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Lebanese women protest against rape law

BEIRUT (AP) - A dozen Lebanese women, dressed as brides in white wedding dresses stained with fake blood and bandages, have gathered outside government buildings in Lebanon's capital to protest a law that allows a rapist to get away with his crime if he marries the survivor.

The law, in place since the late 1940s in Lebanon, is currently being reviewed in parliament. Campaigners against the law gathered Tuesday to press lawmakers to repeal the law in their session planned the following day.

Ghida Anani, head of Abaad, a local NGO campaigning against article 522, says the law renders the rape survivor a "daily victim" sharing her life with a person who violated her. Some supporters of the law argue that the marriage will salvage the honor of the woman and her family.

Women activists put on fake bandage and blood stains around their legs and body, while they dressed as brides in white wedding dresses during a protest in front of the government building in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016. The activists are protesting a Lebanese law that allows a rapist to get away with his crime if he marries the survivor. The law, in place since the late 1940s, is currently reviewed in Lebanese parliament. Campaigners against the law are calling on lawmakers to repeal the law during their meeting Wednesday. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein) The Associated Press
A dozen Lebanese women, dressed as brides in white wedding dresses stained with fake blood and bandaging their eyes, knees and hands stand in front of the government building in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016. The activists are protesting a Lebanese law that allows a rapist to get away with his crime if he marries the survivor. The law, in place since the late 1940s, is currently reviewed in Lebanese parliament. Campaigners against the law are calling on lawmakers to repeal the law during their meeting Wednesday. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein) The Associated Press
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