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Tough anti-sexual harassment legislation in France

18-5-2018

The French Parliament approved yesterday a tough new legislation to fight sexual harassment requiring men who sexually harass women on streets be fined up to 750 Euros (USD 885). The bill, which was backed by the majority of lawmakers, according to Reuters, will be referred to the Senate for discussion. This comes after a wave of sexual assault charges against men in business, entertainment and politics which sparked wide protest on the internet. Under the new law, sexual harassers of both sexes will be faced with on-the-spot penalties ranging from 90 to 750 Euros, while the underage victims of rape will be given extra 10 years to file complaints against the assailants. Accordingly, the deadline will now be 30 years from when the minors turn 18. (Al Mustaqbal, May 18, 2018)

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EU backs LGBT rights in Lebanon

17-5-2018

An Nahar newspaper wrote today that, on the occasion of IDAHOT, and while the High Representative of the European Union, Federica Mogherini, declared EU commitment to combat all forms of discrimination against LGBT persons, Agence France Press was reporting the news of shutting down Beirut Pride platform that promotes LGBT rights due to pressure from the Lebanese authorities. An Nahar detailed the arrest of Hadi Damian from Beirut Pride and conditions for his release which involved signing a pledge to suspend all activities or refer him to the investigative judge for indictment on charges of provoking immodesty and breach of public morality (https://bit.ly/2k5ecZd). On the other hand, a group of passionate pro-LGBT activists continue with their exhibition in Jisr el Wati which started on May 2 under the headline, ‘Letters of Love to Gay and Transgender People’. The exhibition visually translates messages communicated among LGBTs which frequently portray challenges these people face in Lebanon. To note, the exhibition was planned to last till May 10 and to be extended until May 18. (L’Orient Le Jour, Al Akhbar, An Nahar, May 17, 2018)

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National Order of the Cedar bestowed to May Arida

17-5-2018

On behalf of President Michel Aoun, the minister of culture Ghattas Khury bestowed the honorary president of the Baalbaq International Festivals, late May Arida, the National Order of the Cedar with the highest rank of officer in recognition of her efforts to build Lebanon’s glory and foster art in the country. The award was handed during the memorial services at St Nicolas Church in Ahsrafieh in the presence of a crowd of dignitaries. Khury on the occasion, pointed out that May Arida not only ricocheted success and brilliance, but she was the woman who contributed to the making of the image of the homeland. For his part, Metropolitan bishop of the Greek Orthodox Church, Elias Audi, said May Arida was a pioneer woman in the world of culture and art and signified a bright era in Lebanon’s history. Similarly, Walid Jumblat, the head of the Democratic Gathering Bloc, tweeted: “With the passing away of May Arida, one of the main founding pillars of Baalbaq falls…”. (Al Mustaqbal, Al Diyar, May 17, 2018)

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Francophone entrepreneurial women’s award 2018

17-5-2018

Berytech and the Agence Universitaire Francophone (AUF), in partnership with L’Orient Le Jour and Le Commerce du Levant and with funding from SGBL, launched yesterday the 7th edition of the Femme Francophone Entrepreneur Award 2018. On the occasion, engineer Joana Abi Abdallah from Berytech explained the conditions for participation in the competition, including that the candidate must be French-speaking, and the nature of the project must be commercial or an innovative idea that the entrant wishes to implement. Participants can submit their projects from May 16 until June 20, and the selection will take place on May 22. The finalists will go through coaching and training to help them draw a professional business plan and the winning women entrepreneurs will share a 20,000 Euro prize. (L’Orient Le Jour, May 17, 2018)

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Female motorcyclists in Pakistan breaking barriers

16-5-2018

An Nahar newspaper spotlighted today a group of Pakistani women driving their brand new pink motorcycles through the streets as part of a women empowerment movement to break gender stereotypes. It is not unusual, An Nahar wrote, to see women on motorbikes in Pakistan, however, they usually are seated with their children behind a male driver. Driving a motorcycle is still a taboo in a conservative country, An Nahar said, but the government in the Punjab province has in the last two years started a so-called ‘Women on Wheels’ campaign involving the training of scores of females to ride motorbikes in order to raise awareness of gender-based violence and street harassment. According to recent studies, nearly 75% of Pakistani women do not participate in the labor market due to difficulties in transport. On the subject, the director general of the Punjab Strategic Reforms Unit, Salman Sufi, explained that the aim of the campaign is to facilitate the mobility of women because their economic independence and empowerment depend on that, as he put it. (An Nahar, May 16, 2018)

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LGBP activities cancelled and Coordinator arrested

16-5-2018

<p>Security forces arrested on Monday the organizer of the LGBT Beirut Pride platform 2018 which was planning to launch a weeklong event of activities against homophobia and transphobia from May 12-20 (c.f: https://bit.ly/2GlM9NJ). According to L’Orient Le Jour which reported the news, Hadi Damian was detained from Monday through Tuesday at Hbeish police station where he was interrogated for his translation into Arabic of allegedly “provocative to modesty” texts published on the Platform’s website. Damian was later released after signing a pledge to end all remaining activities of the event. On the subject, Damian’s attorney, Leila Sakr, pointed out that her client was keen to translate the texts which bring to light the living conditions of LGBT persons in the country in a realistic way, using terms common among people, like “against nature”, wondering if this language provoked the security forces in the first place. Sakr clarified that she advised Damian to sign the pledge in order to avoid referring the case to the courts. For his part, Damian revealed that it is not the first time such activities have been banned, pointing to last year’s demonstration in Beirut streets that was stopped under security and religious pretexts. What happened this year, Damian said, can be described as an act of intimidation and abuse of power, promising to continue the struggle for the rights of the LGBT community. (L’Orient Le Jour, May 16, 2018) 
 

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Beirut Pride activities to raise societal awareness on LGBTQI 

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Beirut Pride activities to raise societal awareness on LGBTQI

15-5-2018

On the occasion of the international day to fight homophobia (May 17th), Beirut Pride launched a number of activities which kicked off on Saturday April 12th and will continue over 20 days. The aim of the initiative is to change the societal view vis-à-vis LGBTQI. Activities include storytelling, theatre, poetry reading, as well as awareness raising workshops on legal matters and on sexual health. According to L’Orient le Jour, hundreds of supporters took part in the launching event on the evening of May 11th at the Mar Mikhail Station in order to express their refusal to challenges facing the LGBTQI community, namely legal challenges as the current penal code still criminalizes same sex relations on the basis of it being “against nature” as the law stipulates. The organizer of this year Beirut Pride events, Hadi Demian, noted that Beirut Pride works on many levels in order to challenge the violation of the rights of LGBTQI individuals including awareness raising of parents and the acceptance of children’s sexual orientations. Demian noted that this year’s Beirut Pride events will conclude with a march in Mar Mikhael, an event which was banned last year for security and religious reasons (c.f: http://www.lkdg.org/ar/node/16414). Within this context, a young man shared his testimony of his journey to discovering his sexual orientation and the challenges he faced for being “different”. (L’Orient le jour 14 & 15 May 2018)

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World women film stars calling for gender equality

15-5-2018

The Cannes Film Festival which kicked off in Paris last Saturday witnessed a symbolic march on the red carpet by 82 women stars who expressed their solidarity with women’s struggle for equality in the film industry. The 82 starts also called for equal pay in the sector. The president of the jury of this year’s edition of the Cannes Festival, Kate Blanchett, read the statement highlighting the sex scandals that have shaken Hollywood last year. The statement said that “as women, we are facing special challenges but we stand together today as a symbol of our resolve and our commitment to change”. The statement added that “we are asking our institutions to ensure transparency and equality in decision making as well as substantive equality and diversity in our work environment”. The number 82 symbolized the number of film by women selected by the Cannes festival since 19467 compacted to 1688 films by men. Actress Salma Hayek of Lebanese origin said that men film starts should decrease their pay as a way to ensure equality with lesser paid women. (An Nahar, Al Mustakbal, May 14 and 15)

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A theater play documents stories of Syrian women refugees

14-5-2018

In its issue of Saturday, Al Akhbar spotlighted ‘Rouge’, a play depicting diaries of Syrian women inspired from their lives as refugees displaced by war, noting that all the 8 actresses shared their own lived stories and uncovered them in spontaneous scenes on stage. According to Al Akhbar, the play embraces diverse stories in which women refugees come out of their shell of suffering and displacement into hope and joy through different occasions, like engagement, wedding ceremonies and child birth as well as problems faced by couples inside camps. According to the newspaper, this work comes after training on script writing with awareness of various components and the opening of new prospects that unveil the expressive talents of women. This theatrical show, Al Akhbar said, is prepared by Action for Hope association, and is performed and written by the women themselves and directed by Sarah Zein. To note, the first participation of the women began with the Association through literacy training courses involving some 87 women, followed by training of 27 of them on creative writing. (Al Akhbar, May 12, 2018)

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Young women from South Lebanon challenge the male-dominated world of football

14-5-2018

In a feature published on Saturday, Al Akhbar daily wrote that a few miles from the entrance to the southern town of Tayrdibbah, young women and girls dressed in sportswear run whole-heartedly to the stadium looking forward to enter the world of football. The girls, who come from the villages of Tairdibba, Qana, Bidias, Bazurieh, Ansar and Bleeda, have formed the nucleus of the ‘Tayrdibbah Stars Club’ which recently joined the Lebanese Football Federation. On the subject, the newspaper spoke to the club chief, Abbas Taleb, who said that despite the lack of support and his bearing the material costs personally along with the team’s administrative committee, and despite the moral war started against him, he will carry on, believing that this project gives girls a chance to be themselves. “This will certainly be a new beginning for girls’ and women’s sports in the area in general, as well as, a window that reflects the social and cultural reality away from prevalent stereotypes,” Taleb maintained. (For more on the feature, kindly refer to the link: https://goo.gl/YiZzj8). On the other hand, the vice president of Al Waleed Bin Talal Humanitarian Foundation, Leila Solh Hamadeh, honored Al Riyadi’s Women’s Team after its participation in the East Europe League and its qualification for the quarter-finals as well as its winning the Lebanese Cup and West Asia Cup for the 4th consecutive time. (Al Akhbar, Al Diyar, May 12, 14, 2018)

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