News updates

In an important move, the Tunisian Parliament ratified a draft law entailing a set of deterrent penalties for gender-based street harassment of women. The new legislation provides for a one-year imprisonment of anyone who, by action, comment or gesture, harasses a woman in a public place in such that offends her dignity. The said law also fines with 2000 Tunisian Dinars (USD 905) the party who deliberately discriminates in remuneration of equal work of equal value on the basis of gender. The law further proposes aggravated penalties sustained in the Disciplinary Magazine in the case that the perpetrator had authority on the woman victim, while upgrading to 6 years of imprisonment of anyone who had consensual sexual intercourse with a girl under 16 years of age. In Lebanon, and, after the release order by the acting investigative judge in the North of the three underage rapists of a girl minor (http://bit.ly/2aFEYGu) ,we are still far from realizing justice and punishing abusers and harassers, notwithstanding all cases of sexual highlighted in the Midnight March campaign on Women’s Day ( http://bit.ly/2aO8dS1), and the frequent harassment of girls reported in Tripoli (http://bit.ly/2b7vimt). However, reactions have been limited to creating a website named  Harass Tracker "http://harasstracker.org، launched by a group of feminist and social activists, that contain a map that tracks incidents of harassment in an attempt to raise awareness on this despicable act. (Al Hayat, August 8, 2016)

 

In cooperation with Al Jinan University, the Arab Union for the Specialized Woman, led by Nariman Jamal Ghanem, organized last Friday a workshop entitled, ‘the project on you and the funding on us’ specialized for women producers and their access to capacity building and funding opportunities for their undertakings. The event was held at the premises of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture in Tripoli and the North, in the presence of heads and members of various community and women associations from across Lebanon, and the participation of banking institutions, as well as Arab and international donor organizations. In her opening address, Ghanem stressed that similar initiatives will eventually have a foundational legal framework through which they will function. Likewise, Al Jinan Vice President, Dr. Aisha Yakan, expounded on the title of the workshop and the comprehensive mechanism that help translate a simple idea into a productive venture. This, Yakan maintained, involves the following: a brief description of the scheme; defining the product and its underlying benefits, followed by an analysis of the markets and development of relevant marketing, operational, development and financial plans; a management in terms of identifying the organizational structure of the project and the role of respective key parties; funding in line with set of conditions by international donors and partners, entailing innovation, creativity and competitiveness. Also covered during the workshop were: illustrations of the role of microfinance organization, Ibdaa Lebanon, supported by Prince Walid Bin Talal Foundation to enhance capacities of owners of productive enterprises, particularly women; a detailed presentation of the supportive role of Mercy Corps; outline of the package of services provided by BLC Bank aimed at women’s empowerment and finally, the services offered by Al Baraka Bank from an Islamic microfinance perspective. Towards the end of the workshop, participants shared round tables to train on how to prepare a feasibility study and the associated methodology for developing projects to be selected by the donor parties. (Al Mustaqbal, August 6, 2016)

 

In collaboration with the Tripoli-based Al Azm Lawyers Sector and sponsored by former PM Najib Mikati, the Arab Organization for Young Lawyers organized on Saturday a conference entitled ‘Towards the Development of an Arab Anti-Human Trafficking Strategy’. During the conference, Colonel Elie Asmar of the Internal Security Forces made clear that the problem is not restricted to sexual exploitation only, stressing that “forcing any person to practice unlawful acts is considered a form of human trafficking.” Asmar insisted on the need to find a proper mechanism to enforce the relevant legal texts and to revise current laws in effect, particularly as per specifying the recovery period for victims prior to rehabilitation. In the same spirit, the representative of the Geneva Institute for Human Rights in Lebanon, lawyer Manar Zeaiter, said a proper plan to fight the dilemma should take into account the different contexts of the human trafficking process. Zeaiter also pointed out to the flaws in Lebanese laws to this effect, especially those found in the explanatory statements.. (Al Diyar, August 7, 2016)

 

Kafa Enough Violence and Exploitation organization strongly responded yesterday to an earlier report which was published by Human Rights Watch and which read, ‘Syrian women at risk of sex trade in Lebanon’ that addressed the handling of the Lebanese government of the dilemma of trafficking in women for sexual purposes. The report, it should be noted, was prepared in the wake of the “Chez Maurice” night club incident last March which resulted in the freeing of some 75 Syrian girls who were subjected to abject forms of sexual slavery by an organized network of pimps and human traffickers. In its statement, Kafa noted that the international organization has used the above case to promote its new policy related to so-called ‘sex work’. It pointed out to the recommendation made by the human rights report as follows: “Criminalizing any consented sexual act between two adults creates problems that deprive sex workers of their basic rights, like the right to protection from violence, justice in challenging violations and the basic health services,” adding, that “forcing a person to provide sex services is the only act that should be penalized and prosecuted.” Kafa, in response, considered that such an approach in tackling prostitution is misleading and is in fact based on weak justifications. It suggests non-incrimination of the prostitution industry on the whole and promoting its regulation. This, Kafa statement went on to say, while realizing that it involves pimps and human traffickers, in addition to commercial enterprises that profit from and promote the industry, and the prime catalyst and promoter of the industry, which is the sex buyer. Kafa questioned the intentions of Human Rights Watch which tend to absolve the above parties and grant them social and legal protection. In conclusion, the Lebanese NGO criticized the international organization for overlooking the gender point of view, when talking about sex work and sex workers as a phenomenon that does not basically affect women and girls, insinuating that sex buyers are not almost absolutely men. (As Safir, Al Akhbar, August 5, 2016)

 

 

Despite wide popular condemnations of the sexual assault against the underage girl (16 years) from Tripoli and notwithstanding the full backing in court of the victim’s case as pledged by the president of the Tripoli Bar Association (c.f. http://bit.ly/29WT4wy), the acting investigative judge of the North, Naji Dahdah, exonerated the three young culprits releasing them without bail. Dahdah in his accusatory order, published in As Safir newspaper, considered that the three men “had sex with the underage girl with her full consent,”. The judge has based his decision on the Third Paragraph of Article 505 of the Penal Code, which supports the punishment with imprisonment from 2 months to two years of any party that has sexual intercourse with an underage child who completed 15 years and has not reached 18 years. According to the ruling, and based on charges against the aunt of the underage girl and which was filed by the lawyers of the indictees for incitement of taking legal action against them on charges of rape under the threat of killing her grandfather and post pictures of her, constitutes, according to the decision, a crime stipulated by Article 403/217 of the Penal Code. As such, the lawyer of one of the plaintiffs, Mohammad Khansa, gave preponderance to arrest the aunt. The ruling has instigated concerns of human rights activists and jurists who feared that referring the felony to Article 505, hence considering what happened as a sexual intercourse with consent, could be a prelude to accuse the minor of prostitution later on. (As Safir, Al Diyar, August 5, 2016)

 

Previous related news:

Despicable sexual assault on a girl minor from Tripoli with media complicity

 

 

In its edition of today, Al Hayat daily exposed the dilemma of child marriages widely common in rural and disadvantaged areas in the various towns and cities in Lebanon. The problem, the newspaper wrote, has exacerbated with the inflow of Syrian refugees at the start of the war in the neighboring country. Al Hayat cited a survey prepared in 2014 by Saint Joseph University USJ which indicated that around 17.35% of girls have married before the age of 18. The newspaper published stories of a number of early marriage victims who spoke up about their demise. Amina, a Lebanese girl, was forced by her father to marry a well-off man when she was only 15 years to save her family from debts. Amina who had no idea about married life grieved that all the promises by her husband vanished with her marriage contract. She recounted how her husband practiced on her all forms of moral abuse and physical violence, recalling how she wanted abortion but continued to be pregnant. Today, Amina is 20, and her only goal is to protect her daughter from backward mentalities. Another victim, Sanaa, a displaced Syrian girl (14 years), described to the newspaper reporter how she returned home from school one day to find out that her father has decided to marry her to a man in his fifties because he could not take care of her anymore. On the subject, social expert Nawal Khury underlined the main cause of the lingering of similar incidents which is the absence of a declared official age for marriage in Lebanese laws. Besides, male chauvinist mentality still prevalent in many Lebanese communities considers the marriage of children as an essential part of the inherited customs and traditions. Khury recommended a solution to alleviate the phenomenon which is the adoption of a civil personal status law along with setting a clear age for marriage which is the minimum legal age of consent. (Al Hayat, August 4, 2016)

 

As usual in Lebanon, the news of suicide incidents of two women migrant workers are treated in the local media lightly and briefly within the category of miscellaneous security news. For after that our website posted the cases of three suicide attempts during this year, local channels aired in less than one week news of 3 new cases of suicide and torture of migrant women domestic workers. The first news went like this: An Ethiopian MWDW was found hanging from a tree with a woolen scarf in the West Beqaa town of Mashghara. The second news which was mentioned in a number of websites, briefly referred to the case of an Ethiopian MWDW who threw herself from the 15th floor at her employer’s home in East Beirut suburb of Jdeideh. Furthermore, electronic portals posted the news of the burning to death of a Kenyan mother of two MWDW, Mari Kabuna Kamango, at her employer’s residence. Mari reportedly died after being transferred to Kenya last July. On this, the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation LBCI stated that after investigating on the subject and confirmation by the Lebanese Consul to the African state, that the last incident has occurred in Jordan and not in Lebanon. (Al Diyar, August 4, 2016)

 

Related news: 

Ethiopian MWDW slain in Jarju3, Nabatieh

Yet another suicide attempt by an Ethiopian woman domestic worker in Tripoli

A migrant woman worker assassinated in Beirut for “personal reasons”!

 

In its edition of today, An Nahar newspaper emphasized the growing involvement of women in the legal practice, pointing to an ascending trend to this effect. Against some 527 interning lawyers, some 632 were female lawyers (that is 54.5% against 45.4% males). The Courts Law Attorney, Nader Kaspar, attributed the above increase to the inherent disposition of young women lawyers who normally “boast a greater potential to learn, memorize and research as compared to their male peers.” Yet, the percentage shown in the general roster of lawyers is still below parity, Kaspar clarified. Nevertheless the level has now exceeded one third, with the total number of registered lawyers reaching 8044 lawyers, (5031 men against 3013 women, that is by 37.4% of those registered in the general listing), Kaspar maintained. He considered the said proportion as healthy for a country like Lebanon, given family and social responsibilities incumbent on married women. The married woman lawyer, Kaspar explained, is “not in a position to accomplish on par with young men lawyers during the first ten years of her professional career, for she has to attend to her married and family life, or choose to work in her free time,” as he puts it. A big number of married women lawyers usually resume their practice after their children become adults, and subsequently, they have all the time to make up for what they passed up particularly on laws and related topics. In conclusion, while considering that the criminal jurisdiction requires dedication and time, Kaspar pointed out that women lawyers in general take up files of civil nature. (An Nahar, August 3, 2016)

 

Following the recent news posted on our portal concerning the internal elections of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) last July 30th based on the names published in As Safir edition of June 27, ( http://bit.ly/2aQhMoG), the results of the first phase of elections seem not very promising in terms of women representation. In this respect, only 3 women out of 58 candidates won (i.e. 5%), and these are: Nadine Tohmeh (for Baabda), Rindala Jabbur (West Beqaa) who won by acclamation, and Katia Kiwan (Shuf). Following the first phase, the names of the successful candidates will be screened through a public survey. The survey is expected to help in measuring the popularity and eligibility of every potential nominee in his/her electoral constituency, leading to the exclusion of the surplus candidates, after considering the number of seats in each electoral circumscription. 

(As Safir, August 3, 2016)

 

Under the slogan, ‘Towards building a Palestinian democratic women movement’ and in the presence of Palestinian, Lebanese and regional women groups, the Palestinian Democratic Women’s Organization (Nada), opened yesterday its 12th regional conference at Mar Elias Refugee Camp in Beirut. During the event, the head of the general council in the organization, Khalidat Hussein, announced the launching of the national and feminist action plan program in preparation for a Palestinian democratic women movement in Lebanon. Hussein clarified that the said program is based on two axis: The first is national bound, with focus on promoting the participation of Palestinian women in Lebanon; the second is feminist related, and centers on protecting Palestinian women against inherited socio-cultural discrimination which is fueled by growing Islamist extremism in the region. The above project calls for stepping up efforts of Palestinian women in order to eradicate all forms of discrimination as stipulated by the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and other related agreements based on the principle of gender equality and protection of women against human rights violations. Hussein also stressed the significance of Resolution No 1325 which exposes the atrocious practices of the Israeli Occupation against Palestinian women, and supports the political participation of Palestinian women through lobbying for the 30% representation quota, particularly in political leadership and in various professional associations. (Al Diyar, August 2, 2016)