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The UNIFIL’s Eastern Sector Command ended yesterday a 2-week training workshop held at the social cultural center of the southern town of Khiam.  The workshop targeted some 25 girls and women between the age of 8 to 40 years. The course covered training sessions in handicrafts, flower arrangement, sweets and confectionary, first aid, food safety, embroidery, knitting, and house crafts, like metal embossing as well as paper and glass decoration. During the closing ceremony, the Spanish Battalion commander, Brigadier Jose Romero, underlined the main goal of the workshop which is to enhance the skills and know-how of women beneficiaries for their personal benefit or for income-generating purposes and handed the participants certificates to this effect. )Al Mustaqbal, August 24, 2016)

 

Finally, the Discriminatory Public Prosecution appealed the “unjust” decision reducing the prison term for the killer of wife Manal Assi after slackness on the part of the Appellate which gave the culprit a mitigated sentence. In the details, the discriminatory public prosecutor Judge Samir Hammud made a request yesterday before the Court of Cassation to veto an earlier ruling by the Beirut Criminal Court which he spelled out as “a mistake in explaining and implementing Article 549 of the Penal Code which allows the mitigation of punishment.” Hence, Hammud  demanded a re-trial for the defendant and upholding the decision to criminalize him with maximum punishment.  However, the State Prosecutor, according to As Safir newspaper, said the case has not closed yet pending the decision of the Supreme Court (Cassation). He stated that he has specifically noticed the torture that the killer practiced on his victim for 7 long hours, a fact disregarded by the Criminal Court when pronouncing the reduced sentence. Commenting on Judge Hammud’s appeal, lawyer Manar Zeiater , said it is significant for it acknowledges the legal error substantiated by the mitigated sentence, noting that this would be a guarantee not to use Article 252 as a pretext justifying the honor killings any further. Zeiater considered the move as exceptional attributing it to many factors, including the relentless pressure exerted by feminist groups. “Hammud does not want to endorse macho doctrines,” she maintained. Likewise, the information officer at Kafa Enough Violence and Exploitation Maya Ammar hailed the ‘unprecedented’ action by the state prosecutor, arguing that the “inexcusable legal loophole validated by the Criminal Court decision justifies its repeal.” (An Nahar, As Safir, Al Akhbar, August 23, 2016)

 

Previous related news: 

Justice fails Manal Assi while last hope resides in the Discriminatory Prosecution

 

The Lebanese labor minister said in a statement that as of the end of last week, all the working permits for Nepalese migrant women domestic workers (MWDW) have been suspended. The ministry clarified the reasons for the sudden decision by saying that it received direct calls and letters from the Nepalese embassy in Cairo advising that it will sponsor the arrival into Lebanon of its nationals wishing to work there, while stressing that the said consulate has no official representative status with the Lebanese government. The statement went on to say, that the Nepalese consul in the Egyptian capital has imposed an equivalent of $1000 on every Lebanese citizen willing to bring in a Nepalese MWDW (apart from the $1000 deposited as insurance on part of the employer at the Housing Bank of Lebanon) and $10 thousand for each recruiting agency willing to use Nepalese workers. The Lebanese labor ministry considered that the said conditions or practices are in clear violation of diplomatic relations as they enforce illicit fees on both the MWDWs and the Lebanese employers or recruitment agents. The statement announced that it will halt issuing new working permits pending a solution of the problem, while noting that this measure does not apply to renewal of permits for Nepalese MWDWs currently working and residing in the country. (An Nahar, August 20, 2016)

 

A number of women from the southern town of Baysariyeh are currently attending intensive training sessions on the principles of food safety and quality organized by Atayeb al Reef cooperative association. The training program is implemented by UNDP jointly with the ministry of social affairs and the municipality of Baysariyeh with the aim to create a cooperative specialized in the production of traditional rural goods. This activity comes as part of the Lebanon Host Communities Support Project funded by the British Agency for International Development in order to empower women economically and help them become productive through enhancing their marketing and sales capacities. In this respect, Fatmeh Khalil, project coordinator in the south underlined the importance of the training workshops in terms of helping local women to provide for their families and partake in decision making. Inside a room made available by the municipality, women are now busy preparing all kinds of sauces, jams, aubergine pickles and labneh, and will later expand to a new line of pastries and traditional cuisine. Upon the registration of the new cooperative, products will be marketed locally while baring the trademark of the cooperative . (The Daily Star, August 22, 2016)

 

Sex is still largely considered a taboo subject in Lebanon, and despite relatively liberal attitudes, is yet tackled with a lot of misinformation and myth. To shed more light on the issue, the Network of Arab Scholars on Sexuality and Sexual Health (NASSS) held a meeting at the American University of Beirut School of Health Sciences with the aim to spread awareness on sexual health notions and approach the subject in a scientific manner. To note, the NASSS has since 2006 been communicating with Arab students and has designed handbooks to this effect, with funding from the AUB. The group also plans to publish a book in 2017 about sexuality in the Middle East region. During the meeting, the network’s coordinator, Dr. Faysal al Qaq, underlined the importance of starting a conversation about sexuality in the region. He pointed out that in Lebanon, the subject is largely tarnished by violence, particularly that there are more women than men in the country who are pressured into violent sex sometimes to appease and entice or keep their male partner. Qaq considered that tackling such issues is still a challenge in a country of 18 religious confessions, each having its own views and interpretations of sexual relations. “Some are tolerant, others conservative,” Qaq maintained, which “requires researchers to get smart while addressing these matters in a different way,” he added. 

In a related vein, the Lebanese Women Council thanked in a statement issued yesterday all the political parties youth, human rights and women organisations which  united in a show of solidarity (news: http://bit.ly/2bbGazg) with women increasingly exposed to domestic violence. (The Daily Star, Al Mustaqbal, August 19, 2016)

 

In cooperation with the Mansurah municipality, the Future Movement Women’s Sector in West Beqaa and Rashayya organized yesterday a health seminar entitled, ‘Our children and importance of making healthy food choices’. Present at the talk, were the Future Coordinator in the area, Hamadi Janem, Mansurah mayor, Dani Jawish, Assistant Organizational Affairs in the Central Sector, Nawal Mdalalli, the Sector’s Coordinator in the area, Asmaa Sakhr, the Health Committee Officer, Fadia Jbara, Assistant Organizational Affairs, Lina Khatib, in addition to members of the Coordination Committee members, the Municipal Board and local area women. During the seminar, and after lecturing on healthy food choices and protection of children from food-related diseases, pediatrician Nada Wehbi conducted a free medical checkup and distributed free medications and presents to children. (Al Mustaqbal, August 19, 2016)

 

In its edition of today, Al Hayat newspaper brought up the issues of civil marriage which largely is still considered a taboo in Lebanon as couples have to break sweat in convincing their parents of its importance for protecting their rights, particularly if they came from different religious confessions. Expounding on the subject, Al Hayat noted that due to existing hurdles facing them, civil wed couples usually choose to get married in Cyprus (the number of registered contracts reach nearly 850 annually). The newspaper pointed to the flourishing marriage travel with all the tourist agencies and hotels, that is remarkably growing in the peaceful Mediterranean island. Cyprus, the newspaper mentioned, receives, besides the Lebanese, nationals from neighboring countries whose governments still ban civil marriage. Speaking to Al Hayat, a number of concerned parties explained that despite the apparent effortlessness of the procedure in Cyprus, problems start to emerge once they are back to Lebanon.  Confronted with a barrage of questions, like why they chose civil marriage, and whether their marriage is approved religiously, returning couples know that things will not be easy, especially with the coming of their first born. Additional obstacles arise subsequently, like which is the right way to raise the child and his/her ability to integrate with the divergent religions or sects of the mother and father as well as their immediate environment. Civil marriage is only the first step, Al Hayat concluded, maintaining that the real challenges for civil marriage couples starts in Lebanon while facing a closed society that mostly is still attached to its sectarian affiliations. )Al Hayat, August 18, 2016(

 

A report by the British House of Commons has shown that Muslim women are the most economically vulnerable and disadvantaged class of British society. The House’s Committee on Women and Equality revealed that the number of women liable to unemployment or looking for jobs is nearly threefold their men peers, while the proportion is twofold for economically inactive women. According to the report, the disparity is real, for as the current rate of British employed women stands at 69%, against 35% for Muslim women. The level of jobless or job seeking women on the national level recorded 5%, whereas the percentage among Muslim women was close to 16%. The flagrant difference, the report went on to say, was mostly visible in the level of so-termed economically inactive British women, and they are specifically the unemployed but not on the lookout for jobs or women in general (not less than 27%, and 58% for Muslim women in particular). The report also indicated that nearly half of the inactive Muslim women prefer their current status which is inspired by a desire to stay at home, against a national rate (16%) of inactive women with the same urge. On reasons behind such discrepencies, the House’s Committee on Women pointed out that a large number of British Muslim women face a triple punishment influencing their work expectations, firstly, because they are women, secondly, from an ethnic minority and thirdly because they are Muslims. The major cause for that “grave” deprivation felt by British Muslim women is their religious background, the Committee maintained, noting the “impact of the Islamophobia phenomenon which should not be underestimated.” In conclusion, MPs members of the Committee underlined that Muslim women face various forms of discrimination when they apply for jobs because of the way they dress. (To view the full report, please check: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201617/cmselect/cmwomeq/89/89.pdf). (Al Diyar, August 12, 2016)

 

Yesterday the deadline for the Appellate Public Prosecution to appeal the mitigated sentence against Muhammad Nu7heili, killer of wife Manal Assi: (http://bit.ly/2bbGazg) ended with no success, and the file was reassigned to the Discriminatory Prosecution to pronounce its ruling during a period of one month at the latest. Coinciding with the set deadline, Kafa Enough Violence and Exploitation jointly with the Lebanese Women’s Council (LWC) and a number of concerned activists staged a sit-in in front of the Justice Palace in Beirut to pressure in that direction. During the protest, lawyer and LWC president Iqbal Dughan stressed the need to adjust the current law in such that the appeal in incidents of murder becomes compulsory. Similarly, lawyer Leila Awada said that the absence of a relevant legislation that puts in check perpetrators of domestic violence inspires more atrocious acts on the part of so-called angry husbands. 

For its part, Kafa denounced in a statement the “demise of justice” in the case of Manal, maintaining that the ruling in subject has repeatedly proven the worthless value of the life of a woman in the eyes of many, and that the outdated notion of macho superiority has won again. For her part, Manal’s mother present at the demonstration demanded the maximum penalties against the killer of her daughter, despite her announcement earlier to drop all personal rights against the culprit who has allegedly threatened to kill her. In a move of solidarity with Manal and other victims of domestic violence, the Progressive Socialist Party held a gathering yesterday at its Beirut center which brought together youth, legal and women committees of the following parties: Lebanese Communist Party, Future Movement, National Liberal Party, Al Marada, Al Kataeb, Free Patriotic Movement, Tashnak, Al Azm association and Al Ittihad Party. At the end of the meeting, participants urged the competent Judiciary authorities to issue a firm, quick and rigorous decision criminalizing brutal murderers. (As Safir, Al Akbar, Al Mustaqbal, Al Diyar, An Nahar, August 17, 2016)