Outcome Report >> Qatar, Comment, 33rd Session, May 2019

International-Lawyers.org noted that domestic violence and marital rape had not been criminalized under the penal law. As a result, such violence against women was tolerated by some communities and women who were victims frequently failed to report cases. While commending Qatar’s ratification of the CEDAW and other human rights treaties, it stated that the legal requirements of these treaties should be transferred to the domestic legal system. It recommended that Qatar criminalize domestic violence and sexual abuse in penal law, remove all reservations to the CEDAW, and continue efforts to improve awareness and support of women’s issues. [Para 881]