Men
Must Be Part of the Equation in Any Effective Fight to End Violence Against
Women in the Arab World, Say KAFA & Oxfam GB
Oxfam GB and KAFA launch landmark pan-Arab project at high level event in Beirut
New law criminalising violence
against women in Lebanon
must be passed and regionalised
Beirut – The global aid agency
Oxfam Great
Britain,
along with Lebanese women’s rights organization, KAFA, today released a
groundbreaking publication that will play a pivotal role in bringing men across
the Arab world into the fight to end violence against women.
The first ever pan-Arab training
guide on practical ways to engage men and boys in the fight to end violence
against women throughout the region, titled ‘Women and Men…Hand in Hand Against
Violence,’ was unveiled in Beirut at a high level event. It was
hosted by His Excellency the Lebanese Minister of Social Affairs Dr. Salim
El-Sayegh, and attended by UNIFEM regional office’s representative Ms. Rania
Tarazi and other government ministers, top UN officials and key ambassadors,
among others. KAFA and Oxfam have also today released a comprehensive
study, ‘Women Facing Violence in Lebanon’
that reveals a shocking absence of men’s involvement in the struggle to combat
abuse directed at women and girls.
Oxfam GB and KAFA, or ‘Enough
Violence and Exploitation’ in English, have been jointly running a pilot
initiative, known as a ‘men’s forum’, in the Bekaa
Valley region of Lebanon
for the past few months working with men and boys. They hope to
replicate the successful project in other Arab countries, aided by the new
training guide.
Ghida Anani, KAFA programme coordinator of the joint project, said: “Men are part of the problem, but they are also part of the solution. We
are against violence, not men. But men in the Arab world almost always
dominate the public and private spheres so working with them is strategically
critical. If we want to begin making real change in ending violence
against women it is simply nonsensical to leave men and boys out of the
equation whether it’s in Lebanon,
Iraq, Egypt,
Yemen
or anywhere in the world for that matter.”
In
its physical, psychological and sexual forms, violence against women can be
found in the household, the community and in public institutions. It has serious economic, social and health implications for the whole
family, including men and boys.
Ghida Anani added: “Poverty increases violence, and in turn, violence increases poverty as
abused women are often unable to help support the family. It undermines
and destroys women’s dignity, confidence, and self-respect, often preventing
them from seeking out and taking advantage of opportunties that could better
their lives, and that of their families. While it is important that women
learn about their own rights and how to receive help if they are abused, it is
at least equally important that the mindset that allows for men to commit acts
of violence begins to change. Because once that changes, the abuse itself
will decline.”
Oxfam GB and KAFA consulted some 75
different non-governmental organisations based in Yemen,
Palestine, Lebanon,
Iraq, Egypt,
Syria and Jordan
in developing the training guide. While all of the core messages
remain the same, the guide was designed to adapt to different social, economic,
religious or other realities in any given community in the region.
Educational techniques in tribal areas of rural Yemen,
for example, might look completely different from less traditional societies in
Lebanon.
Magda El-Sanousi, Oxfam
GB’s Lebanon Country Director, said: “The face of
violence against women and girls may look different in different places.
It affects rich and poor, Christians and Muslims, educated and uneducated and
rural and urban women. But fundamentally the problem is the same. In Yemen,
early marriage seriously affects the health of young girls and perpetuates
poverty. In Iraq,
violence against women as well as sexual trafficking of young widows and other
poor women is reportedly on the rise. In Jordan
‘honour’ killings is an enormous concern. All of this amounts to violence
against women.”
Last week, men and women ministers
in the Lebanese Cabinet passed a law that, for the first time, would
criminalise violence against women in the country. KAFA campaigned
tirelessly for the new law – which still needs to be passed by
parliament. Both KAFA and Oxfam see its initial acceptance as a triumph,
but also as but one of the first bricks in a long road that needs to be paved
in Lebanon
and throughout the region.
El-Sanousi of Oxfam GB
added: “We may not be able to change the balance of power
between men and women in Arab society overnight. However, this new law
shows that change is possible, and the fact that the Minister of Social Affairs
is hosting today’s event in Beirut in itself shows the investment men have
begun making to end violence against women. So change is possible
elsewhere, even if there is a long road ahead of us. This new training
guide bringing men from around the Arab world into the discussion, will put us
several steps farther down that road and closer to our goal of ending violence
against women in the region.”
For more information, please contact:
Ghida Anani, KAFA Programme
Co-Ordinator, +961 (3) 663052, +961 (0) 1 392220/1, ghida.anani@kafa.org.lb
Madga El-Sanousi, Oxfam GB’s Lebanon
Country Director, +961 (70) 974678, melsanousi@oxfam.org.uk