Other news

The head of the Criminal Court in south Lebanon, Judge Roula Jadayel, issued on the 23d of May a verdict sentencing M.D. (41 years old) to 15 years in prison after being found guilty of abusing and beating his wife A.B. (18 years old) to death on 3 November 2009.  The abuser was also sentenced to pay damages to the victim's family amounting to LB 100 million.
The court case was initiated following the complaint lodged by the victim's parents accusing their former son in law of killing their daughter in their residency in Mozambique.  The court ruled that the cause of death was severe physical abuse and torture by her husband.  The accused had run from Mozambique and failed from accompanying his wife's body to Lebanon.  He then returned discretely to Lebanon but was arrested at the Beirut airport after the complaint was lodged.  The accused was held in custody for 20 months and was then released from custody.  He used this opportunity to flee from Lebanon and the verdict was made in absentia!
Source: Al-Akhbar 4 June 2013

The Lebanese Women Council organised last week a training workshop on communication and negotiation skills in its premises located in Beirut.  The training workshop was attended by more than twenty young women and men and was organised within the framework of the building capacities in the field of social work through using positive and constructive conflict resolution approaches.  Trainers included Stacey Schamber and Jean-Paul Cham who used exercises as well as analytical and conceptual tools to understand the dynamics of conflict resolution.
Source: Al-Safir 3 June 2013

The ‘Coalition for Women of 2013 Parliament’ that includes more than 150 woman organisations indicated in a statement issued by the coalition, that the total number of candidates after the closing of nominations to the forthcoming parliamentary has reached 706 nominations of which 43 are women. The statement of the collation added that despite the fact that the above-mentioned number does not reflect the aspirations of the woman organisations nevertheless it clearly reaffirm the determination of women to actively participate in political life especially in decision-making positions, particularly if compared to the total number during the 2009 elections when only 12 women applied.
A quick review of the names of the candidates indicates the following distribution per district: 9 candidates in Beirut-3 district, 5 women in Tripoli and Zahleh, 4 in Baabda and Kesrwan, 3 in Beirut-1 district, two woman candidates in each of West Beqaa, Rashaya and Matn, and one in each of Koorah, Bsharreh, Akkar, Baalbeck-Hermel, Nabatieh, Jezzin, Saida, Shoof and Beirut-2 district.
In the same vein, the parliament organized in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) a dialogue session entitled, ‘The role of parliament in strengthening Lebanese women’s participation in political parties, parliamentary elections, and decision-making processes’. The objective of the session was to involve various stakeholders in discussions on the topic and to record their views and suggestions in preparation for a study that will put forward practical recommendations on how the parliament can strengthen women’s participation.
Source: Al-Nahar, Al-Dyiar 30 May 2013

Kafa Enough Violence and Exploitation, launched the day before yesterday a videoclip of a song ‘I will rise up, I will shout’ for Souar Rouhana at her own Youtube channel, thus achieving a quick dissemination on social media site. The song is a cry voiced by a number of women against all forms of discrimination, persecution, and exploitation that women are exposed to within the Lebanese society. A group of activists performed that dance at the conclusion of the February 24th demonstration that was called for by the National Coalition to Legalize Protection of Women from Domestic Violence’ under the slogan ‘lives of women are more important than your chairs’.
In an interview with the Akhbar newspaper, the media coordinator at Kafa Ms. Maya Ammar indicated that the idea started from an initiative by a group of women volunteers who decided to perform the song and the video clip, noting that the melody accompanying the words if that of the song ‘Break the Chain’ of the campaign ‘The One Billion Rising’ which is the largest grassroots movement to end violence against women in human history. It is noteworthy that Alexandre Paulikevitch choreographed the dance for this song while Wafa Halawi directed the video clip with participation of the Lebanese actress Nada Abou Farhat.
Source: Al Akhbar, 29 May, 2013

Nawaya Network’s recently launched a social networking site, set to be fully functional by June 10, which seeks to connect disadvantaged youth to professional and recreational opportunities outside their immediate areas.
Nawaya network will connect disadvantaged, marginalized or at-risk youth, with resources to help them pursue their passions, develop certain skills and talents, through an online route to increase the likelihood of both finding youth in need of their services and opportunities, and of finding the companies, institutions and mentors that can provide them.
The resource base includes the various institutional partners of the network such as universities, sports academies, businesses, as well as individuals. Members of this network will be able to browse individual youth applicant according to the interest, and will facilitate linkages in order to achieve the desired goals and based on the six online options offered by the website. It is to be noted that services will be provided to all youth applicants regardless of their Arab nationality (Lebanese, Syrian, Iraqi, Palestinian) as well to youths belonging to foreign migrant communities. (The Daily Star 29 May 2013)

RDFL organised in collaboration with the women commission of the bar association a training workshop on CEDAW and Lebanese laws.  The workshop which was funded by Kvinna till Kvinna and targeted women lawyers only, was opened by the president of the women commission of the bar association, Asma Hamade, who talked about the importance of spreading the human rights culture amongst lawyers.  The vice president of RDFL, Caroline Slaibi, gave a comprehensive presentation of CEDAW and emphasized some of the key clauses namely the definition of discrimination (clause 1), combating trafficking and prostitution (clause 6), equality in participation in political life (clause 7), and equality in the family (article 16 which is under reservation by the Lebanese government).  She also highlighted some aspects of women's rights which have not been mentioned by the convention namely reproductive and sexual rights, protection from all forms of violence, and the rights of the girl child.
Manar Zeiater, a lawyer member of RDFL, presented in her intervention the foundations of the international human rights convention and pointed out to those laws which still discriminate against women namely labor laws, the penal code, family laws, laws dealing with honor crimes, adultery, negative discrimination vis-à-vis women in cases of rape and abduction, and finally the absence of laws to protect women from marital rape.
The workshop was concluded with a presentation by a member of RDFL, Carmel Mhanna, on the law proposal to protect women from domestic violence as well as Lebanon's commitments to CEDAW.
Source: Al-Safir, Al-Mustaqbal 25 May 2013

4500 women took part yesterday in the women's challenge marathon which was organised by the Beirut Marathon Association.  The event which received high media coverage, bore the slogan "she is really strong" and was under the auspices of First Lady Wafa Suleiman with the participation of a number of civil and environmental activists, supporters of women's political quotas, women candidates for the next elections, sports and social associations, politicians, ministers and parliamentarians.  This marathon aimed at challenging discrimination against women and at insisting on women's rights and freedom from physical and moral violence. Participating women runners included a variety of people: professional and amateurs, women with special needs, mothers with their children and a special delegation from Tripoli who launched a petition signing activity calling for peace and end of violence in Tripoli.

Source: Al-Hayat, Al-Safir 27 May 2013

On 24 May 2013, six women members of "Women in Front" lodged their candidacy for the next elections as per the procedures required by the Ministry of Interior and Municipality.  These women are amongst the 20 women who received training in communication at the French Cultural Centre in Beirut.
Joel Abou Farhat Rizkallah, one of the founders of Women in Front, noted that the six candidates bear no confessional, geographical or any other consideration, adding that a total of 9 women have until now submitted their candidacy versus 79 male candidates thus signaling an increase in candidacy compared to the previous round.
The responsible of the cultural department of the French Centre, Aurelien le Chevalier, reiterated the continuous interest of the French government in supporting women in political life and in elections.  The French ambassador, Patrice Paoli, also indicated that there is a general will to support women's right, noting the limited participation of women in Lebanese political life.

Source: Al-Nahar 25 May 2013

The National Commission for Lebanese Women called during the meeting of its Executive Bureau yesterday for an effective participation of women in the upcoming cabinet and for the adoption of an electoral law that will gain consensus by all party and which will guarantee an acceptable level of representation of women in the next parliament.  NCLW indicated that the government, parliament and political parties all share the responsibility for the failure in agreeing an electoral law that is fair to women and that guarantees women’s right to participate in political decision making.  NCLW invited the parliament to expedite the endorsement of a new electoral law which includes a quota of no less than 30% for women.
NCLW also applauded the decision of the Minister of Interior and Municipalities in approving the registering of the first civil marriage in Lebanon and also noted the positive position of the Ministry of Justice on this matter.  The Bureau also called on all parties to contribute to securing civil peace in Lebanon and reiterated that women play a critical role in this area.
Finally, NCLW invited women to take part in the upcoming Beirut Marathon run for women and which will be held on May 26th.  NCLW adopted the following slogan for the run: “I am a Lebanese woman… I am for the quota and the nationality”.
Source: Al-Nahar, Al-Mustaqbal 10 May 2013