This Wednesday, the 19th of August at 6:30 PM, Nasawiya hosted a talk in its new office in Ashrafieh, by the social worker Abeer Mezher.

Abeer’s talk centered around the mechanisms to protect women from partner violence. She stressed on the difference between using the terms domestic, family and conjugal violence.

Abeer’s power point presentation included discussion on preventive measures for violence, intervention methods, awareness versus laws, compensations, and more.

Abeer focused on the need to create a violence free space through:
- Awareness about violence and its different forms.
- Classification of violence as a crime, and not as a personal issue that ought to be addressed differently, as it is in lebanon and a big section of the Arab world,
- Training doctors and police me/women  in a way to help them realize the dangers of violence to be able to report it properly.

Abeer also talked about the process in which conjugal violence is being applied:
- Taking the violent partner to jail.
- Taking the woman directly to a safe space, and the kids, in case there were any.
- How the laws are applied.

Abeer then moved on to discuss the secret centers where women are taken in, away from the violent partner until there is a trial, or finding solution for the situation,
stressing on the feminist approach of having these centers, by empowering woman to fight and protect themselves against violence, and eventually become productive 
and empowered instead of jobless, so they can feel the power to be independent even if the decision has to do with their violent partner.

Abeer as well talked about the trials and the level of violence in which the level of verdict is decided upon, either by sending him to jail or by sentencing him for public social work,
or restriction order, or deprivation of custody, or a counseling follow up through anger management classes. It is worth noting that more than 80 to 90% of violent partners do not change
their violent behavior or abuse, but find their ways around into giving it different shapes, even after facing their first sentences.

Abeer also mentioned that based on statistics, 95% of conjugal violence, is from men to women, male to female partner, while only 5% of partner violence is woman against partner or male against other male partners.
 
Nasawiya would like to deeply thank Abeer for her impressive, educative, and pleasurable talk and hope for further cooperation. The power point presentation can be uploaded upon request and is in Arabic.

This Monday, a group of Nasawiyas organized a fund raising dinner in Walimit Warda to gather money for a Sudanese girl living in Lebanon and being treated from cancer. This event follows a series of fund raising and solidarity events planned in Washington and Khartoum after the initial fundraiser 2 months ago in Lebanon.

Back then, the Sudanese community in Lebanon organized a fund raising event on a quiet Sunday in Ouzai for 4 Sudanese children who suffer from cancer and reside in Lebanon, one of which has already passed away since then. Mid way through the event, the Lebanese GSOs raided the placed, assaulted everyone, cut the event down, hit people, insulted them, swore at them and practiced racism in its rudest forms.

This is why alternative fund raisers needed to be done, not only to get money raised but to highlight the urgency on this issue and how it relates to all other oppressions in Lebanon. What the Sudanese community faced on that day is part and parcel of a whole system that other marginalized communities in Lebanon face on a daily basis in different forms.

The event included live performances by Ahmad Kaabour, Issa Ghandour and Masrah AlDouma. Dr. AbdelMeneem, a Sudanese community leader and refugee in Lebanon for 2 years and Aimee Razanjay, a Madagascari community leader residing in Lebanon for the past 12 years shared their stories and gave witness reports on their activism and all the hardships it entails throughout their stay here.

Through the generous donations of people who attended the night and those who supported without coming, we were able to raise 1894$ for the girl.

A big thank you to every person who worked on making this event a success.

Our member Joelle Hatem has produced a video showcasing achievements in women’s rights in Lebanon and examples of what remains to be done.

The video was produced for our training program “Ghayreh 3adtik Bitzeed S3adtik – Feminist Tools for Change” which aims at empowering women with the knowledge, tools and resources to bring about change from a feminist perspective.

The message of the video is simple: Change is possible. We just have to work on it.

If you’d like to us to take the training program to your university, school, organization or group, please write to farah[at]nasawiya.org.

Since the beginning of the year, we’ve been traveling Lebanon with our training program “Ghayreh 3adtik Bitzeed S3adtik” – Feminist Tools for Change.

Primarily targeted at young women, the objective of the program is to provide them with the knowledge, tools and resources on organizing for change, be it by undertaking legal reform, grassroots pressure, building a community, raising awareness, creating support groups, or running for public office – all from a feminist perspective.

To help us promote the program, we’re developing a poster campaign. We’re looking for women aged 18 – 40 years with expressive faces to front the campaign. We’re looking for women who’d be able to express a wide range of emotions such as joy, sadness, fear, anger, surprise, anticipation, sadness, disappointment, awe, and frustration.

If you’d like to take part in one of our photo shoots, please email farah@nasawiya.org, attaching a portrait of yourself.