2013年12月4日 星期三

Annotation 3: Laws against adultery impose discrimination and violence on women

  Laws are made to restrict people’s behavior. So, there are laws against adultery, whose intent is to show its incompatibility with the society and also validity of a marriage contract. However, in several countries, punishing people who commit adultery by severe penalties turns out offending human rights and imposing conspicuous discrimination and violence on women. These laws deviate from their original purposes and bring about social problems which for a long time, human beings have tried so hard to deal with. Therefore, after reading the reference composed by Frances Raday in “Oxford Human Rights Hub”, I go to search the details of these laws in “Wikipedia” which are displayed in the following paragraphs. 

  In Article 333 of the Criminal Law in Philippines, adultery is defined as “Who are guilty of adultery. — Adultery is committed by any married woman who shall have sexual intercourse with a man not her husband...” The subjects in the text only refer to women. This law shows inequality in gender. Although men in Philippines are convict of a related act of concubinage, the word “adultery” should not refer to specific sex. Everyone is likely to engage in adultery.  And also, “in some Islam countries where the law prohibits adultery for men as well as women, men are permitted to take more than one wife and also to enter into temporary marriages.” Here, we see the laws have defects. They provide men with privileges to avoid being punished. A man won’t be criminalized if he marries to his mistress in time before being found he has committed adultery.

  In Pakistan, “the Hudood Ordinance requires a woman making an accusation of rape to provide extremely strong evidence to avoid being charged with adultery herself.” However, this unreasonable request does brutal violence on women since “a conviction for rape is only possible with evidence from no fewer than four witnesses.” Moreover, “honor killings” exist legally in Jordan. In Article 340 of the Penal Code of Jordan states that “he who discovers his wife or one of his female relatives committing adultery and kills, wounds, or injures one of them, is exempted from any penalty." That means men can kill or injure women only for maintaining their dignity and reputations.  Life is the basic human rights, but it works differently in Jordan: honor is the priority.
  
  In Europe, there is no country criminalizing adultery. And in United States, adultery is still a criminal offense in 22 states out of 50. These developed countries value human rights, which shows their respect for individuals. In the meantime, they also display their vision. Laws are made to keep social order instead of creating problems and arousing controversy. And, they clearly have known that “decriminalizing adultery eliminates discrimination and violence against women.”

References:
Frances Raday. ( 2012, November 2). Decriminalizing adultery: Eliminating discrimination and violence against women. Oxford Human Rights Hub

Adultery. Wikipedia

Criminal law (Philippines).
  

5 則留言:

  1. 作者已經移除這則留言。

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  2. I think you can use some examples like news in reality to support your point. Besides, you jump to your conclusion too fast. If there are laws against adultery, how can you prove that abandon the law will protect women?

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    1. Here is the news showing that Colorado moves to decriminalize adultery. (http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/21/17048142-colorado-moves-to-decriminalize-adultery) And the laws I use for my annotation are all real in our world! Just because these laws impose discrimination and violence on women, if they are abolished, women are likely to be harmed less. I never say abolishing them can fully protect women. But if they are not abolished, women are meant to be injured.

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  3. You wrote about the situation in foreign countries, but i would like to know your opinion to the adultery law in Taiwan.
    All the examples you use to support your idea have one similarity, which is that they count against the women's right. However, if the law can be revised more perfect than before and have less discrimination, I think the law will be a protection for those abandoned partners, for both men and women. Therefore, i don't agree that it should be abolished, it just need to be revised.

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  4. In Taiwan, adultery is criminalized. But here is a piece of news showing that our minister of Ministry of Culture supports decriminalizing adultery.( http://www.ettoday.net/news /2 0130314/174967.htm)
    And for your last question, they just haven't been revised!

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