Gender-based violence has become one of the most pressing concerns at the global level. The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women was passed in the General Assembly in December of 1993 highlighting the urgent need for responding to gender inequality. The Beijing Platform of Action listed violence against women as one of the twelve critical areas of concern identified. Understanding and reacting to gender based violence has intensified over the years with Kofi Annan declaring violence against women as “the most shameful human rights violation” and one that has no geographic, cultural, educational, or economic boundaries. Gender-based violence has also broadened in context and found itself on the security agenda with rape officially recognized in international law as a weapon of war. This issue of Al-Raida seeks to further the discussion on gender-based violence and to examine its translation and practice at the local and regional level. How is gender-based violence being addressed in the Arab World?

We are interested in receiving papers based on academic studies or critical essays that address concerns related to gender-based violence in the Arab World. Topics of interest may include but are not limited to the following:

• The various forms of gender-based violence in the Arab World
• Gender-based violence in times of conflict and crises
• Domestic violence in the Arab World
• Domestic workers and gender based violence
• Prevention of gender-based violence
• Legally condoned forms of gender-based violence in the Arab world (e.g. marital rape, honor killings, FGM, etc.)
• Prosecution of gender-based violence

If you are interested in contributing to this issue of Al-Raida, kindly send your abstract (250-300 words) no later than May 20, 2011. All abstracts submitted are reviewed by Al-Raida’s editorial staff and are subject to its approval. Once the abstract is approved contributors will have to submit their paper no later than August 10, 2011. Submissions are accepted in English, Arabic, or French. All non-English submissions will be translated by IWSAW and published in English following the approval of the author.

This journal edition will be edited by Dr. Rita Sabat, Assistant Professor of International Relations at Notre Dame University, Louaize. Kindly send your emails simultaneously to the managing editor, Ms. Myriam Sfeir, at al-raida@lau.edu.lb and to the guest editor, Dr. Rita Sabat, at rsabat@ndu.edu.lb

After a few months of hiatus, Sawt Al Niswa (Women’s Voice), our feminist magazine is back.

This time, it’s bigger, better and online, serving the Arab region and the world.

Originally launched on March 8, 2009 by a group of Lebanon-based feminist women to coincide with International Women’s Day, Sawt Al Niswa (SAN) appeared in three monthly editions, before the editorial staff realized they had to make some changes to be able to keep it running.

“We had very limited resources,” explains SAN editor Sara Abu Ghazal, “but we knew it had a lot of potential because it was highly in demand, and people kept asking us to make it available online. So after much thinking and tweaking, we decided to turn into an e-zine to make it more accessible, more frequent, and more interactive without burning ourselves out in the process.”

SAN will be updated regularly with posts, articles, features, opinion pieces and commentaries in both Arabic and English.

The website is designed to function as a pool of knowledge. It hosts the various social and political commentaries by women, while questioning the kind of feminist discourse they want to speak and express themselves through.

The voice(s) within the website contribute to the construction of an Arab feminist discourse, reflecting a spectrum of Arab reality (ies), the same way Nasawiya and friends in the region reflect on Arab feminism attempts.

Sawt Al Niswa welcomes submissions investigating any topic from a feminist lens by writers, artists and activists in the Arab World, be they articles, reports, opinion pieces, photo and/or written essays, and artwork.

Please contact the editors at editor[@]sawtalniswa.com for more information about submissions and guidelines.

The first issue is now on sale for LBP 1,000 ($0.66) and has been going with us around the streets on Women’s Day. We’ll upload it as a PDF file soon on our website.

Alf, alf mabrouk li Sawt al Niswa!

هذه الصفحة غير متوفرة باللغة العربية