News updates

Hundreds of women took to the streets of the Shiite Holy City of Najaf, south of Baghdad, to defend their right to partake in the ongoing anti-government protests which started last October demanding sweeping political reforms. This demonstration, sparked by a call by Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr’s to not mix at revolt squares, attracted female university professors, students and housewives. Dressed in black cloaks, the protestors carried signs which read, ‘I am born in Iraq to become revolutionary’ and ‘No voice louder than women’s’, in addition to the chanting of slogans deploring the US and Iran: “No for America or Iran, Baghdad is the end of the line”. In an interview with AFP, university professor, Nada Qassem, said: “We are free people, we did not march in an answer to a fatwa and will not back down by an order.” I took part because I wanted to bring back the lost homeland that political parties and the quota-based system tampered with. I wanted to restore the appropriated rights and cry out for a civil state that respects its citizens, she said. Another 22-year old protestor, told AFP: “We took to the streets to topple the regime. However, this rally was meant to be feminist in retaliation to their violation of our honor,” voicing a pride in participating. (An Nahar, February 20, 2020)
 
 

Around 8 female high school students from College Notre Dame de Jamhour will attend the World Biodiversity Forum to be held in Switzerland from February 23 to 28. To recall, these students have worked for 5 months on a research on biomimicry and how to adapt it to Lebanon’s biosphere. The study was conducted under the supervision of Born Global Foundation general executive who facilitated students’ communication with the Forum’s curators. In their project, “Beirut Biomimics”, the 8 students applied the concept of biomimicry to create new biological products bound to reduce negative human impact on nature. Speaking to An Nahar, they boasted that, aided with hope to achieve their goal from the forum, they wish their nationals develop greater environmental awareness and bring Lebanon to join the countries concerned with the emerging natural changes and environmental challenges facing the world. (An Nahar, February 20, 2020)
 

An investigation on Al Jazeera portal shed light on the fates of Syrian women and girl refugees in Lebanon who have become preys to human trafficking mafias and are higher risk of sexual exploitation in the country. There is extensive news of displaced Syrian women and girls who have ended up in the hands of human traffickers. Some who got married in Syria or Lebanon have discovered that their husbands are involved in sex rings, while others living in refugee camps have been forced into selling sex. Some parents also sold their own daughters to sex dealers. The above documentary published figures by ISF in Lebanon which showed that the number of victims of human trafficking reached 19 persons in 2015, 87 persons in 2016 and 54 persons in 2017, mostly Syrian women refuges. In return, the investigation cited International Migration Organization records which pointed to thousands of victims of commercial sex in 2017 only. According to the documentary, when arrested, the victims of human trafficking in Lebanon are treated as criminals and not as sufferers. The only assistance victims get at the end of their prison term is from community organizations, specifically, Dar Al Amal, Kafa and ALEF. In a related development, Kafa officer for combatting trafficking in women, Ghada Jabur, explained that efforts underway to protect Syrian women and girls’ refugees are inadequate. She criticized the absence of government awareness programs targeting the human trafficking victims. Similarly, social campaigner, Ghinwa Younis, lamented that lack of support in this respect often leads to an active return by victims to the same business. For his part, the head of the ISF Public Relations Department, Joseph Mosallam, pointed out that it is unlikely, during the arrest, to differentiate between prostitutes and human trafficking victims. Fighting human trafficking, he clarified, is one of multiple priorities of the ISF, adding, the entire government is under pressure and manipulation! (You can find the complete investigation on https://bit.ly/2SAdgho. (Al Jazeera.com, February 11, 2020)
 

In its edition of today, An Nahar wrote that female participation in anti-government protests on par with men, chanting slogans against politicians, including clerics, has caused a shock among Iraqis who could never have fancied this prior to the October Revolution. During the past few months, An Nahar said, revolt squares were crowded with women partaking in the demonstrations, treating the injured, writing on walls or tattooing the shoulders and arms of young men, as well as engaging in musical and discourse sessions. The newspaper said the recent uprising has appeased a kind of social rebellion, namely in the conservative rural cities of the South that boast a Shiite majority. It wrote that in Diwaniyah, about 200 km south of the Iraqi capital, the educational mentor, Hiyam Shayi’, did not envisage throughout the fifty years of her life that she will mingle outside her abode and speak out in a city where women are rarely seen on the streets. Standing by the demonstrators dressed in her black cloak, Shayi’ said: “Many social and cultural norms have changed intensely and unexpectedly.”. (An Nahar, February 20, 2020)
 

Former UK Prime Minister, Theresa May, announced on Monday that achieving gender equality in politics and business is an issue for society and not just for women. May, who was speaking during the Global Women’s Forum in Dubai, stressed the important role of society in nurturing women’s confidence in their abilities and encouraging them to take on the leadership in various domains. She said mentorship is a key part of the journey. Every woman in a leadership position should help and inspire others to join in order to strengthen female participation in the future. It was important for women to break the mentality that they are incapable of achieving something significant in social life because of their gender, she noted, adding, “the path to gender equality is not about trying to outdo men.” May also expressed confidence that the growing role of women in political decision-making helps in improving the life of the citizen. “We need to encourage women who have aspirations. Teach them that they should not be pigeonholed into stereotypes,” she concluded. (Al Diyar, February 19, 2020)
 

In an article published in Al Akhbar newspaper, Zeinat Muftah, a professor of law from Bahrain, said Bahraini women have embarked on one of their staunchest battles in the history of Al Khalifa Rule. They have become mothers, sisters or relatives of martyrs or even martyrs themselves, Muftah wrote. She cited reports by international organizations revealing that the detention of women in the Arab island nation for political motives does not involve recent tensions. Arrests have taken place in the nineties of the Past Century, she explained, stating that things however were not as bad as today. Many women have been detained for various reasons. To name some, Muftah mentioned the discovery of a text message in a woman’s mobile phone calling for a protest or any political activity, or even listening to a song designating the February 14 Revolution. Muftah stressed that Bahraini women’s rights are largely threatened nowadays in light of the mobilization of security measures without any regard to the most basic rights of women supported by UN conventions. Citizen Fadila Mubarak, one of the early political detainees, has been arrested for the crime of listening to a revolutionary song in the comfort of her car. She was sentenced to four years in prison, Muftah concluded. (Al Akhbar, February 14, 2020)
 

Large crowds of protestors from women’s rights organizations took to the streets of Mexico City on Friday outraged by the brutal murder of 25-year old Ingrid Escamilla who was killed by her husband and the publication of graphic photos of her mutilated body in local newspapers. Hundreds of women dressed in black and heads covered chanted slogans deploring crimes against women which have become rampant in Mexico lately, like, ‘Ingrid we are all you’, ‘we demand responsible journalism’ and ‘sexism kills’. Demonstrators painted ‘Mexico, the killer of women’ on the presidential palace walls. They marched to the offices of the local newspaper, La Prensa, admonishing its publishing of the victim’s body. They burned trucks owned by the newspaper and asked the manager to meet them outside for an apology. For its part, UN Women condemned on Twitter the killing of Escamilla demanding comprehensive actions to eliminate violence against women and girls. Ingrid’s is not an isolated case, UN Women said. (An Nahar, February 15, 2020)
 

The Social Economic Fund yesterday inaugurated a modern olive press in the Nabatiyeh town of Yohomr in the presence of the head of the Agricultural Cooperative Association, Nasser Ellayk, and members of the coop. This comes as part of ‘Promoting local economies in Lebanon’ initiative funded by the EU. The project entails equipping the Cooperative with a 1.8-ton capacity apparatus for processing olive oil at a value of 48.270 euros to the end of completing the existing production line. This is expected to reduce the cost of production, improve oil quality, increase sales and raise income level, hence creating new jobs by nearly 20%. Also, it will contribute to mainstreaming the benefit and  partnership among the 64 Coop members, as well as among some 7750 farmers, in addition to the economic and social empowerment of women who make about 50% of the total beneficiaries. (An Nahar, February 17, 2020)
 

The Investigative Judge of Mount Lebanon, Sandra Mohtar, indicted on Friday the former chief of the Order of Physicians, Reymond Sayegh, and the head of the committee of faculty professional investigations, Claude Semaan, for releasing a fabricated report in the case of child Sophie Mashlab. The latter, to recall, has suffered traumatic brain injury following surgery at Saint George Hospital in June 2016 which caused sensory loss. The defendants were referred to trial based on Article 446 of the Penal Code which reaches to two- year imprisonment. Noting, that it is a first in Lebanon for a ruling to be issued against the head of the Order of Physicians on charges of delivering a report based on fraud and perjury. The court verdict came a year after an appeal by the Public Prosecutor of Mount Lebanon, Judge Ghada Aoun, who asked the prosecution to make charges against Sayegh and Semaan for providing false medical reports. On the above indictment, the father of the child said it is a long road to unveil the complete truth about the case, but justice is at best taking its course. (Al Akhbar, February 14, 2020)