The Abolish Article 153 team

KUWAIT: According to article 153 of Kuwait's penal code, if a man catches a female member of his family in an "unsavory sexual (zina) act with a man and kills her or him or both, [it] will be treated as ... a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum of three years jail time and/or a fine of 3000 rupees (KD 14)".

To educate members of the Kuwaiti society of this law and to eradicate it, the Abolish Article 153 initiative was launched. This year, the advocacy group was awarded the prestigious Chaillot Prize 2016 for Human Rights in the Gulf Cooperation Council. Its founding members are Dr Alanoud Al-Sharekh, Amira Behbehani, Lulu M Al-Sabah, Sheikha Al-Nafisi and Sundus Hamza.

Dr Alanoud spoke to Kuwait Times about the work of Abolish Article 153 and the progress it has made. "We cannot be complacent in allowing social and legal practices that disempower women to flourish. This should be a universal issue and we want the UN to take a definitive stand banning all honor killing legislations," she said. "We believe that advocacy is the way to change policies, and this is of utmost importance when it comes to ending violence against women," she added. (See Page 3 for full interview)