The Stream

Silence doesn’t heal the pain

A draft law targetting domestic abuse sparks debate between Lebanese human rights organisations and religious clerics.

Lebanon’s parliament is considering a draft bill that would criminalise all types of domestic abuse. The bill has been met with resistance by religious organisations, including Dar Al Fatwa, the highest Sunni authority in Lebanon, which believe the bill is too “western”. Proponents of the law have pushed their case online, organising demonstrations via Facebook and sharing accounts of violence via YouTube.

The bill was originally drafted in 2007 by a group of NGOs including KAFA (which means “enough”) a woman’s rights organisation in Lebanon. The law would criminalise physical, mental and sexual abuse, marital rape and so-called honour crimes. Public prosecutors would be assigned to investigate complaints and punishments would include fines and prison terms. Additionally, women could file restraining orders against offenders. Proponents of the law hope to help to increase women’s rights in Lebanon. While accurate statistics of domestic violence in Lebanon are hard to find, campaigners behind the law estimate that at least 75 per cent of women in the country will experience domestic violence at some point in their lives.

KAFA has begun a campaign called “Silence doesn’t heal the pain” that has attracted a lot of attention in social media. Their organisation page has attracted more than 3000 likes on Facebook and their primary avatar is a drawing of a woman with a black eye whose mouth is covered by bandages. Supporters of the organisation have shared videos and photos of demonstrations in support of the bill. In one YouTube video, a woman speaking at a rally in Lebanon is translated as saying: “Protecting my family is a right and my right was traded for tradition that allows an offender to control me and imposes a long silence on me.”

Opposition to the law has come primarily from religious authorities in the country also saying they are working to protect families. Dar al-Fatwa, the highest Sunni authority in the country, rejected the law. In a statement on its website it said, “This will have a negative impact on Muslim children… who will see their mother threatening their father with prison, in defiance of patriarchal authority, which will in turn undermine the moral authority [of fathers]….”

On The Stream we invited two women with two opposing views to discuss the bill. Sounary Nouh, a self-described social activist, argued that existing laws were already enough to protect women from assault and battery. Because of the law’s provisions for mandatory reporting and preventing women from dropping a complaint, Nouh argued the law “considers women not to be mature enough to make such a decision.” Nadine Moawad, a women’s rights activist, disagreed. “Empowering women within our strictly patriarchal system to be able to report violence and speak up against violence. We know that the current laws are not enough because the reports show that large numbers of women are still silent about domestic violence.”

These are some of the social media elements featured in this episode of The Stream.