The controversial Article 153 of the Kuwaiti Penal Code has been repealed. The article allowed for more lenient sentences for men who murdered their wives, daughters, mothers, or sisters as part of an “honor killing”. The article stipulated that any man who caught their female relative in an unsavory sexual act with a man and then murder the female relative, the man, or both would receive a maximum sentence of three years or a fine of 3,000 Kuwaiti dinars which is about 8,845 euros. Justice Minister Nasser Al-Sumait announced that the repeal was in line with Article 29 which forbids gender discrimination in human dignity and in public rights and duties before the law.
Honor killings come from cultural practices found within the region and elsewhere. The murders are often performed as a means to punish individuals in a family that have done something deemed highly offensive to a family’s perceived honor. While not every family engages in the practice, those that do see it as a means to protect their family from being potentially ostracized by members of their community.
Women are much more likely to be killed by an intimate partner or family member than men are. A United Nations report from 2021 found that, “56% of the estimated total of 81,100 female homicide victims recorded in 2021 were killed by someone in their own family.” Though not all of the aforementioned homicides were related to honor killings, it is important to note that women face a higher likelihood of being murdered by a family member as well as an exaggerated role in terms of familial honor. Cultures that practice honor killings are prevalent deem it the women’s job to uphold their families’ honor. This is not a modern phenomenon since honor killings have long been mainly carried out against women.
Kuwait’s repeal of Article 153 is an important step forward for women’s rights within the country. Though this praise should come with a couple of caveats. Firstly, it should be mentioned that any form of discrimination against women should already be illegal under the Kuwaiti constitution. The article of the constitution that Justice Minister Nasser Al-Sumai lauded, Article 29, already prohibited differential treatment of women and men. Thus, reduced sentencing for the honor killings against women by men should have been illegal from the start. This raises concerns about the dichotomy of Kuwaiti law; highlighting the separate de facto rights that Kuwaiti men and women have.
Secondly, Kuwaiti women still face many other challenges and differential treatment in comparison to Kuwaiti men. While this repeal is a good step towards equality, Kuwaiti women still have a long way to go before they have true equality.
Finally, the law is only as good as its enforcement. Individuals within the country and outside observers should hold the Kuwaiti authorities accountable to ensure that honor killings are not treated differently from other homicides. Kuwaiti women may find themselves in a world where the law has changed only in name and not in practice.
The repeal of Article 153 is a victory for human rights for women and one decades in the making. If implemented, male family members of the victim will no longer be treated more leniently for the premeditated murder of their own kin than they would be for the murder of a stranger. However, this victory should not instill any sort of feelings of complacency from human rights activists; women within the country still face substantial discrimination in their daily lives.