A flurry of activities to celebrate the International Day to Combat Violence Against Women

On the occasion of the International Day to Combat Violence Against Women (November 25th), and as part of the activities to mark the international 16 days campaign, LECORVAW launched two projects to protect women and girls under the slogan of "unite to end VAW".  The first project is called "secure women and girls" and targets Lebanese and Syrian women and aiming at empowering them economically through a vocational training that extends over 10 months in addition to language training.  The project is implemented with Heartland Alliance with funding from UNICEF.  The second project is entitled "supporting and empowering Syrian women refugees" and will be implemented with funding from Kvinna till Kvinna.  It targets key women leaders and seek to support them with knowledge about early marriage, sexual harassment and peace building so that they contribute to raising awareness of their communities.
RDFL issued for its part a statement indicating that the association will launch two movies during the 16 days campaign and which will be viewed throughout Lebanon.  The first addresses the issue of sexual violence and the second focuses on the image of women in the media.
For its part, Kafa, Enough Violence and Exploitation, launched a new cartoon character called Zalfa, with her own webpage which includes queries and answers about the recently approved domestic violence law and a sample of a demand form for protection addressed to official authorities, and that any woman can use.  Faten Abu Shaqra, the projects’ coordinator of Kafa, noted that the association chose Zalfa as a new vector to reach women and raise their awareness on rights and laws that can protect them. Abu Shaqra also noted that Kafa will organize a round table on the 5th of December in partnership with the Ministry of Justice, to develop procedures for action to protect women that will be thereafter addressed to judges. Within the same vein, Abaad association also launched a new campaign entitled: “Through Violence, No One Comes Ahead. The ultimate responsibility is putting an end to violence against women”. In a statement about the campaign, the association noted the important role that decision makers can play to stop violence against women, adding that the campaign came to sharpen the political will to handle violence against women in a more inclusive and sustainable manner, noting that this fight is not one of women alone.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal, Al-Nahar 26 November 2014