Nasawiya is pleased to invite you to a conference on its training program, “Feminist Tools for Change”!

The conference aims at introducing the audience to the objectives of our training program and how we can cooperate on it. Nasawiya had launched this training program back in April 2010 and it includes new ideas and methodology on how to make change from a feminist perspective. It discusses differences between gender and sex, feminism and women’s rights, power dynamics, intersectionality of issues, etc… We would love to have you join our conference and more so, cooperate after it to organize sessions with your organizations and stakeholders.

Date: Tuesday – 7th of September 2010

Time: 2 pm to 5 pm

Location: Beirut – Hamra – Al Madina Theater

Please confirm attendance at maya.elhelou@gmail.com or call 03 – 874 147 / 70- 800 258

Welcome to the first edition of Nasawiya’s newsletter.

 As you know, a year ago a group of us young feminists launched the Feminist Collective (FC) in Beirut.

 After an exciting feminist 2009 full of achievements – and disappointments – and after a few months of hiatus that were not without brainstorming, discussions and conversations, we relaunched a re-attempt at a feminist collective organized differently under Nasawiya (which means “feminist” in Arabic) and with our dear Farah Salka as General Coordinator.

 Here’s a round up of what we’ve been up to over the past six months:

1) On this year’s International Women’s Day, we decided once again to take to the streets to interact with people and raise awareness about women’s issues. Our actions included invisible theater performances, a special partnership with Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, and a “Take Back the Night” march for All our rights.

Read more. 

2) After a few months of hiatus, we relaunched our feminist magazine, Sawt Al Niswa (Women’s Voice), in the form of a feminist webspace, serving the Arab region and the world. The website is designed to function as a pool of knowledge, hosting the various social and political commentaries by women, while questioning the kind of feminist discourse they want to speak and express themselves through.

Visit the site.

3) After a series of successful workshops on empowering young women to use ICTs for social change and an equally successful gender initiative at ArabNetME, we launched Take Back the Tech in Lebanon. As members of the global collective Take Back the Tech, we’re working on reclaiming information and communication technology (ICT) to promote gender equality, through specialized workshops led by women experts in their fields and related initiatives.

Read more.

4) We’ve been traveling Lebanon with “Ghayreh 3adtik Bitzeed S3adtik – Feminist Tools for Change” a training program for women on how to use feminism as a tool for change. The program is designed to provide participants with the knowledge, tools and resources to organize and bring about change – all from a feminist perspective. So far, we’ve visited different schools, universities, scouts groups, youth groups and communities, training over 200 people from different age groups. To learn more about the program or book your sessions, write to farah@nasawiya.org.

Read more.   

5) We worked with the Arab Network of Young Feminists to build a collective network of support for young Arab women activists in the region. Members from Nasawiya participated in the launching meeting of the Network in Cairo April of this year. Tons of networking and joint efforts lie ahead for the months and years to come for this young network. Follow this link for updates: http://www.yafn.org

6) Driven by our belief that sectarianism discriminates against women and between women of different sects, we took part in the first Lebanese Laïque Pride – the march for secularism in Lebanon, as a feminist block.

See photos.

7) Migrant Workers Task Force: Through joint initiatives and/or stand-alone projects, we’ve been working to highlight the plight of migrant domestic workers in Lebanon and the Arab World and combat the discrimination they are subjected to.

Read more.

8 ) Since the beginning of the year, we’ve been holding periodic Feminist Discussions (Kira’at Nasawiya) which serve as open-invitation gatherings for members, friends and interested individuals to explore and discuss issues and topics of interest from a feminist perspective. Our discussions so far have tackled the women’s quota, anarchism and collective living, invisible “isms”, the Armenian genocide, and BDS strategies after the Flotilla attack.

9) On Friday, August 20, 2010, an overjoyed crowd of feminists gathered at Nasawiya’s new space in Beirut to celebrate its much-anticipated inauguration. During the evening, while many raised their glasses to bridge past initiatives with those to come, others played baby-foot, or indulged in tarot reading sessions. Nevertheless, the highlight of the evening was SoliRose’s (Samia AbouSamra and Nia Witherspoon) intense and moving live ceremonial performance. Where sexism, racism, heteronormativity, and classism often pass as the norm, Nasawiya’s new space is a beam of light that looks promising enough to embrace feminists in a vibrant atmosphere of activism. Nasawiya is now located on Chahrouri Street, Braidi Building, 1st Floor, Facing “Laure Mghayzel High-School for Girls” – Ashrafieh.

This is merely a wrap up of our work so far. There’ll be a lot more to do and report on in the months to come.

You can follow our news on:

          •  Our official website: http://nasawiya.org

          •  Twitter: http://twitter.com/nasawiya

          •  Facebook Fan Page

          •  YouTube Channel: http://youtube.com/feministcollective

          •  Sawt Al Niswa: http://sawtalniswa.com

          •  Ghayreh 3adtik Bitzeed S3adtik – Feminist Tools for Change: http://nasawiya.org/ghayri

Feel free to drop us a line, if you have any questions or suggestions at farah@nasawiya.org

We look forward to working with you on achieving gender justice in Lebanon and across the Arab World!

On Friday, August 20, 2010, an overjoyed crowd of feminists gathered at Nasawiya’s new space in Beirut to celebrate its much-anticipated inauguration.

During the evening, while many raised their glasses to bridge past initiatives with those to come, others played baby-foot, or indulged in tarot reading sessions. Nevertheless, the highlight of the evening was SoliRose’s intense and moving live ceremonial performance. 

“SoliRose – whose core members are Samia Abou-Samra and Nia Witherspoon – is an emerging ceremonial music venture which seeks to enact home/culture-making in Diaspora by calling on the power of the ancestral lines, and the lands that shaped them. With explicit influences from Lebanon/the Levant, Turkey, North and West Africa, and Flamenco, SoliRose, named after Samia and Nia’s grandmothers and great-grandmothers, seeks to recombine the diversity of musical styles in a way that organically reflects their actual crossings, in both the old world and in the new.”

Where sexism, racism, heteronormativity, and classism often pass as the norm, Nasawiya’s new space is a beam of light that looks promising enough to embrace feminists in a vibrant atmosphere of activism.

With Nasawiya’s bright feminists, we trust that the revolution can only go forth.

For more info please contact Farah at farah@nasawiya.org!

—————-

Nasawiya is now located on Chahrouri Street, Braidi Building, 1st Floor, Facing “Laure Mghayzel High-School for Girls” – Ashrafieh.

By: Shant (www.bekhsoos.com)

Twenty participants from seven Arab countries went to Cairo in April to launch the
first Young Arab Feminist Network (YAFN). This initiative, created to provide a
critical and progressive space for young Arab feminists, aims at challenging the
women’s rights movement to become less elitist and more inclusive. It also aims to
provide capacity building in gender justice organising and activism as well as
create a new feminist discourse in the region.
During the four-day meeting, participants developed the network’s vision, goals,
structure and activities. Network members discussed issues as diverse as
disability, Muslim feminism, sexuality, VAW, Arab women’s movement’s support
for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS campaign) against Israel, and
discrimination against women in family laws.

The meeting included a session on Musawah and a presentation on Muslim
Feminism by Fatma Emam. The Musawah opening video initiated discussions
about the importance of making gender-just, progressive theological arguments
accessible to youth. The sharing of this knowledge may provide pathways to
women’s empowerment and reclaiming women’s voices in producing knowledge
on Muslim jurisprudence.
YAFN has started its work and is aiming to do outreach and get out to the millions of
women in the Arab region. To join or learn more on the network, contact farah@nasawiya.org

كان يا ما كان نهار الأربعاء الماضي الواقع في 19 آب/أغسطس، استضافت “المجموعة النسوية” في بيتها الجديد الواقع في منطقة الأشرفية – شارع الشحروري، العاملة الاجتماعية “عبير مزهر”* للحديث عن “آليات حماية المرأة من العنف الزوجي”.

بدأت الندوة عند الساعة السادسة والنصف بحضور عدد من النسويات والنسويين، وتناول عرض الباوربوينت الذي أعدته “عبير” المحاور التالية: وقاية المرأة من العنف الزوجي (توعية وقوانين) – التدخل (مكان آمن – تطبيق قوانين – تعويضات).

وأكدت “عبير” في المحور الأول على ضرورة خلق بيئة رافضة للعنف من خلال:

أولا، التوعية الاجتماعية عن ماهية العنف وأشكاله المختلفة (مدارس، شرطة، أطباء، عاملين في الحقل الاجتماعي والطبي والأمني والقضائي، النساء المعنفات، انشاء خط ساخن للابلاغ عن الحالات).

وثانيا، سن القوانين الحامية للمرأة التي تصنف العنف كجريمة وليس كمسألة شخصية كما هو الحال حاليا في لبنان وعدد كبير من الدول العربية، وتسهيل عمليات الابلاغ عن جرائم العنف من قبل الأطباء والشرطة والعامة.

كذلك تحدثت “عبير” عن آلية التعاطي مع حالات العنف عبر الخطوات التالية: حجز الشريك العنيف – نقل المرأة المعنفة الى مكان آمن (والأولاد في حال وجودهم) – تطبيق القوانين. وأسهبت في الحديث عن الملاجئ السرية التي يتم ايواء المرأة فيها بعيدا عن الشريك العنيف الى حين المحاكمة أو ايجاد حلول لها، مؤكدة على طابع العمل النسوي لهذه الملاجئ، حيث يتم تشجيع المرأة على العمل والقيام بالنشاطات لتكون منتجة بدلا من عاطلة عن العمل، ولتشعر بقدرتها على اتخاذ قراراتها الشخصية حتى لو كان القرار أن تعود الى شريكها العنيف.

وقالت “عبير” أن المحاكمة تتم على أساس نوع ودرجة العنف (جسدي، كلامي، ديني، نفسي، جنسي…)، ويصدر الحكم على الشريك العنيف بناء على ذلك اما بالسجن أو الخدمة العامة الاجتماعية أو باطلاق سراح مشروط أو حرمان من الحضانة أو متابعة نفسية وادخاله برنامج السيطرة على الغضب. لكنها لفتت الى أن 80 الى 90% من الرجال العنيفين لا يغيرون سلوكهم العنيف بالرغم من تعرضهم لهذه العقوبات.

كذلك أشارت “عبير” الى أن 95 % من حالات العنف تكون من قبل الرجل ضد المرأة، فيما 5% تكون العكس، كما لفتت الى أن الشريكين قد يكونان من جندرين مختلفين أو مماثلين (مغايري/ات الجنس أو مثليي/ات الجنس).

“نسوية” تتوجه بالشكر العميق ل”عبير” على هذه الندوة الشيقة والممتعة، وتتمنى تعاونا قريبا مشتركا!

ملاحظة: عرض “باوربوينت” جاهز للتحميل لمن يرغب/ترغب.