Discrimination and sexual harassment conference in AUB

The ‘Knowledge is Power’ (KIP) project opened on Friday a ‘multidisciplinary conference on discrimination and sexual harassment’ at the American University of Beirut (AUB) in the presence of a US Embassy representative and a group of concerned people. The 3-day event aimed at promoting dialogue between various stakeholders about gender and sexuality issues. The issues that were addressed centered on the following: discrimination and sexual harassment in Lebanon, production and publishing of related materials within the Lebanese context and generating recommendations for public policy on sexual harassment within the Lebanese context, as well as building permanent cross-sectoral and inter-disciplinary networks on the subject. A plenary session within the conference examined anti-sexual harassment policies in Lebanon, with a focused intervention from MP Ghassan Mukheiber about the draft law he submitted earlier to the Parliament for enactment. The conference also saw a talk and discussion with world-renowned Egyptian author and women’s rights activist, Nawal Saadawi. Workshops were also conducted under different headings, like, the culture factor in leadership, know, communicate, approve: the key to sexual health. There were also debates on the following topics: access of rural women to funding: a discriminatory story, sexual harassment and a woman’s safety in urban areas, women at the workplace: challenges of leadership and employment, discrimination through art and the media, sexual harassment and violence: perceptions and comparative facts, representation and participation: marginalized groups in the Lebanese political arena, art as an alternative incentive for change in Lebanon. (Al Hayat, April 2, 2017)