Testimonies of women survivors of sexual violence in a LWDG documentary

In partnership with Fe-Male Association, the Lebanese Women Democratic Gathering (LWDG) launched last Saturday a documentary film on ‘Sexual Violence’ which included live testimonies of women who survived different forms of violence, notably, incest, early marriage, sexual harassment and rape. On the activity, which comes as part of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign, Rafqa Abu Younis, LWDG violence program coordinator stressed the need for concerted efforts between all concerned parties to address and confront the problem. Similarly, the director of projects at Fe-Male, Hayat Mirshad, quoting the latest UN statistics, said that “one out of three women around the globe has suffered from both sexual and physical violence.” Also, Caroline Sukkar, Sleibi, LWDG vice chair, emphasized the urgency to endorse legislations that ensure the protection of women from all types of abuse, particularly sexual abuse, and to revise the Law for the Protection of Women and Family Members from Domestic Violence and based on the recommendations of various feminist and civil society organizations in Lebanon. (Al Mustaqbal, November 29, 2015)