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Equal gender representation in parliament in 116 years!?

27-7-2018

The Arab Center for the Development of the Rule of Law and Integrity (ACRLI) launched during a press conference held in Beirut yesterday a legal study entitled’ ‘Encouraging marginalized voices in the Lebanese political process’ supported by a grant from the US. The project is a form of legal inventory with the accomplishments and anticipations by women, especially on heated topics, such as the nationality law and women’s participation in politics, while taking into account the need for women and their advocates to join forces on the road to change. The main issues tackled were, the laws on family, nationality, the protection of women and family members from domestic violence, work and elections. During the launch ceremony, director general of Arab Women Organization, Fadia Kiwan, voiced resentment over the absence of electoral program from any schemes that contribute to fostering the role of women, stating that women blocs, and they are many, remain unproductive and ineffectual to this end. She sternly noted that Lebanese women need some 116 years to achieve equal representation in parliament. The above conference concluded with a number of recommendations, notably: setting off a new national campaign to endorse the adoption of a women quota; assessment of the 2018 parliamentary elections from the perspective of women participation in the process, the participation of women in political parties, commitment to full equality between men and women citizens in a projected new nationality law, and setting up a mechanism for the protection of women from domestic violence. (Al Mustaqbal, July 27, 2018)

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LCW calls on women legislators to promote role of women

27-7-2018

The head of the Lebanese Council of Women, Iqbal Dughan, accompanied by members of the LCW board, visited yesterday the newly elected MPs, Bahiya Hariri, Paula Yacubian, Rula Tabsh and Dima Jamali and presented a set of requests the LCW seeks to be ratified by the Legislature. These include the following: 1) promoting women’s political participation through adoption and inclusion of a minimum 30 percent female representation quota in the electoral law; 2) adoption of a women quota in the municipal law; 3) achieving equality in the nationality law; 4) elimination of discrimination from the Penal Code; 5) raising the age of marriage to 18 years at least; 6) amendment of article 522 of the Penal Code; 7) ratification of amendments to the Law on the Protection of Women and Other Family Members from Domestic Violence; 8) development of legislations and policies to endorse the economic empowerment of women and ensure their health and social protection, and 9) the representation of LCW at the sessions of parliamentary committees , particularly, the committee on women and the committee on human rights. The women MPs at the end of the meeting stressed their continued cooperation with LCW to the end of enforcement of legislations in support of women. ( AL Mustaqbal, July 27, 2018)

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Women in 2018 elections: large gender disparities in media coverage

27-7-2018

A study released on July 23d by Maharat Foundation has shown that women nominees in the 2018 parliamentary elections were severely underrepresented in the media compared with men. Entitled ‘the presence of women in media, 2018 elections’, the study comes within the framework of the ‘women participants in political action’ program supported by Hivos organization. It monitored the coverage of the elections from a gender perspective analyzing how the Lebanese press and media reflected the presence of women candidates during the period of the electoral campaign, the size of its coverage of their news and the image it advertised about them. The analysis also examined the speeches by women candidates and the extent of contribution of the media in promoting the culture of awareness about women’s participation and role in politics and political life. It monitored six newspapers, talk shows on eight television stations, live coverage, news, as well as Facebook and Twitter accounts of female and some male candidates during the two months between March six and May six election date. The results of the study have shown large discrepancies between the extent of press coverage of female and male nominees indicating that women were significantly underrepresented compared to men, (about 95% for men and 5% for women) noting that the state run Tele Liban remarkably contributed to raising the size of coverage for independent female candidates, (77.2%). Concerning social media networks, the study revealed that posts and comments on the political participation of women were higher among male candidates. The recommendations set by the Maharat study underlined the following: the need to adopt and ratify a transitional women representation quota, enforcement of the laws on media and advertising related to elections, with focus on a balanced coverage of both genders, and finally, a recommendation to the privatized television stations to seek and provide an impartial, fair and balanced electoral platform for all women and men candidates. The study is found on the following link: https://bit.ly/2v8wI7R. (Annahar 27 July 2018)

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Sharia judge in Nabatieh hands over two daughters to their predator

26-7-2018

Khadija Bitar was threatened with imprisonment for refusing to implement a ruling by sharia jaafari judge, Aladdine Sharara, requiring that she lets her two young daughters see their father accused of child molestation for 24 hours each week, Al Akhbar reported today. To recall, the Criminal Court Grand Jury has not ruled yet in the case filed by Bitar against the father of her daughters charged with child sexual abuse. Al Akhbar pointed out that the Juvenile Court of Nabatiyeh has decided on 18/1/2018 to leave the children under the custody of their mother and commission a juvenile justice social worker to follow up the case and report to the court. The newspaper spoke to Khadija’s defense attorney who said that the judge of urgent matters in Nabatiyeh has issued a ruling prohibiting the father from seeing his daughters by virtue of the 2014 law on the protection of women and family members from domestic violence. He said the jaafari judge’s verdict was contrary to the sanctions of the Juvenile Court. The shocking verdict, Al Akhbar wrote, incited angry reactions by activists on social media, including the National Campaign to Increase the Age of Custody for the Shiite Sect which warned that it will make her case a case for public opinion, disclsoing that it started contacts with concerned parties to overturn the court ruling. (Al Akhbar, July 26, 2018)

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Lebanese women predicaments in Jaafari courts

26-7-2018

In its issue of today, Al Akhbar newspaper drew attention to the fate of women in the Lebanese Jaafari Family courts, pointing to a shortage in the number of sharia judges. The articles spotlights the judges trepeated nonattendance to the court hearing sessions and their general puffed-up attitude towards women whose divorce cases stay unresolved inside courts that are assumedly responsible to find a solution to their grievances. Hence these women, Al Akhbar wrote, are left in limbo between marriage and divorce. On the subject, the head of the Jaafari Court at the Higher Islamic Shiite Council (HISC), Ali Makki, described the status of such courts as “completely spent”, referring to the sluggishness and unjustified procrastination in the issuance of rulings. He said some women litigants wait all their life to get the divorce, demanding urgent and immediate reform of the situation. Until that happens, Makki asked concerned women to request “Isma” (protection) and adjustment of marriage provisions, like for example, to have the right to divorce if she was beaten or affronted by her husband. Moreover, former employees at the Jaafari courts revealed particular interventions, pressures and obstructions to the legal process and verdicts, holding the State and the presidency of said courts responsible for relinquishing their role in monitoring the performance of involved judges. To this effect, AL Akhbar wrote that, in order to dodge delay and procrastination, many Shiite women resort to alternative dispute resolution such as the so termed ‘sharia arbitrator divorce’, which is issued without the consent of the husband for reasons related to his conduct. Whereas other women employ the office of ‘sharia cases’ to conclude the sharia arbitrator divorce which requires ‘ijtihad’ or jurisdiction. Al Akhbar said it is not easy to get such a divorce due to the shortage in the number of arbitrators, the rivalry between clerics and the rejection of jaafari courts to establish it on the pretext that it has overridden the court. (AL Akhbar, July 26, 2018)

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Judge May Deniz Meouchy head of legislative body passes away

25-7-2018

The head of the legislative and advisory body at the justice ministry, Judge Mary Deniz Maoushi, passed away yesterday at the age of sixty after a long illness. Maoushi joined the Judiciary in 1981 and served there for 37 years. She occupied various positions, including an adjunct judge in the ministry, a single judge in Jdeidet al Matn, head of the chamber at Beirut Court of First Degree and head of the chamber at Mount Lebanon Appeal Court before her last post as head of the legislative and advisory body at the ministry of justice which she occupied since 2010. Maoushi was also a member of the Supreme Judicial Council between 2012 and 2015 , and chaired the board of directors of the Cooperative Fund for Judicial Assistants. She was keen to improve the conditions in the judiciary and was a stubborn advocate for the independence of the system. (Al Mustaqbal, july 25 , 2018)

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Young Lebanese males prone to disorders due to stress, body image

25-7-2018

In a special feature today, An Nahar newspaper reported that eating disorders do not affect females only, as many people commonly believe, but also males. Based on scientific research, the newspaper wrote that binge eating is the most common eating disorder among young males, (20 to 40 % of people with eating disorders are males). An Nahar published a study prepared by assistant professor and researcher at AUB School of Nursing, Rita Doumit, and researcher at AUB Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Nadine Zouinni, on eating disorders among young men. The study which covered 260 male students (aged between 17 and 33 years) from different Lebanese universities, found that media exposure and the strict diets young men follow are linked to an increased vulnerability to depression which could lead to emotional eating. The results of the above study also revealed an association between the dissatisfaction with self and body image and disordered eating and excessive exercise, mainly bodybuilding, bearing in mind the impact of the media and advertising in marketing the perfect body image. (An Nahar, July 25 , 2018)

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Appeal to Egyptian authorities to release Lebanese victim of sexual harassment

25-7-2018

After the Egyptian Misdemeanour Court recently sentenced the victim of sexual harassment, Mona Mazbouh, to 8 years in prison (c.f: https://goo.gl/f83jkR), the Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH) held a press conference yesterday during which the Mazbouh family and a number of human rights activists appealed the Egyptian authorities to release her and to the Lebanese government to intervene to this effect. The family did not want to escalate the matter and suggested viewing it from a perspective of a mental disorder, Al Akhbar daily wrote, noting that no one has attempted to question the key issue which is that Mazbouh has been sexually harassed in Egypt. Mazbouh’s father said his daughter, a schizophrenic patient, was not fully aware of what she did, calling on concerned authorities in Egypt and Lebanon to urgently intervene to issue a special amnesty, alerting that the appeal hearing is on July 27, that is five days from now. For her part, CLDH program coordinator, Josiane Noun, while condemning Mazbouh’s act, considered that the damage the Egypt Court’s ruling inflicted on the North African state is many times more than the harm caused by the alleged defamatory video Mazbouh posted. The only crime in this case is sexual harassment of which Mona Mazbouh was a clear victim. (Al Akhbar, July 25 2018)
 
Previous related news:
Lebanese woman victim of sexual harassment sentenced to prison in Egypt
 
 

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My Nationality campaign warning of new behind-the-scenes naturalization

25-7-2018

My Nationality is A Right for Me and My Family campaign warned in a statement yesterday of naturalization requests being concocted by unofficial parties to facilitate the granting of the Lebanese nationality to mislead applicants. This, the statement added, involves some makhatirs who claim to expedite naturalization procedures for specific sects exclusively. After receiving a large number of inquiries on the subject, My Nationality campaign advised citizens against conceding to such calls or paying certain fees, as the ministry of interior is the only competent authority to grant or regulate nationality matters, the statement went on to say, noting that the ministry did not issue any communique or decree authorizing a third party to collect and receive applications. The Campaign’s statement also reminded that the right of Lebanese mothers married to non-Lebanese to confer citizenship to their family members is a right to equality, hence should not be influenced by sectarian considerations that foster confessional divides in the country. In conclusion, the Campaign stressed that nationality is granted only by virtue of a law that observes equality among the Lebanese men and women, revealing that it is working with lawmakers and jurists as well as with political blocs and decision makers to endorse and ratify a fair and comprehensive nationality law that guarantees all eligible persons to get nationality without discrimination, exception or confessional preferences. (An Nahar, July 25, 2018)

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Gaza women file mock lawsuits against their husbands

24-7-2018

The wives of the Palestinian Authority (PA) employees in Gaza seek to manipulate recent austerity measures taken by the PA through suing their husbands in an attempt to salvage what is left of their salaries, Al Akhbar reported today. The Palestinian Authority has cut the pay of employees on their payroll at a rate of 35%-60%, Al Akhbar wrote, noting that banks also continued to settle their loans, debt transactions and traditional fees. Some employees ended up with earning less than USD 10 of their regular wages, the newspaper explained. This forced wives of some public servants to file mock litigations against their husbands under the claims of alimony and child support after they discovered that Gaza Sharia courts consider said debits as “good debts”, implying that they have the priority in repayment before the loans since they are issued by courts. Um Hassan (40 years) one of the bold women to take action, said her husband was referred to early retirement when he was in his forties, but they did not face any problems. But since her spouse’s salary is roughly USD 330 and he benefits from a loan, which leaves him with USD80 at the end of the month, she decided to file for alimony. “This is overwhelming, because we live in a rented apartment with four children,” Um Hassan said, adding that the sharia court has ruled that she receives nearly USD 70, but that due to the slow pace of proceedings between the court and the insurance and pensions authority, she did not get the amount to date. (Al Akhbar, July 24, 2018)

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