). Manila: Rex Bookstore.
Journal
Mesbahi, Nima (2018). The Victimization of the “Muslim Woman”: The Case of
Amina Filali, Morocco. Journal of International Women's Studies, 19(3), 49-
59. Available at: http://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol19/iss3/5
Littleton, H. L., Rhatigan, D. L., & Axsom, D. (2007). Unacknowledged Rape.
Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 14(4), 57–74. doi:
10.1300/j146v14n04_04
Jurisprudence
People vs. Ramos, CA-G.R. 45741-R, July 29, 1959
People vs. Santiago, 51 Phil. 68, No. 27972 October 81, 1927
Website
Morgan McDaniel |, & International. (2013, May 2). From Morocco to Denmark:
Rape survivors around the world are forced to marry attackers. Retrieved
from http://www.womensmediacenter.com/women-under-siege/from-
morocco-to-denmark-rape-survivors-around-the-world-are-forced-to-marry.
Ayman, D., & Ayman, D. (n.d.). Women Survivors' worst nightmare: Forced
Marriage To Rapists. Retrieved from
https://wlahawogohokhra.com/8746/women-survivors-worst-nightmare-
forced-marriage-to-rapists/?lang=en.
Kanso, H. (2017, August 16). Lebanon abolishes 'marry your rapist' law, joining
other Arab states. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-
lebanon-rape-law/lebanon-abolishes-marry-your-rapist-law-joining-other-
arab-states-idUSKCN1AW1JR.
Act No. 3815, s. 1930: GOVPH. (1930, December 8). Retrieved from
https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1930/12/08/act-no-3815-s-1930/.
Pcw.gov.ph. (2019). Republic Act 8353 | Philippine Commission on Women.
[online] Available at: https://www.pcw.gov.ph/law/republic-act-8353
[Accessed 17 Dec. 2019].
(2019). Retrieved 17 December 2019, from
http://senate.gov.ph/lisdata/2513421963!.pdf
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Ro, C. (2019). Why most rape victims never acknowledge what happened.
Retrieved 17 December 2019, from
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20181102-why-dont-rape-and-sexual-
assault-victims-come-forward
475 : BREAK THE SILENCE. (2019). Retrieved 17 December 2019, from
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Makeda - Ethiopia. (2019). Retrieved 17 December 2019, from
https://www.equalitynow.org/makeda
Newspaper
Masigan, A. (2019, July 31). Philstar Global. Retrieved from
https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2019/07/31/1939322/rape-and-
misunderstood-law
Osman, H. (2017, August 2). Laws that allow rapists to marry their victims come
from colonialism, not Islam. The Independent. Retrieved from
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jordan-egypt-morocco-tunisia-came-from-french-colonial-times-
a7872556.html
McKernan, B. (2017, April 24). Lebanese women hang eerie wedding dresses
from Beirut seafront in rape law protest. The Independent. Retrieved from
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/lebanon-women-
beirut-wedding-dress-rape-law-protest-seafront-corniche-water-abaad-
jean-oghassabian-a7698756.html
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