Results of first national report on awareness of Lebanese women/men and attitude towards domestic violence

Kafa ‘enough violence and exploitation’ organization held a seminar last Friday at the Beirut Bar Association to discuss important updates on activating the implementation of Law No. 293 of the year 2014 related to the protection of women and other family members against domestic violence after two years from its approval. During the meeting, the results of the first national report on the awareness of the Lebanese people, their knowledge and attitudes vis-à-vis domestic violence were also launched. Kafa’s Listening and Counselling Center team presented the main data they collected, with special focus on the remarkable rise in the number of women who took refuge in the organization, particularly after the approval of the above law, (from 292 new cases in 2013 to 624 cases in 2014 and up to 772 cases last year, on top of hundreds of old cases). On the negative side, some 16 women were reported to have been killed by members of their families, mostly by husbands, and this after the endorsement of the protection law. According to the report, only one third of respondents said they heard about the law, of whom 97% followed the news of murder through the various media channels. This, the report maintained, represents a significant and positive change in the attitude of people towards the issue. The report also showed, that in general, there was an inclination (49%) to advise battered women to file complaints, while one third of respondents, within the Druze and Shiite communities in particular, and in the South and Beqaa areas (49%),, said that resorting to the family is the best decision in such cases, against a small percentage (13%) who advised the victim to remain silent and put up with the abuse indefinitely. Moreover, some 68% of respondents said they will intervene to help the domestically battered woman, against 32% who said they will abstain because the matter is “personal and does not concern them.” On the other hand, the confidence of the Lebanese people in the competent religious and civil courts, especially in cases of domestic violence, is still weak. Nearly 42% of respondents said they did not trust religious courts for reasons related to corruption and the male dominant mentality of clergymen, besides the unfairness of confessional laws. The percentage, however, dropped to 38% when asked about the role of civil courts in this matter. (As Safir, Al Akhbar, Al Mustaqbal, April 2, 2016)