16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence - Lebanon

 

 

For the second consecutive year, “KAFA (enough) Violence and Exploitation” will take part in the international campaign “16 days of activism against gender violence” through resuming its “Silent Witness Exhibition” caravan. During these 16 days, the caravan will move into 4 Community Centers - affiliated to the Ministry Of Social Affairs and located in different Lebanese areas. Each of these centers will host the Silent Witness exhibition for around 4-5 days. During the exhibition, debates will be held with local communities on the issue of violence against women, along with the projection of a film documenting the exhibition and its tour all over Lebanon since the launching till present.

 

The Lebanese campaign will focus on domestic violence and how crimes against women and the so-called “honor crimes” find their justification, not only in the traditions of various communities, but also in the legislation itself. The aim of the project is to raise awareness and advocate for the adoption of a law on domestic violence in Lebanon.

 

“Silent Witness” campaign in Lebanon is an exhibition of 30 wooden silhouettes of 30 women who were killed in Lebanon as a result of domestic violence or “Honor killings”. Each silhouette represents a woman who was killed by either her husband or father or brother, sometimes for the mere suspicion of her “bad behaviour”. They are true stories taken from protocols of Lebanese courts and they record how, when and why the victim was killed.

 

Since its launch at the UNESCO Palace on 8 March 2006, the exhibition has been moving around to various Lebanese universities, where in each place; the exhibition was accompanied by various activities such as testimonies by survivors of similar crimes, readings of poems and discussion groups. The campaign was halted due to the Israeli aggression against Lebanon last summer, and will be resumed with the start of the “16 days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence”.

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KAFA (enough) Violence & Exploitation
43 Badaro Street, Beydoun Bldg. 1st floor
P.O.Box: 116/5042 Beirut-Lebanon
Tel/fax: 00 961 1 392220 /1
Helpline: 00 961 3 018019
Website: www.kafa.org.lb

http://www.kafa.org.lb/advoc1.html

http://www.kafa.org.lb/aware.html