Home Studies Marital Violence in Lebanon – Field Study
Studies - September 28, 2013

Marital Violence in Lebanon – Field Study

Dr. Fahmia Chrafeddine
The field work is supervised by researcher Caroline Succar Salibi

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Violence against Women in Lebanon

Causes, Forms and Expectations

Introduction

The issue of violence is a core problem of our society, and is tied to all its pivotal issues. Attempting to explicate this phenomenon in its various aspects and dimensions confronts us with the progress or the stagnation of our society and our views on the two concepts of culture of violence and discrimination against women. It also confronts us with societal transformation and the reason for the absence of real concomitant social change inside the family which retained the features of male patriarchal authority despite the emergence of new factors that changed the dynamics of the functions and the roles entrusted to it.

Many sociologists lay the responsibility for the sluggishness and stagnation of the social situation in our country on the family situation which is exclusively governed by religious canons with all the ensuing disparities between the rights of men and women within and across sects. As long as it is not possible to challenge the source of civil status law and its contents, Lebanese women will remain second class citizens, violence against women and girls will remain widespread and concealed, and gender discrimination will remain effective in our educational and instructional systems as well as in our media and values. Therefore, our role and the role of women’s organizations is a pressing need in order to work on changing this reality.

In this respect and since 1995, the Lebanese Democratic Women’s Gathering has been conducting a comprehensive program for opposing violence against women which constitutes a major obstacle between women and their human rights. The gathering is well aware that the diligent effort to advance the cause of women in Lebanon should not be restricted to activist work but requires in-depth research into the historical and political path of women’s issues and a scientific analysis of the nature of existing relations between the two sexes and the current cultural and social structures. These are the foundations of this study on violence against women with its various angles and the potential danger it poses amid the negligence of the government and society, and the role of nongovernmental organizations in confronting this situation and helping women to face this problem.

Furthermore, studying the reality of violence and hostility toward women aims to expose the often tyrannical, authoritative, and exploitative discrimination against women in an attempt to deligitimize these practices, divulge these violations, and break the silence around them and around their deep-rooted processes in society. All of this is in line with promulgating women’s rights which cannot be obtained without achieving a woman’s right to her physical and psychological safety and her right to personal dignity.

The aim of this study is also to improve our understanding of the reality of female victims of violence in Lebanon, in light of the interviews that were conducted with Lebanese women from a variety of sociological, cultural and social segments. These rich and diverse interviews allowed us to delve deeper into the secret lives of women, their buried feelings, their fragmented identities, and their denied right to physical safety and personal dignity, in a way that turned each case into a study by itself.

This will create momentum for more work and debate on this important topic that remained shrouded in silence for a very long time.

Finally, the gathering extends its gratitude and appreciation to all those who collaborated in the completion of this project. Special thanks to Dr. Fahmia Charafeddine, Miss Fatima al Zoghbi (Assistant Researcher), Mr. Tony Chahwan (Researcher), and the team that conducted the field work.

The gathering also extends its gratitude to the coordinator of the project for eliminating violence against women, Mrs. Caroline Succar Salibi, for her efforts, and to the women with whom the interviews were conducted who opened their hearts and were highly cooperative.

Finally, many thanks to Miss Rana Sayed for her diligent work on translating this study.

 

 

Section one:

1. Study Framework:

Discussing violence against women in Arab societies remains very difficult. In addition to its classification among private family issues which are guarded by customs and traditions, these discussions provoke the patriarchal culture of the society and the various forms of the-so called cultural specificity, “to the extent that merely talking about it in our Arab societies provokes resistance”. The third Arab human development report indicates that this is due to the fact that “the exploratory studies that allow tracking forms of violence across the Arab societies are still in their infancy”1

Most Arab researchers (Hisham Shrabi, Mustapha Hijazi, Ali Ziour, Haleem Barakat, and many others) agree that the deep roots of the masculine culture in our Arab societies still stands as a firm barrier against any reform in the value system that guides our social lives.

Hisham Shrabi became quickly aware of the relational problems that plague the Arab society, and he noted that the organic relationship between the cultural value system and the stability of patriarchal power is linked to the stagnation that characterizes our Arab societies.

According to Hisham Shrabi, patriarchal culture is “not reason but blocked reason”2, and the culture of blocked reason shuts the door in the face of questioning and research and thinking.

This was later confirmed (2002) by the first Arab Human Development report which placed the shortage in the empowerment of women and the improvement of their social status on an equal footing with the shortage of freedom and the shortage of knowledge production, and it made all three elements equally important in the processes of development and advancement. In an important chapter on the position of women in Arab societies, Dr. Mustapha Hijazi saw women as “the most blatant example of oppression in all its aspects, dynamics and apology in Arab society”3. Dr. Hijazi describes the different faces of oppression through three spoliations that befall women in varying degrees depending on the level of progress of the local societies they live in. These are: “the economic spoliation, the sexual spoliation, the belief spoliation”.

Dr. Hijazi believes that the exploitation of women through these spoliations does not happen in a direct manner, but like all forms of aggression, , as Pierre Bourdieu would say, it needs to be transformed into symbolic violence, i.e. by suppressing its exploitative nature through surrounding women with a collection of myths that make it appear legitimate, even natural4.

Thus, violence is sometimes transformed from visible into concealed violence which is Bourdieu’s symbolic violence “tranquil violence, unseen, unfelt even by its victims”. This violence is characterized by the fact that the victim and the executioner share the same views about the world and the levels of social, economic, sexual, and cultural life. They both consider “domination” as a given. Symbolic violence, as the interviews will show, imposes these assumptions and presents them as immutable facts.

Thus, the first step in opposing violence, as the fourth Arab Human Development report devoted to the rise of the Arab woman said, is “fighting its concealment, exposing it, and tearing the veil of silence that surrounds it both in the public and private spheres”5.

However, speaking about violence in Arab societies does not signify its absence in the rest of the world. It is a global problem that led the United Nations’ General Assembly to take the initiative and decide to undertake an in-depth study regarding all patterns and forms of violence against women in the world (resolution 158/85). During the international day against violence towards women, UNDP (United Nations Development Program) General Manager Kamal Darwish stated that “while it is difficult to estimate the extent of the spread of violence against women, because it often goes unreported, the WHO (World Health Organization) estimates that a quarter of women in the world are victims of rape, battery or forced sexual relations during their lives, and no country or community can pretend to be free of family violence, which crosses the boundaries of culture, class, education, income, ethnicity, age, etc.”.

In our Lebanese society the prevailing culture and the civil status laws, which are governed by the various religious authorities, cast a sacred halo on the family and family relations thereby preventing any progress toward the modification of the patterns and roles of men and women and creating obstacles to the adjustment of the views that surround the lives of women and their roles in society.

The conclusions presented by the Director of the United Nations Development Program were confirmed by the few studies that have been conducted on violence against women in Lebanon. The culture of violence against women in Lebanon crosses community, confessional, educational, religious, and city boundaries. The image of women is being reshaped by the various social institutions (family, school, and media). The study conducted by Fahmia Charafeddine and Aman Shaarani on the image of women in the new Arabic language and education primary programs confirmed that the new school programs were reproducing the same traditional expectations as to the image and the roles of women, and that attributes like rationality, independence, leadership freedom, and creativity were male attributes in these books 6.

This conclusion is also supported by,field research as gender discrimination against children does not seem to raise questions among girls. The sampled respondents in the study on ”the culture of violence against women in Lebanon”7 found it “normal”, one of them because her brother was an only son, another because her brother was the youngest in the family, and very few of them expressed an awareness of discrimination. In this regard, anthropologists indicate that the defeat of the female gender is so ancient that it appears as a fact of nature.

John Stuart Mill used the concept of the “law of force” saying that “the principle that regulates the social relations between the two genders (male and female) and legitimzes the submission of one gender to the other is inherently wrong …”8. In Mill’s view, the law of force constitutes an obstacle in the path of human development because the difficulty lies in the fact that the issue involves a group of emotions that must be overcome”,”as long as gender inequality remains rooted in the people’s emotions ,refuting these arguments shakes the foundations of this belief.”

In his important book, “Sociology”9, Anthony Giddens mentions that consecutive studies by Connell (1987-1998) raised the main question that leads to the creation and maintenance of inequality between men and women. . Connell states that gender relations in modern societies, meaning the western capitalist societies “are still subject to paternal authority and the resulting patterns of masculinity and femininity on the individual level continue to revolve around the core postulate of the supremacy of men over women”.

Connell apparently uses the supremacy concept as it was developed by Gramsci. Supremacy in this sense refers to “the social domination exercised by a particular group in a particular society not through overwhelming power but through a set of cultural values that seep into the contents of private life and the various fields of social life. This supremacy expands and takes root through different channels including the media, educational institutions, and cultural and confessional guidance”.

Male supremacy first begins with sexual relations and marriage, and spreads through authority, power, salaried work, and sheer physical force.

In this hierarchical pyramid of male supremacy, the various types of femininity occupy inferior submissive levels in most circumstances. The attributes and classifications of women revolve around value configurations that operate in favor of the interests of men and their desires, and are on the whole characterized by qualities like “submission, docility, caring, and empathy”. Women movements and human rights movements became aware of cultural violence early on and tried to include it in all the declarations pertaining to women. This is how the fourth article of the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women which was adopted in 1993 appeared. This article states the following: “States should condemn violence against women and should not invoke any customs, or religious traditions to circumvent their obligations regarding the elimination of such violence”10. “States should pursue the policy of eliminating violence against women using all appropriate means and without delay”. This article addresses all kinds of violence including violence undertaken in the name of a symbolic principle. It is as if this declaration is trying to lay the foundations for eliminating all the reservations that could arise as it happened in this declaration and in the international Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women11.

This could be the primary purpose of the report of the Secretary General regarding violence against women which was published as “an in-depth study of all forms of violence against women”.

So what is the situation of violence against women in Lebanon?

How does this violence relate to the beliefs and emotions produced by inequality?

How is violence perpetrated against women inside the family?

What are its types?

How do women fight this violence?

How do they respond in the absence of legal and social protection mechanisms?

2. Violence against women in Lebanese ethics: studies, methodologies, results

2.1. Addressing the subject of violence against women in Arab societies is recent, and along with other issues such as democracy and human rights, it made its way into Arabic speech and research at the end of the last century in the course of the significant transformations that swelt through thought, politics, and society on the international level.

Our Arab societies broke the barrier of silence that surrounds the lives of women and they dared in different degrees to open the subject of violence against women. This has produced a varied academic output and a survey of the different cases (honor crimes, wife beating, …)12. Despite this, we can say that research on violence against women remains scarce if not rare in view of the importance of the issue.

The subject is still far from being quantitatively analyzed. For instance, it is not possible to know the number of female victims of violence in Lebanon, and what can be accessed in the files of police departments or religious courts does not even represent the tip of the iceberg.

The few13 studies about violence against women have clearly and explicitly shown that violence against women in Lebanon is a basic element of Lebanese culture, and the various images of the lives of different women, educated or illiterate, urban or rural, working in the highest echelons of the employment and professional ladder (engineers, doctors, pharmacists), or in the lowest (agricultural workers, maids in homes or hotels), married or single and unemployed. These various images were drawn by a universal culture that has expertise in concealing social and religious differences, and they slip through the meanders of life from childhood to death, sometimes visible and many times not, to brand the lives of these women with the stigma of discrimination and violence that will accompany their lives and confine their hopes and dreams.

The testimonies were given a lot of importance in this study because they belong to ordinary women that did not come to us as victims of violence, but were selected among women living like everyone else, a life that is not like any life however because under constant threat, and as Maryam says in one of the testimonies, I found myself suddenly labeled as a “persona non grata.” Being a female was not encouraged in her family. They were expecting a boy and when she was born “my mother forgot she had a daughter called Maryam”.

In a second study by Dr Rafif Sidawi entitled “Maids 2000”, conducted on a sample of female victims of violence who had taken refuge at the Lebanese society against violence, the researcher attempted to start from that sample in order to determine the types and forms of violence and the reactions of the women towards it. The researcher showed, using qualitative analysis and historical explanation, that violence represents the intersection between the elements that constitute the family value system. The authority of the father, the brother, and the husband are different aspects of the same problem. As Hisham Shrabi says, it is “the profound and continuous hostility toward women” even though the degree varies and it is an attribute of Arab societies.

In a field study on opposing violence towards women within the family, the two researchers Samir Khoury and Mary Khoury found that one of the major obstacles to the awareness of violence resides in that the refusal of women to admit its presence. Women are either unable to speak because they are unable to suffer the consequences, or they accept the violence and consider it part of “normal” life in light of how widespread the phenomenon is in the family life of all the social segments, regions, and confessions,14

In addition to these studies, there are a few exploratory studies such as the one conducted by Aziza al Khalidi in 2000 on the spread of domestic violence in Palestinian families. Of course, many of the periodic reports conducted by Lebanese and international anti-violence institutions provide additional substance to the picture of violence against women in Lebanon. These studies and reports all lead us to the cautious assertion that violence and discrimination affect all women in one way or another and that the element of punishment or reprimand is fundamental in our educational system. If punishment is deemed necessary to adjust the behavior of children, it is essential for achieving the subjugation of women and their adaptation to the family value system. In one of the Lebanese national seminars on violence, female participants responded to a simple one-question survey: “Is there a woman among you who has not been beaten or scolded from her childhood to the present day?” The unanimous answer was no; they were beaten or scolded for no other reason than being women.

In an attempt to identify the reasons behind family violence, the “Progress of Arab Women” report issued by UNIFEM in 2004 indicated that “the wife-beating and domestic violence in Arab societies are linked to the view of intellectual and social authorities on this issue which they insist on considering ” normal”15.

Domestic violence, as shown by case studies and field studies is part of the Lebanese family culture. Females are exposed to violence from their birth to the last moment of their lives. In popular belief having a daughter is misfortune. This is why when a boy is born there is an outbreak of joy and when a girl is born the women come to comfort the unfortunate mother and these ideas have not apparently changed much. In an interesting testimony given by a young woman who was not much older than 25 at the time, she stated that she was discriminated against in everything: “in clothing, play, and pampering”. Although all the testimonies that were collected in the course of this study16confirmed that beating, disciplining, detention, and deprivation as punishment tools were part of the educational system of the Lebanese family regardless of its environment (rural or urban) or its religious identity, they also confirmed that the beating of girls was entirely different: “a girl was beaten every time she or he-her brother- made a mistake”.

In adolescence symbolic violence was added to physical violence. Discrimination had another flavor: “it traced the current direction of my future life” said one of the witnesses. Adolescence is the period when symbolic perceptions of the roles of women and men are formed, as well as ideas like submission and dependency, and symbolic values like obedience and shame. These are basic rules that families dictate.

In our Lebanese society, where the subject of violence against women is closely related to the prevalent patriarchal culture that is based on the power of males over females and their supremacy over them in every field, a link is established between violence and punishment, between violence and beliefs, between violence and morality, and in all these dyads women alone take on the burden of their behavior and the behavior of men17. This is how the violence that accompanies women from birth to death is justified and concealed.

There is no social or legal acknowledgement of violence against women except in homicide cases and even then various justifications are given, morally based on the system of traditions and customs, and legally since the Lebanese penal law still discriminates against women in articles related to homicide18.

Legal discrimination in this case is very indicative. The numerous Lebanese laws that discriminate against women eliminate the ability to fight violence. There is no definition for violence in legal circles or police departments and the matter of evaluating violence is left up to them. For example, violence does not constitute grounds for divorce and not only are any deterring mechanisms or laws to protect women completely absent; there is no demand for them yet.

2.2. Denouncing violence & current wavering

The issue of violence lagged behind the other issues that were handled by United Nations entities. Although the Human Rights Declaration called for the acknowledgement of women as human beings with economic and social rights, a clear reference to the violence inflicted on them came somewhat late. A clear stance on the issue of a woman’s human rights was not taken until the declaration and action program of the Vienna Conference that was held in June 1992. Section 3, Paragraph 18 states: “The human rights of women and the girl-child are an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of universal human rights . The full and equal participation of women in political, civil, social and cultural life, at the national, regional and international levels, and the eradication of all forms of discrimination on grounds of sex are priority objectives of the international community.”

And although the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) was issued years before (1989), it did not address the issue of violence as it was discussed in the agreement. It was not until 1992 that the Committee for the Elimination of All Form of Discrimination against Women, ,adopted in its 11th session recommendation number 19 which calls for the expansion of the official general ban on gender-based discrimination defined in paragraph (6) as

violence that is directed against woman because she is a woman or that affects women disproportionately. It includes acts that inflict physical, mental or sexual harm or suffering, threats of such acts, coercion and other deprivations of liberty.”

This opened the door to many decisions that condemn violence against women and call for punishing its perpetrators, for instance decree no. 52/98 pertaining to the traffic of women and girls, decree no. 52/97 pertaining to violence against female migrant workers and decree no. 52/99 pertaining to traditional practices that affect the health of women and girls .

This belated awakening failed to generate the echo it deserves in the Arab countries, as demonstrated by the weak progress achieved in protecting women from violence and the continuous coercion of organizations and associations that work on the elimination of violence against women. In spite of all this, the discussion of violence against women which began as whisper in the nineties is growing exponentially. A few victims had the courage to come forward and hot lines for receiving testimonies and complaints were established in Lebanon.

However, these societies that broke the wall of silence and dealt with the phenomenon of violence against women remain rare and their treatment of the issue remained within the traditional framework. In her paper on Arab media and violence against women19, Dr Zeina Awad states that “the cases that report violence against women on the front page are represented in a way that does not contradict the basic gender assumptions that discriminate against women”. This may explain the dearth of studies that tackle violence in the Arab region.

A partial survey performed in the libraries of ESCWA, Amnesty International and the Human Rights Office in Lebanon showed that the contents of these libraries consist mainly of reports prepared by Amnesty International and other Human Rights organizations. Amnesty International’s 2006 report entitled “the status of Human Rights” may be one of the most important reports that tackle the issue of violence against women. The main objectives of this report were: confronting the disregard of violence against women in social, official and non-official (religious) circles, and calling for the adoption of effective measures to face it. The report also calls for the protection of women’s rights advocates.

With reference to Lebanon, the report points to “the persistence of discrimination against women in the legal context and the absence of sufficient protection for women from domestic violence.”

This statement does not come as a surprise in light of Lebanon’s reservations on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and especially article 562 of the penal code which continues to allow men who commit honor killings to go unpunished. It is noteworthy to point out that the Shiite authority Mr. Mohamad Hussein Fadlallah issued a legal opinion (Iftaa) that deems “unacceptable the avoidance of punishment for the killers and that honor is not limited to women.” That is the first time that religious authorities participate in a discussion of this issue.

Moreover, it may be useful here to point to the major role played by the Beijing conference in making violence a principal topic in the multilateral discussion among governments, civil society and international organizations.

The Beijing platform for action included a clause related to violence against women and shed light on the correlation between violence and inequality and the obstacles created by violence against women and their impact on development and peace. The mission statement asserted that women and girls in all societies are subject to various degrees of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse that cuts across boundaries of income, class, and culture and that the low social and economic status of women can be both a cause and a consequence of acts of violence against them.

Three contexts for the committal of acts of violence were identified:

  1. Acts of physical, sexual and psychological violence that take place inside the family, including beating, the sexual abuse of female children in the household, dowry- related acts of violence, marital rape, female genital mutilation and other traditions that are harmful to women, in addition to acts of violence against single women and acts of violence related to exploitation;

  2. Acts of physical, sexual, psychological violence that occur within the community, including rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment and intimidation at the workplace, in educational institutions and elsewhere, in addition to the traffic of women and forced prostitution;

  3. Physical, sexual, and psychological violence perpetrated or condoned by the state, wherever it occurs.20

The importance of the inclusion in the Beijing declaration and platform for action of violence against women as an obstacle to equality is a general acknowledgment that what had so far been achieved in the area of women’s rights through securing basic needs such as education, employment and health is not enough and that other strategic needs (Caroline Moser) are crucial. It is not enough to educate agirl. We need to make sure that her education and employment meet her gender needs and contributes to the improvement of her position as an essential partner who plays with a role that is equal to the role of a man in the design, planning, and implementation of policies.

The Fourth Women’s Conference held in Beijing in 1995 had a significant impact on raising awareness regarding the phenomenon of violence against women worldwide. The studies cited in the 1995 Human Development Report show that “a third of women in Barbados, Canada, Norway, New Zealand, and the United States reported being sexually abused during their childhood or adolescence.”21“. The report adds that violence against women is also revealed by the incidence of rape. It indicates that the studies conducted in Canada, New Zealand and the United states showed that one out of six women was raped at least once during her lifetime”22 .

As a result of this, the United Nations committee established Unifem and in order for this center to work independently in a way that is beneficial for women and in order to implement the Beijing Platform for Action, the United Nations established the Development Fund for Women and it became UNIFEM’s responsibility to monitor the status of women, design projects for the elimination of discrimination against them, and implement the measures that allow her to be a fully capable person with the same human rights as a man.

The center issued many reports the most important of which is the report on eliminating violence against women prepared by the United Nations Development Fund for Women. The report states that violence against women represents the most widespread form of human rights violation which occurs every day and in every country and region regardless of income or level of development.

The report lists the obstacles that prevent the elimination of violence: insufficient violence-related data and the sociocultural attitudes that permit discrimination and inequality which expose women and girls to all forms of violence such as physical, sexual and psychological violence within the family, including the beating and sexual abuse of girls in their homes dowry-related violence and marital rape.

Thus. the Beijing declaration and platform for action had a profound impact on the attitude of International organizations toward the phenomenon of violence and its status as a priority. In Lebanon, the adoption of this issue by United Nations organizations encouraged the inclusion of anti-violence speech in the plans and programs of women’s organizations. It also contributed to the establishment of specialized organizations and associations.

These organizations worked sometimes separately and sometimes collaboratively on exposing the mechanisms of discrimination against women, with violence being a core interest for some and a partial interest for others.

In spite of this, violence against women remains undisclosed, and its disclosure requires exceptional courage. Studies about violence are few and far between. and violence against women remains a subject for national and international reports which are themselves based on diverse impressions and partial reports prepared by organizations that receive complaints through hot lines and consequently cannot give a realistic picture of violence, its forms, patterns and causes. There may be a few analytical studies here or there or some journalistic commentary on cases reported by the media; however, any methodological studies that attempt to lay the basis for a public position against domestic violence which has become the primary cause behind the break up of families and the misery of their members have yet to be conducted.

This is how the idea emerged for conducting this comprehensive and in-depth study on marital violence in the Lebanese community.

2.3. The Study

When the Lebanese Democratic Women’s Gathering adopted the project of eliminating violence against women, it was expressing its initial focus which has always been to improve the status of women, empower her and eliminate the obstacles that stand in the way of her progress in every field. The current phase started with the establishment of a hotline to receive complaints and assist the victimis. Despite the progress achieved so far by RDFL and other organizations, all the reports, including the 4th Arab Human Development report which was dedicated to women, and the Secretary General’s 2007 report, consider that one of the principal tools in the struggle against violence is the publication of reports and analytical studies that shed light on the problem of violence against women in Lebanon and make it accessible to human rights and woman’s rights advocates.

RDFL’s awareness this issue began early on. Thus, two studies were undertaken by Caroline Succar., The first study, entitled” Abused …. Because they are Women”, was performed in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Affairs and covered the files of 295 victimized women that resorted to RDFL offices in all the Mohafazats. These cases were monitored and documented over a two-year period (2004-2005). The results indicated that these women belong to a variety of social segments and religious sects. Their testimonies include the form of violence perpetrated against them, their reactions to that violence and the attitudes of people in their communities. The study focused on identifying the different forms of violence, its impact on the victims and their families, and the type of assistance offered to these female “victims of domestic abuse.”

The second study was exploratory in nature. It attempted to review a number of files that belonged to the gathering and to other organizations that also have hotlines and provide social and psychological assistance to victims of violence. The sample consisted of 500 files collected from three organizations: the Lebanese Democratic Women’s Gathering, the Lebanese Association for the Elimination of Violence against Women, , and the Mary & Martha Association.

The study tackled three topics:

  1. Identifying the forms and patterns of violence.

  2. Identifying the different approaches used by women to confront violence.

  3. Identifying the techniques and methods used by these organizations to treat and follow up these cases.

However, this study and the valuable information it generated failed to answer the important questions that are of concern to us today and form the theoretical background for this study. These questions are: How prevalent is violence in Lebanon? What are the major forms of violence? What are the types of violence? What are its causes? How do we confront it? What tools and methods should be used? How do we protect victimized women? How do we protect those who defend them? What is the role of the general culture? What is the role of religion? What is the role of the law? In addition to other questions that are necessary if we are to learn the truth about violence against women in the Lebanese society.

2.3.1. The Study Obstacles

The achievement of all those objectives was next to impossible; the first obstacle was selecting the sample and having access to the subjects. The issue of violence against women remains taboo and cases of assault against women including battery, mutilation, and murder do not constitute a shock to the social conscience. Women are seen as private property of men and their lives are surrounded by a number of traditions, customs, and prohibitions that provide justification to the many forms of violence. Some see it as religiously justified because it is tied to the concept of obedience to one’s legal guardian. Others see it as a necessary evil to correct the crookedness that results from traditions being corrupted by modernisation which they reject. In any case, violence against women continues to be viewed as normal under the educational system that prevails in Lebanese society.23

Thus, all our goals were subordinated to the achievement of the main objective of the study. Modifications were limited to methodological issues: if a quantitative survey is made impossible by the public attitude of concealing violence, interviews allow us to use the “confidences” made by women to the organizations that work on the issue of violence. However, these testimonies were supplemented with questions pertaining to women’s opinions on themselves and others and their diverse views on the best methods of eliminating violence from Lebanon’s society, its educational system, and its moral code and social behaviors. This methodology allowed us to make use of the available testimonies and to supplement them by re- interviewing the same women.

2.3.2. The Selection of the sample

Selecting the sample was not an easy task: a random sample is made impossible by the culture of silence that prevails over family relations. We therefore had to resort to the sample that was in our hands. However, the major research decisions were not the result of introspection on our part: our decision was based on discussions that were held in a focus group of researchers and experts on the issue of violence against women. Therefore, a deliberate sample was the only available choice, but who will the sample include and how do we get access to the subjects?.

The important documentation effort undertaken by RDFL played a significant role. After reviewing those interviews, we decided that they could act as a starting point toward constituting a sample, after reviewing the interviews and completing them with the information and answers that were deemed necessary. This decision was made based on the variables that were seen as important for the study. Those variables include age which was defined between 18 and 45 years, education which includes three categories, employment, and religious identity.

The sample covered all the regions while maintaining the geographic distribution in Lebanon. The final sample was distributed as follows:

Mohafazat North Bekaa Mount Lebanon Beirut South Nabatie
Caza Batroun Baalbeck Kisirwan Achrafieh Jezzine Nabatie
Dinnieh Hermel Metn Ras Beirut Saida Marjayoun
Zgharta West Bekaa Jbeil Mazraa Zahrani Bint Jbeil
Akkar Rachaya Baabda Mouseitbeh Sour Hasbaya
Bcharre Zahle Aley
Koura Chouf
Tripoli
Number of Questionnaires by Mohafazat 48 48 48 60 48 48

Beirut is the only Mohafazat with a sample size of 60 while each of the other Mohafazat was allocated 48. This was done because of the higher diversity found in the capital.

It is noteworthy that this combined questionnaire/interview methodology produced good quality and rich results and encouraged the victims to talk and reveal their suffering, and disclose sensitive and informative details making every case worthy of being a project by itself.

Once the questionnaires were completed, they were checked and controlled. All the missing and ambiguous information was reviewed and any interviews that failed to meet the requirements were repeated.

The selection was done based on the religious identity of the abused wife, and the largest number was more or less equally divided between Christians and Moslems. There were 136 Christians (Maronite, Greek Orthodox, and Protestant) , 131 Moslems (Sunni & Shiite), and 33 Druze.

The Wife’s Religious Identity

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Maronite

70

23.3

23.3

23.3

Greek Orthodox

8

2.7

2.7

26

Greek Catholic

5

1.7

1.7

27.7

Shiite

60

20

20

47.7

Sunni

71

23.7

23.7

71.3

Druze

33

11

11

82.3

Protestant

1

0.3

0.3

82.7

Syrian Catholic

3

1

1

83.7

Armenian Orthodox

1

0.3

0.3

84

Syrrean Orthodox

1

0.3

0.3

84.3

Christian

27

9

9

93.3

Catholic

6

2

2

95.3

Armenian

1

0.3

0.3

95.7

Evangelical

1

0.3

0.3

96

Syrian

1

0.3

0.3

96.3

Greek Orthodox

11

3.7

3.7

100

Total

300

100

100

 

The four largest religious sects were: Sunni (23.7%), Maronite (23.3%), Shiite (20%), and Druze (9%).

Since the objective of the study is to observe and detect domestic abuse, most of the women were married (71.3%); 26.3% were divorced and 2% were single.

Social Status

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Married

214

71.3

71.3

71.3

Divorced or Separated

79

26.3

26.3

97.7

Single

6

2

2

99.7

No answer

1

0.3

0.3

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

Regarding the educational level, the percentage of victims with college education was 27.3% and illiterate women represented the smallest group (4.7%).

The Woman’s Educational level

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Illiterate

14

4.7

4.7

4.7

Primary

42

14

14

18.7

Intermediate

83

27.7

27.7

46.3

Secondary

78

26

26

72.3

University

82

27.3

27.3

99.7

No answer

1

0.3

0.3

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

Since the common hypothesis is that the husband’s educational level affects the levels, forms and patterns of violence, we asked about the educational level of the husband. It is noteworthy that the percentage of college-educated men was 25%, i.e. less than the percentage of women. Similarly, the percentage of men with intermediate education was only 25% while illiterate men outnumbered illiterate women.

The Man’s Educational level

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Illiterate

15

5

5

5

Primary

66

22

22

27

Intermediate

75

25

25

52

Secondary

66

22

22

74

University

77

25.7

25.7

99.7

No answer

1

0.3

0.3

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

As for the age of marriage among women, the highest percentage was for the 18–25 category (60%). The percentage for the below 18 category was 22.3% which is a high percentage if we consider the educational level of both women and men

Age of marriage

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Less than 18 yrs

67

22.3

22.3

22.3

18 – 25 yrs

180

60

60

82.3

26 yrs and above

49

16.3

16.3

98.7

Inapplicable

1

0.3

0.3

99

No answer

3

1

1

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

How were women affected by these variables? Did they have an effect on domestic violence?

This study has the difficult and sensistive task of establishing a database on violence, its forms, patterns, causes and roots in order to build a comprehensive project for eradicating violence that goes beyond the enactment of laws that provide better protection to women, and attempts at the same time to affect changes in the minds of women and in the minds of society that conform to the changes taking place in women’s abilities and their self-awareness.

The difficulties that arose from time to time as a result of fundamental variables that we think are critical in the Lebanese case like religious identity for instance, and the refusal to talk by a few women who belong to a specific sect were overcome through personal relations, and through offering full protection to the respondent and surrounding her with sufficient attention.

In conclusion, this study is the result of a collaborative effort by a large group of individuals: the surveyors who conducted the interviews, the assistants who analyzed the interviews and coded the answers, the assistants who produced the tables and generated the results, and last but not least the researcher Caroline Salibi who played the biggest role in selecting the subject of the study, selecting the sample, developing the questionnaire, training the surveyors, supervising all the interviews, and controlling the questionnaires to make sure they included all the necessary information.

My deepest gratitude goes to all of them but I alone take responsibility for the supervision and the implementation of this study.

Section Two

Analysis of the interviews

The interviews focus on important variables that are closely linked to various social segments. For example, age is a very important variable in the interviews we conducted because it is tied to the acceptance or the rejection of modern values in our Lebanese society, values that focus in principle on the concept of equality. It is worth noting that the group that is most affected by violence in the sample consists of women who are young, have a high educational level, and work. How do those variables intersect and to what extent do they affect the attitudes of women and men toward violence?

Education is a major indicator of awareness for both women and men. This variable is organically linked to income because, in our time, access to the labor market and the classification of fields of employment and income levels are closely linked to the educational level.

In Lebanon, where the public culture intersects with the subcultures generated by the religious and confessional diversity,, religious identity becomes crucial to the interaction of other variables like employment and education which have become basic needs for both men and women. There may be no need to point out that educational opportunities have become available to women and the opening of branches for the Lebanese University and other universities during the war facilitated the access of young women to higher education. This is a factor that must be included in the assessment of the awareness of violence and its forms and patterns that was revealed in interviews with young women.

Although studies tend to consider that these variables do not have a profound impact on the level of violence, acquiring an education and entering the labor market do affect a woman’s personality, her ability to make decisions, and the way she deals with orders and prohibitions. This will in turn affect her resistance to domestic violence and it will significantly impact her awareness of violence and her reaction to it.

1. How is this reflected in the interviews?

In their answer to the decisive question, how did you make the decision to get married, 63% of women reported that it was a free choice. Even though freedom here may mean choosing based on the available circumstances (escaping loneliness, escaping parental domination, escaping spinsterhood …), this assertion of free choice points to a very important conclusion which is that the “ideological spoliation” discussed by Mustapha Hijazi, i.e. the negative view of marriage as a necessity in Lebanese society remains prevalent in the Lebanese thought processes. According to a number of respondents, their acceptance of the first marriage proposal was a free choice based on personal circumstances: they did not have college education or employment and therefore they saw marriage as an opportunity to achieve their independence. Arranged marriage whose prevalence reached 28% was not imposed by force in the opinions of some of the women but reflected a logical response to the traditions, customs and norms (a rich man, a cousin…)

The percentage of actual forced marriage did not exceed 1%, a low percentage that does not mean that women are close to being able to make the decisions that determine their lives but may indicate that women start adapting their behaviors to traditions and customs very early in their lives.

It is sufficient to read the confessions made by women when asked about violence to realize that free choice does not extend to divorce for instance or to fighting violence and that the ‘free choice’ made early in life was only an escape strategy justified and approved by the .parents.

Discussing the meaning of “free choice” and its intersection with domestic violence raises important questions about the circumstances that surround the family life of men and women in Lebanon. By circumstances, we mean the intersection of variables like education, employment and income, i.e. the main variables that contribute to a woman’s independence and the strengthening of her position in the family.

2. Is this what happened?

The figures show that 145 women who represent 48.3% of the sample are employed and 51.7% are unemployed.

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Employed

145

48.3

48.3

48.3

Unemployed

155

51.7

51.7

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

With reference to a question about the reasons that drove them to work, the answers of a majority of the educated women stressed the concept of economic independence, which is synonymous to freedom and equality, and for some women it was also related to the idea of self-actualization. However, the position that was most commonly stated by the interviewed women whether or not they were college educated was to reject ‘the restriction of their role to “housework and attending to children.” All the women expressed their respect for work and considered it as a means of escaping the sphere of dependence and marginalization.

This helps to explain the recurrent answers given by women who do not work not because they refuse to but because of their husbands’ refusal and their control over their wives’ decision-making ability, or because of the absence of work opportunities that are compatible with their roles as wives who are responsible for taking care of their families.

Few were those who stated that they did not want to work and preferred the comfort of staying at home.

The answers of the sample regarding the reasons that drove the respondents to work belong to three major categories: improving their standard of living, being their family’s main breadwinners, self-actualization. Those who work to improve their standard of living represented 26.3% of the sample while the percentage of those who work because they have to, being their family’s main breadwinners, was 20.6%, a number that corresponds to the percentage of female-headed households mentioned in Lebanon’s Living conditions study. As for those who talked about work as a means of self-actualization and a way to increase their personal freedom, their percentage reached 24.3%, a rate that coincides in our opinion with the rate of female enrolment in higher education and that also confirms the importance of self-awareness and the impact of education on the creation of this self-awareness.

3. The nature of the relationship between the spouses: how is it defined, who defines it, and does it contribute to drawing the boundaries of violence, its forms and its patterns?

Sociologists agree that patriarchal authority and the rules and regulations that are in effect in Arab communities are responsible for the imbalanced relationship between leader and follower, especially between man and woman and that this imbalance is a major cause of dysfunction in social and political relations. For this reason, any analysis of violence has to take into consideration the relationship to power and power here comes in a global sense that encompasses the various types of power that pervade the social, economic and political spheres.

Out of this relationship to power comes violence in its various forms and patterns:

  1. In practice/ physically/ visibly in the case of women who have no power by upholding the traditional image of a woman who is subservient to a man and dependent on him, deprived of any means that could help her to acquire power , i.e. the power of education, the power of work, the power of wealth.

  1. Symbolically/ morally/ invisibly when women are close to having power where power relations change and women are relatively independent as a result of having or being close to acquire the power of education, work, or wealth24.

  1. Being close to acquiring power is akin to having power to some extent and it causes a change in the forms and patterns of violence without causing any significant change in the relationship between man and woman25 because this kind of change requires other factors that are tied to a large extent to structural social changes that create a social awareness of women’s problems and a social and political will to change her position in society.

In response to a question about the nature of the marital relationship , most answers varied between “tense” and “violent”. The respondents described the sources of tension as follows: life burdens (work-related stress, financial strain), a monopoly over family-related decisions (financial decisions, moving decisions, children’s education, mortgage of property). Also among the causes were jealousy and suspicion and interference by extended family. Some respondents also mentioned alcoholism and gambling.

When asked about the forms of tension and how it is expressed, the respondents mentioned insults, cursing, continuous arguing, and breaking items around the house as visible forms of violence that turn into symbolic violence including deserting the conjugal bed and exercising psychological control over the wife by constantly making her feel inferior.

As for “violent” relationships, the respondents described them to include insulting language (I picked you off the street), beating “he strikes me wherever his hand can reach” one woman said , humiliations in front of the children, severe beating that lands the wife in a hospital including burning with coals, whipping that results in loss of consciousness, beating that leads to paralysis or abortion, and attempted murder using knives or guns).

As for the reasons behind this violence, the respondents try to explain it as an extreme consequence of the same conditions that create tense relations like addiction, adultery, and social pressures related to mixed marriage.

Nature of the marital relationship

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Calm

2

0.7

0.7

0.7

Tense

117

39

39

39.7

Violent

39

13

13

52.7

Calm & tense

18

6

6

58.7

Calm & violent

2

0.7

0.7

59.3

Tense and violent

117

39

39

98.3

Calm, tense, and violent

5

1.7

1.7

100

Total

300

100

100

A detailed discussion of the forms and types of violence revealed that the percentage of those who were subjected to verbal violence reached 87% while the percentage of those who were exposed to physical violence reached 68.3%. Verbal violence was defined by the respondents to include:

  • Crude language, curse words, and insults.

  • Using animal names to refer to the spouse: dog, cow, animal. (Questionnaires no. 147- 297)

Verbal Violence

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

261

87

87

87

No

39

13

13

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

Physical Violence

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

205

68.3

68.3

68.3

No

95

31.7

31.7

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

Verbal violence intersects with physical violence that starts as we saw with beating using various instruments like sticks, hands and feet, belts, ropes, hitting on the head, and ends with burning and torture, using the coffee pot, the iron, hot water, and sometimes even with choking, in the water pipe, immersing the woman in cold water or forcing her to leave the house on snowy winter days.

In their description of psychological violence, the respondents mentioned:

  • fear and the resulting tension;

  • Pressure, negligence and marginalization (condescension);

  • Suspicion and mistrust (tapping the phone, installing cameras);

  • Stripping her of her humanity, humiliating her, depriving her of food;

  • Bringing his mistress home.

Psychological violence

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

270

90

90

90

No

30

10

10

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

Sexual violence also took several forms and was discussed by the respondents somewhat reluctantly and shyly:

  • abandoning the wife and depriving her of sexual contact;

  • ignoring her and engaging in relations outside the marriage;

  • humiliating her by making her feel unwanted;

  • deviant” sexual practices;

  • forcing her into having relations with his friends as a group;

  • having sexual intercourse with his mistress in front of her;

  • beating her during intercourse, imitating pornographic films.

Sexual violence

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

165

55

55

55

No

135

45

45

100

Total

300

100

100

 

Economic violence is a tool for driving a woman out of the house and includes:

  • depriving her of spending money to pressure her into asking for a divorce;
  • taking away her salary and spending it for his own pleasure;
  • Selling his property without informing her;
  • In some cases, forcing her to leave her job in order to deprive her of anything that preserves her dignity.

Economic Violence

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

195

65

65

65

No

105

35

35

100

Total

300

100

100

 

4. How do women endure violence; why don’t they complain?

How long is the interval between the incidence of violence and the time of reporting?

Interval between the violent incident and its reporting

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

One week or less

5

1.7

1.7

1.7

1 to 3 months

10

3.3

3.3

5

4 to 6 months

11

3.7

3.7

8.7

6 months to one year

2

0.7

0.7

9.3

1 to 3 years

88

29.3

29.3

38.7

4 to 9 years

64

21.3

21.3

60

10 years or more

54

18

18

78

No answer

11

3.7

3.7

81.7

Immediately

35

11.7

11.7

93.3

Did not tell anyone

20

6.7

6.7

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

The interviews showed that the interval between the violent incident and the reporting time varies between 3 months and 20 years. This divergence, in our opinion, is a logical consequence of the educational system which remains prevalent in Lebanon and which expects women to accept and adjust to the prevailing family value system.

We found that the 31 to 45-year age group was silent on violence for a long time, considering that revealing it falls within the realm of “shame” and “disgrace” as they said. Moreover, the ideology of patience, sacrifice, and obedience that is part of their upbringing causes women to fall victim to the game of waiting to see what the future hides. It may be worth noting that speaking about violence and against it is still in its infancy and violence had not been one of the fields of activity of women’s organizations and movements in Lebanon. In fact, the first association to be established in Lebanon was created in 1993.

When asked to identify the person that they complained to the first time, the answer was in line with what has been said so far: women complain to their parents, their neighbors, and in the end to anti-violence women’s organizations.

Complaining to parents

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

154

51.3

51.3

51.3

No

146

48.7

48.7

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

Resorting to anti-violence organizations or to community organizations

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

yes

29

9.7

9.7

9.7

No

271

90.3

90.3

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

Filing a complaint at the police station

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

24

8

8

8

No

276

92

92

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

Other

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

54

18

18

18

No

246

82

82

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

Do women attempt to avoid violence and how?

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

249

83

83

83

No

48

16

16

99

No answer

3

1

1

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

The above table shows that 83% of the women attempt to avoid the situations that lead to violence.

When asked how they avoided violence, the answer was that the common method that girls are brought up to use is remaining silent, not replying, trying to please their partner, obeying him, and not contradicting him. As for the women who do not avoid violence, they state that they argue, fight, and curse just like their husbands.

Silence for various reasons

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

188

62.7

62.7

62.7

No

112

37.3

37.3

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

Fearing the husband

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

93

31

31

31

No

207

69

69

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

Objection inside the home

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

102

34

34

34

No

197

65.7

65.7

99.7

No answer

1

0.3

0.3

100

Total

300

100

100

 

The information regarding this group that does not exceed 16% shows that it falls within the young age group (18- 31) and an interesting fact is that most of these women belong to the Shiite sect.

As for the causes behind this violence, the women try to use their acquaintances and their experience to look for those causes and in their opinion, the causes are many but most of them are related to the “husband’s personality”: feelings of inferiority, suspicion, unbalanced upbringing, shortage of affection, and other common psychological problems are all possible causes that most of the women agree on, but the majority of respondents (52%) considered that “the unbalanced upbringing “ that their husband received during his childhood from his family and his community is what led to his violent behaviour toward women. They classified what they meant by unbalanced upbringing into nine categories.

Shortage of Affection

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

80

26.7

26.7

26.7

No

219

73

73

99.7

No answer

1

0.3

0.3

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

Feelings of Inferiority

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

122

40.7

40.7

40.7

No

177

59

59

99.7

No answer

1

0.3

0.3

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

Jealousy and Suspicion

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

121

40.3

40.3

40.3

No

178

59.3

59.3

99.7

No answer

1

0.3

0.3

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

Unbalanced Upbringing

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

156

52

52

52

No

143

47.7

47.7

99.7

No answer

1

0.3

0.3

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

Common Psychological Problems

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

79

26.3

26.3

26.3

No

220

73.3

73.3

99.7

No answer

1

0.3

0.3

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

Other

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

84

28

28

28

No

215

71.7

71.7

99.7

No answer

1

0.3

0.3

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

These categories fall along three major axes:

1Traditional ideas that portray a woman as a weak individual who needs to be continuously watched and “re-educated”. Thus a man is violent and shouts (I am the boss in this house; the first and the last word are mine;…”

2- Living in a dismantled family (a strict mother, a mother who deserted her family and remarried, being raised in another family).

3- A history of abuse, “feelings of inferiority”. 40.7% of surveyed women mentioned feelings of inferiority as one of the causes of violent behavior.

When asked to explain what they meant by feelings of inferiority, the respondents mentioned:

  • Tense family relationships (the husband’s problems with his parents…. rejection by his family because his mother was in jail…);

  • Identification with parents (cruelty between the parents, beating as a means of punishment within the family, nurturing suspicion toward women.)

As for causes that are related to the wife and the husband’s attitude toward her, several answers portrayed violence as a reaction to feelings of inferiority in relation to the wife and these answers centered on:

  • A wife’s superiority in education or employment;

  • A wife’s wealth or social position;

  • Age difference between the spouses;

  • A wife’s strong personality;

  • A husband’s sterility.

A review of all the causes that were mentioned reveals that the traditional value system and the prevalence of the masculine culture that relegates women to a secondary position are among the causes of violence toward women. The consecration of a hierarchy within the household prevents any attempts to reach an understanding through dialogue and discussion and consecrates monopoly over decision-making and the refusal of any participation in making decisions within the family.

It may be worth noting that “poverty” and economic conditions appeared as a primary factor in generating violence although they were not given priority by the respondents.

Poverty

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

154

51.3

51.3

51.3

No

145

48.3

48.3

99.7

No answer

1

0.3

0.3

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

Illiteracy

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

123

41

41

41

No

176

58.7

58.7

99.7

No answer

1

0.3

0.3

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

Family Value System

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

201

67

67

67

No

98

32.7

32.7

99.7

No answer

1

0.3

0.3

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

Personal Status Laws

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

141

47

47

47

No

158

52.7

52.7

99.7

No answer

1

0.3

0.3

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

The Woman’s Educational Status and Self Awareness

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

104

34.7

34.7

34.7

No

195

65

65

99.7

No answer

1

0.3

0.3

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

Other

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

54

18

18

18

No

245

81.7

81.7

99.7

No answer

1

0.3

0.3

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

Section Three

Post-Violence Behavioural Trends:

This is one of the most important questions that respondents were asked because first of all it indicates the position of violence in the husband’s behaviour (is it incidental or structural?). It also reveals the behaviour of the wife and her reaction to the violence inflicted on her.

A hypothesis was constructed about post-violence circumstances. It was inspired by the sessions that were hosted in RDFL headquarters and regional offices. We attempted to classify post-violence behavior into three categories: indifference, asking for forgiveness, sexual relations and other practices if applicable.

An interesting fact is that the answers were almost evenly distributed among the three categories.

1. Indifference

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

193

64.3

64.3

64.3

No

107

35.7

35.7

100

Total

300

100

100

 

The percentage of those who showed indifference reached 64.30%, i.e. slightly more than half the sample. When asked about the reasons for this indifference, the respondents cited a group of reasons most of which center around the family value system in Lebanon: “he is indifferent because he refuses to show defeat in front of a woman” and “he is indifferent because he thinks that what he does is normal”; another woman said “he thinks that he has the right to do anything he wants”. A man sees himself as the absolute master who owns the house and everything in it and he is indifferent because he goes to his second wife and he brings his mistress to the house. Few of the respondents made a connection between personal status laws that discriminate in favour of the man and the idea of indifference.

The connection between indifference and psychological problems appeared in answers like “after acting violently, he goes to the roof to write his memoirs”.

2. Asking for Forgiveness

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

94

31.3

31.3

31.3

No

206

68.7

68.7

100

Total

300

100

100

 

The results showed quasi-equilibrium between the tendency to ask for forgiveness (31.3%) and engaging in sexual intercourse (33%). The respondents tied the request for forgiveness to feelings toward them: he asks for forgiveness because he loves her which is revealed in the forms of apology: he kisses her hand and tells her that ‘what happened will never happen again’ and in some cases he even cries.

However, most of them indicated that the reasons for this remorse remain unclear. He does not apologize or promise to change. He only expresses his remorse and his concern about causing the end of his marriage.

The common behaviour is sexual intercourse following violence and the answers here are in line with the prevailing culture that all mistakes are erased in the bedroom. The respondents’ answers fall into three categories: Those who show love and “are very tender”; those who show even more violence and “rape” their wives or impose sexual relations even if she is sick.

3. Sexual Intercourse

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

99

33

33

33

No

201

67

67

100

Total

300

100

100

 

The third category, which is the most common, includes those who substitute sexual relations for an apology. The Women expressed their anger at this behaviour because ‘it adds to their humiliation’. He is free to beat her and hurt her anytime he likes and he does not even have any regard for her sadness so he has sex with her anytime he likes.

There are many individual cases that refer to practices that are as varied as the forms and shapes of violence.

Other

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

39

13

13

13

No

261

87

87

100

Total

300

100

100

 

4. If this is what the husband/ the perpetrator does, what does the wife do and how does she respond to violence?

The women’s reactions as they appeared in their answers can be classified into six categories: silence, fear, objecting at home, complaining to parents, contacting anti-violence social and humanitarian organizations, and filing a complaint at the police station.

4.1 . For many reasons, silence was the most common answer given by the surveyed women (62.7%). Silence reflects what is expected of a woman in her marital home because silence is a crucial element in the ideology of “obedience”, “patience”, and “sacrifice” that is part of the upbringing of girls in the Lebanese culture. Silence is a very eloquent expression of a woman’s feelings of inferiority in the couple. According to the women, rhe reasons for staying silent include:

  • Because She does not want to get divorced and he has the right to divorce her.

  • She does not want to go back to her parents’ house.

  • Her parents reject divorce as a solution and a divorced woman is shunned in the Lebanese society.

  • Because she got married against her parents’ will (mixed marriage between the sects).

  • Because the issue is related to sex and she feels uncomfortable talking about it.

  • Because she loves him and does not want to lose him (one answer).

Silence for various reasons

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

188

62.7

62.7

62.7

No

112

37.3

37.3

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

4.2. The percentage of those who do not speak because they fear their husbands (31%) was close to the percentage of those who object at home (34%). Those who fear their husbands are afraid of being murdered, of getting divorced and losing their children, of threats that he will take a second wife or that he will prevent her from visiting her parents. Since laws and customs continue to consecrate patriarchal authority and the right of a man to do anything he wants, women prefer to object inside their home and to do so quietly (crying, neglecting themselves and their homes, fiercely objecting, abandoning the marital bed, squandering his money, etc…)

Fear of the husband

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

93

31

31

31

No

207

69

69

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

Objecting inside the home

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

102

34

34

34

No

197

65.7

65.7

99.7

No answer

1

0.3

0.3

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

4.3. Complaint to parents is the most common behavior, reaching 51.3% which is a high percentage when compared to other results. Most women gave predictable answers such as: “I complain to no avail”, “go back home” is what they tell her, “you have to go on for the sake of the children”, “divorce is forbidden so you have to be forgiving.”

Complaining to parents

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

154

51.3

51.3

51.3

No

146

48.7

48.7

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

Complaining to the police or to anti-violence organizations are the least prevalent answers. 8% of the women complained to the police and only after severe beating: “I filed a complaint with the police after being severely beaten and submitted a forensic medical report “, or because they could not complain to their parents since they were in a mixed marriage.

Filing a complaint at the police station

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

24

8

8

8

No

276

92

92

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

The reasons for not filing police complaints are many but the most important one is the knowledge that the police look at the women who complain as guilty before they even say a word and that lawsuits never reach a conclusion. Women also know very well that there are no laws that protect women from violence in Lebanon.

As for taking refuge with anti-violence organizations, the answers range between being unaware of the presence of such organizations and the knowledge about their limited resources.

The causes and forms of violence are many and the reactions to it range from considering it as the “fate” of women in Lebanon to saying that changing the situation requires an act of God. Women’s organizations have so far failed to push the government to revise family laws. Murdering women for a variety of reasons remains allowed in our society and the perpetrator can easily avoid punishment.

Although women sometimes avoid violence and other times endure it without complaining, it always leaves a profound effect on her personality which in turn affects her couple and her entire family.

5. How are the respondents affected by violence and how do they describe their situation?

Most of the surveyed women (75%) link their nervous tension to the violence practiced against them and attribute their loss of self confidence to the constant fear of violence (51%). 44% of the respondents considered that their angry outbursts especially with their children are a result of that violence.

Constant fear

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

153

51

51

51

No

147

49

49

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

Outbursts of anger

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

132

44

44

44

No

168

56

56

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

Nervous tension

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

227

75.7

75.7

75.7

No

73

24.3

24.3

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

Feelings of guilt

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

59

19.7

19.7

19.7

No

241

80.3

80.3

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

Withdrawal

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

117

39

39

39

No

180

60

60

99

No answer

3

1

1

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

Other

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

45

15

15

15

No

255

85

85

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

The feeling of guilt that was acknowledged by 19.7% of the interviewed women may be one of the manifestations of severe anger that they experience and it is usually practiced as a form of adaptation that makes it easier for them to go on. On the other hand, 29% of them mentioned withdrawal which reflects a woman’s surrender to her fate in the absence of any means to protect her or help her change her situation.

However, violence and its negative consequences caused a high percentage of women (57.7%) to seek divorce despite their awareness of the discriminatory personal status code that continues to seize marital life by the neck.

A yes answer to the divorce question is related to a set of reasons acting all at once including long years of abuse and “the injustice of men and society” towards the women. Some of the respondents asked for a divorce and did not get it but they remained ready to try again.

Did you ask for a separation from your husband because you were abused?

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

173

57.7

57.7

57.7

No

126

42

42

99.7

No answer

1

0.3

0.3

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

It is noteworthy that many of the respondents (42%) did not ask for a separation despite being abused, a high percentage when we consider what all the women said about rejecting violence and seeing it as a primary cause of all their misery.

When asked about their reasons for not requesting a separation, the answers varied between economic factors related to their inability to support themselves (unemployed, etc) and cultural factors related to the prevailing mentality and the parents’ fear of their daughters getting divorced and even the fear of the women themselves from becoming divorcees.

However, the most commonly cited reason for not seeking a separation is the knowledge that personal status laws remain discriminatory and that these laws drive women into homelessness and into losing their children.

On another front, the answers regarding the women’s share of responsibility for the abuse were interesting. The percentage of women who considered themselves partially responsible for the abuse reached 47.3% which is a very high percentage if we consider the fact that the majority of these women began their interviews by complaining about being abused. How could they then accept partial responsibility for the abuse?

Do you think that a woman bears partial responsibility for the abuse inflicted on her?

 

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

142

47.3

47.3

47.3

No

156

52

52

99.3

No answer

2

0.7

0.7

100

Total

300

100

100

 

 

Conclusion:

The surveyed women consider that participation in the abuse process begins with the acceptance of the first violent incident without reporting it because the same reaction soon becomes part of daily life. In addition to silence is the failure to seek a divorce and to obtain it, either because it is difficult as is the case for Christians or for fear of losing the children as is the case for all religions.

In this case, participation in abuse is a negative participation and represents a unique point of intersection between the cultural values that place women in second position and the especially bad economic conditions that women continue to experience.

As for the larger segment (52%) that refused any responsibility for the abuse, they saw that the contradiction between the images of men and women in the social structure are what makes men the absolute masters of the marital home and women their obedient followers. The answers given by these women reveal a strong awareness of discrimination, a balanced rejection for the prevailing culture in Lebanon, and other intentions that became evident in the open-ended questions that formed the third section of the interview.

Section Four

1- How do we confront violence?

Our initial hypothesis in this regard was that breaking the silence around the abuse of women in Lebanon requires a considerable effort in order to develop the technical approaches to eliminate this kind of abuse.

The first steps in this effort are to define abuse and identify its forms and while knowledge in this field remains sketchy and meditative, the few studies that covered this subject have nevertheless contributed, and continue to contribute to pushing marital abuse to the forefront of public concern.

The second step on this difficult path is identifying the reasons behind abusive behavior and its effects on women, in addition to the extent of their negative or positive contributions in producing and sustaining the abuse.

The third step, which represents the practical result of this study, is how to confront marital abuse and what is the role of women in confronting abuse and are there are new approaches to do that?

The answers to the questions pertaining to the reactions of women towards abuse revolved around three issues. The first was the abolition of discrimination and laws that are unjust towards women. The second was the introduction of laws that protect women. The third point was mentioned by the respondents without any results or conclusions because it is related to the culture that prevails in society.

1.1. The first point:

The majority (86%) of the surveyed women answered yes when asked whether abuse was very common in Lebanon; however, most of them know that reporting remains rare. 9% of the women said that abuse was reported while 52.7% said that it was sometimes reported.

Do you consider violence against women in Lebanon widespread?

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

258

86

86

86

No

16

5.3

5.3

91.3

No answer

26

8.7

8.7

100

Total

300

100

100

 

Do you consider violence against women in Lebanon widespread 2?

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Reported

27

9

9

9

Sometimes reported

158

52.7

52.7

61.7

Unreported

110

36.7

36.7

98.3

No answer

5

1.7

1.7

100

Total

300

100

100

 

1.2. The second point:

The respondents knew that confronting abuse had to begin in the legal arena because, even though laws do not protect against symbolic and moral violence, they can nevertheless help to build a culture of respect for women and to lay the foundations for a culture of equality.

The percentage of women who demanded laws that protect women from domestic violence reached 92%.

Do you want laws that protect women from domestic violence?

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

276

92

92

92

No

20

6.7

6.7

98.7

No answer

4

1.3

1.3

100

Total

300

100

100

 

The percentage of women who expressed their willingness to sign petitions demanding these laws reached 78.7%. However, the percentage goes down to 46.7% when these demands become public. This difference between theoretically demanding new laws to protect women and applying pressure to obtain these laws results from the reluctance of women to openly express their objections to domestic violence.

Nonetheless, working with various organizations to fight domestic violence is more accepted among these women (66%) because, first of all, working with such associations removes the suspicion of being a victim of abuse, since these entities take care of others and protect them. It also allows women to justify their work against violence to their husbands.

Signing petitions

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

236

78.7

78.7

78.7

No

62

20.7

20.7

99.3

No answer

2

0.7

0.7

100

Total

300

100

100

 

Participating in public demonstrations

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

140

46.7

46.7

46.7

No

158

52.7

52.7

99.3

No answer

2

0.7

0.7

100

Total

300

100

100

 

Supporting organizations that engage in this kind of work

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

198

66

66

66

No

100

33.3

33.3

99.3

No answer

2

0.7

0.7

100

Total

300

100

100

 

1.3. The third point: Education and the prevailing culture:

The surveyed women know that a major causal factor resides in the cultural values system that governs family life, and that social expectations regarding the roles of women and men are primarily responsible for any abuse that takes place. However, they do not know how to change the value system or how to change the expectations.

The respondents know that the factors that contribute to domestic violence are numerous. Poverty is a major factor considered by 51.3% of the women as an element that triggers and sustains violence. 41% of the women view illiteracy as another element that contributes to the creation of violence and its exacerbation. However, most women (67%) believe that the problem resides in the family value system which together with personal status laws place women in second place and consecrate the role of the man as the head of the household and give him decision power over her life.

34.7% of the women add the educational level of women and their self-awareness as factors that promote violence under a value system and laws that do not respect women and their rights.

Factors that promote violence

Poverty

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

154

51.3

51.3

51.3

No

145

48.3

48.3

99.7

No answer

1

0.3

0.3

100

Total

300

100

100

 

Illiteracy

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

123

41

41

41

No

176

58.7

58.7

99.7

No answer

1

0.3

0.3

100

Total

300

100

100

 

Family value system

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

201

67

67

67

No

98

32.7

32.7

99.7

No answer

1

0.3

0.3

100

Total

300

100

100

 

Personal status laws

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

141

47

47

47

No

158

52.7

52.7

99.7

No answer

1

0.3

0.3

100

Total

300

100

100

 

However, the interviewed women remained unable to propose solutions to this problem. Resorting to anti-violence organizations is a means and not an end. It allows women to confront violence or to avoid it, but eliminating violence is another issue that requires efforts on the social and political levels.

The social level comprises revitalizing women’s organizations that specialize in confronting domestic violence and motivating them to build alliances that aim to shape a project able to empower women and make them better capable of confronting, and to create pressure groups. In this regard, there is a need to improve the communication mechanisms between the victims of abuse and the organizations by inviting women to get involved in this social effort.

On the political front, it is of utmost importance to modify family laws in order to make them more suitable to the lives of women and children alike. The involvement of the political authorities is needed for the enactment of new laws that protect women in their marital homes and in their communities.

As someone has said, the positive interaction between the public and political wills is the only factor that can turn equality into a culture and behavior.

2. How do the interviewed women view anti-violence organizations?

The majority of the interviewed women do not belong to any organizations. Only 27% of them are members of organizations and their knowledge of anti-violence organizations is limited. Only 41.3% of the abused women were aware of their existence and very few learned about them from the media (8%) or from family members (4%).

Do you know any organizations that deals with violence?

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

124

41.3

41.3

41.3

No

174

58

58

99.3

No answer

2

0.7

0.7

100

Total

300

100

100

How did the victim find out about the organization?

Through the media

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

24

8

8

8

No

104

34.7

34.7

42.7

No answer

172

57.3

57.3

100

Total

300

100

100

 

Through family

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

12

4

4

4

No

116

38.7

38.8

42.8

No answer

172

57.3

57.2

100

Total

300

100

 

Through a friend

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

76

25.3

25.4

25.4

No

52

17.3

17.4

42.8

No answer

172

57.3

57.2

100

Total

300

100

 

Other

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

30

10

10

10

No

98

32.7

32.8

42.8

No answer

172

57.3

57.2

100

Total

300

100

 

As for their opinion regarding anti-violence organizations, it is a timid opinion because their knowledge of these organizations is very limited. Only 23.7% indicated that these organizations performed their duties seriously and the majority of those who said “no” were talking about the absence of these organizations from the media and their inability to connect and communicate with people.

work seriously

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

71

23.7

23.7

23.7

No

173

57.7

57.7

81.3

Does not know

51

17

17

98.3

No answer

5

1.7

1.7

100

Total

300

100

100

 

Need to change their approach

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

98

32.7

32.7

32.7

No

146

48.7

48.7

81.3

Does not know

51

17

17

98.3

No answer

5

1.7

1.7

100

Total

300

100

100

 

Ineffective

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

59

19.7

19.7

19.7

No

185

61.7

61.7

81.3

Does not know

51

17

17

98.3

No answer

5

1.7

1.7

100

Total

300

100

100

 

Other

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

52

17.3

17.3

17.3

No

192

64

64

81.3

Does not know

51

17

17

98.3

No answer

5

1.7

1.7

100

Total

300

100

100

 

When asked whether these organizations needed to change their approach, only a small percentage answered yes. It is likely that a “no” answer does not mean that they do not need to change their approach, but reflects a lack of information regarding these organizations and the way they operate.

The respondents strongly backed the expansion of the area of activity of these organizations to cover all regions (78%) and supported their transformation into grassroots organizations.(46.3%) and pressure groups (61%), and 48.3% said that they should be given adequate financial and social support.

Expand the area of activity to cover all regions

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

234

78

78

78

No

57

19

19

97

Does not know

6

2

2

99

No answer

3

1

1

100

Total

300

100

100

 

Grassroots not elitist organizations

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

139

46.3

46.3

46.3

No

152

50.7

50.7

97

Does not know

6

2

2

99

No answer

3

1

1

100

Total

300

100

100

 

Support them socially and financially

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

145

48.3

48.3

48.3

No

146

48.7

48.7

97

Does not know

6

2

2

99

No answer

3

1

1

100

Total

300

100

100

 

Acting as pressure groups

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

183

61

61

61

No

108

36

36

97

Does not know

6

2

2

99

No answer

3

1

1

100

Total

300

100

100

 

Other

 

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Yes

49

16.3

16.3

16.3

No

242

80.7

80.7

97

Does not know

6

2

2

99

No answer

3

1

1

100

Total

300

100

100

 

IV – Conclusions / Recommendations

This study involved a sample of three hundred women from different regions and different socioeconomic groups (type of employment and income), a sample of three hundred women that exemplified the various types of violence practiced on women.

The sessions held with the victims covered thirty-six topics that can be classified into three sections.

– The first involves getting to know the victim: her age, her educational level, how her marriage happened and how she sees it.

– The second tackles the abuse, how and why it happened.

The ‘how’ concerns the types26 and forms of violence and how the various types and forms of violence intersect with each other; physical abuse in its various forms, beating and its various instruments; verbal abuse and its different forms that lead to humiliation and weaken self-confidence to finally result in surrender; sexual violence and how it intersects with the practices that are allowed by the prevailing traditions, disposing of women’s bodies as a personal property of men (the use of force during sexual intercourse, beating, lending the wife’s body, pressuring her into having sex with friends) abandoning the conjugal bed (desertion), having sex with the mistress in front of the wife and inside the family home.

Finally, psychological violence uses all the forms of abuse discussed above and adds to them threats and intimidation in order to scare women and drive them into surrender.

It came as no surprise that these types of violence are all used simultaneously and that every time the victim is first subjected to verbal abuse which evolves into physical abuse and ends in sexual and psychological abuse. How did women respond to this abuse and how did they behave toward their husbands?

– The third section attempted to uncover the consequences of abuse. How does the husband or the male partner deal with it? How does the wife or female partner deal with it? The difference was clear between the abuser and the victim in their attitudes following the abuse. The attitude of the husband varied between indifference, remorse, and sexual relations even if by force. The attitudes of women came as a perfect copy of the family value system that prevails in Lebanon. The ideology of patience and sacrifice drives the majority of women to remain silent, either for fear of threats or punishment, or in hope and expectation of change. The ideology of “patience” and avoiding “scandal” makes protesting inside the home or complaining to the parents the common attitude because it protects the so-called “family secrets”.

However, the combination of all these reactions results at the end of the road in keeping the abuse from coming out into the open. It does not come out unless the victim presses charges, which only happens in cases of physical abuse that borders on murder.

This could also explain the long interval between the incidence of abuse and its reporting because reporting abuse not only exposes the wife to scandal but her entire family, especially the men.

– The fourth section attempted to find out the opinions of the women on how to confront violence.

The women whom we had the chance to interview did not omit to comment on the effects of personal status laws on marital violence. However, they all strongly commented on the effect of the culture and the value system that govern social life on spreading the culture of violence and shrouding it in secrecy. Moreover, the feeling that they have no legal protection whatsoever deepens the women’s their perception of being ‘victims’ destined to be offered as a sacrifice for their families and pushes them to accept violence as an unavoidable fate.

The answers of the women to the open-ended questions include a number of recommendations that echo all the recommendations that get repeated in the various reports on domestic violence.

If international recommendations have any impact, it is to show the scope of the problem and its depth. The last Secretary General’s report indicated that “violence against women remains a destructive reality in all the regions of the world. Therefore, the application of international and regional standards that aim to eliminate violence is a pressing priority…”27

As for the means of confronting and eliminating violence, it continues to be a problem for women and those who defend them everywhere.

How do some women see the possibility of fighting violence against women in Lebanon, and do the statements of the interviewed women coincide with the contents of regional and international reports?28

Challenges / Recommendations

It is impossible to eliminate violence against women without political will and a commitment on the highest levels in order to make it a priority on the local, national, regional, and international levels”.

To this we must add another challenge which is to make it a priority for social movements including political parties, unions, and nongovernmental organizations.

UNIFEM’s “Progress of Arab Women 2004” report states that wife beating and domestic violence are the objective result of the insistance of some intellectual and social authorities to consider it as a natural matter”29. According to this in-depth study on violence against women, male violence against women originates from socio-cultural attitudes.

Added to this are the cultural rules and behaviors that reinforce the position of women as subordinate to men and the governmental structures and policies that legalize and strengthen the inequality between the sexes. Violence against women is at the same time a method of reinforcing inequality and a result of this inequality.

In the final analysis, culture is the medium of social behavior in all societies and it influences most aspects of violence everywhere.

It has been customary to conclude the report with a series of recommendations ranked according to priority. As we give these recommendations a special look based on the fact they are organically linked, we see that their ranking does not reflect an order of priority but attempts to list everything that can be achieved in the confrontation of violence against women in Lebanon. These recommendations can be classified in three groups:

  • Identifying violence, defining it, and determining its various forms.

  • Opposing violence and its means and instruments

    • The role of the government and official institutions

    • The role of civil society and women’s associations

  • Alleviating the consequences of violence or what we call the aftermath of violence.

  1. Identifying violence:

So far, no one can pretend to be able to give quantitative information on the prevalence of violence in Lebanon or in any other country. As the in-depth30 study indicates, the shortage of data cannot be compensated. Despite the progress that has been achieved in recent years in terms of exposing the presence of violence and the involvement of some organizations in fighting violence and helping its “victims” and “survivors” (hot lines, listening sessions), there still is an urgent need to strengthen the knowledge base for all the types and forms of violence. There is also a pressing need to improve our knowledge of the effect of violence on women in different groups based on age for instance or sect, and to make a comparative analysis between them. Because of the dearth of studies on violence as we previously mentioned, strengthening and completing our knowledge in this field remains an urgent need.

  1. Alleviating the consequences of violence or what we call the aftermath of violence, a task that has not yet begun in Lebanon. The reason is that the associations that receive female victims of violence do not have the capacity to follow up on them. In addition to the shortage of human and financial resources needed to receive them and assist them, they lack the legal framework that allows them to interfere in light of the complete absence of laws that protect female victims of violence. Finding shelters for abused women has become a necessity in order to give them a chance to live with dignity.

  1. Opposing violence, a primary and necessary step in the fight against violence. If the first two tasks constitute the objective basis for learning about violence and helping its victims / survivors, opposing violence is the preemptive tool that allows us to alleviate its destructive consequences on women and families.

The interviews showed that most of the women in the sample called for the enactment of laws that specifically protect women inside the household. However, the issue goes far beyond that. The women know that some Lebanese laws continue to discriminate against them, and that Article 562 of the penal code, which handles so-called “honor crimes” allows the murderer to escape punishment. They have also learned that depriving them of their children and controlling their destinies through divorce and abandonment is an option that is only available to men.

This is why the legal dimension has so much importance to them, especially personal status laws and the other laws that consecrate the discrimination between women and men and which remain subject to the reservations raised by the Lebanese government to the Convention on the elimination of all kinds of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

The violence against women that continues to take place in every country in the world is as a common violation of human rights and a major obstacle to equality between the sexes”31. It is a reason that impedes the achievement of equality and a result of inequality at the same time. The absence of equality as a culture and behavior leads to violence.

In order to avoid going into a vicious circle, the path of opposition to violence has to proceed in three separate directions:

  • The direction of producing knowledge in order to become familiar with violence, its forms, and its causes.

  • The direction of eliminating discrimination against women in the law.

  • The enactment of new laws to protect women and their defenders.

If these concurrent and intersecting directions are have the task of freeing the objective arena in which women move, an equally important effort has to be made in order to free the cultural and social arenas of all the elements that recreate the inferior images of women. This is the foundation for rebuilding balanced images of gender-based roles and expectations.

Recommendations:

We do not want to repeat the recommendations that figure in many of the international reports about violence and opposition to violence against women. We only want to document the needs of women which can be summarized in three issues:

  • Purifying the legislative language of any discrimination against women, and elevating the issue of equality including the elimination of all the reservations on the Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

  • Enacting laws to protect women and their defenders.

  • Establishing a variety of public shelters.

These tasks are the responsibility of the government and political authorities.

  • Educating women about their rights and encouraging them to speak up and speak out by establishing specialized centers for sheltering them and following up on them after their exposure to violence.

This is the role of government institutions.

  • Compelling the media to play a positive role in reinforcing the image of a working woman who is active and capable of managing the affairs of the state and of society.

 

1. Annexes of the study

1.1 The cases

Case 1

Sexual abuse led her to deviance …

Salwa has been married for over 15 years. Her marriage happened soon after she met her husband through common friends. Her parents objected in the beginning but in time they yielded to the fait accompli and she had 3 (male) children. He works as a taxi driver with an income close to 400 US Dollars and since this income was insufficient, she wanted to contribute to the income of the household, so she took beautician courses. As she was unable to rent her own beauty salon, she started freelancing in the homes of clients who would call her to schedule appointments.

Salwa describes her situation as follows:” Up until that time everything in the family seemed to be going very well but in reality they were not. My husband began cursing heavily and breaking everything within his reach even though I was humoring him. He hit me and verbally abused me and the children. He only cares about his personal pleasure. He forces me into having sex and is violent toward me. Sometimes he leaves the house and comes back with friends and leaves them with me and when I complain, he forces me to entertain them and do what they want and have sex with them and if I don’t he throws chairs and vases at me”. The suffering is great but she has grown accustomed to it, because when she complained to her parents they blamed her and asked her to stay at her house for the sake of the children. Salwa says that she sometimes feels sorry for him because she thinks that he is sick and has multiple personality disorder. Sometimes he beats her and verbally abuses her and other times he is sweet and buys her and the children presents. Whenever she wants to get a separation she thinks of the children and their fate… She tried to stop entertaining his friends and having sex with them but he erupted like a volcano and brutally beat her and forced her into doing it so she submitted to his wishes in fear of his aggressiveness. She says that the neighbors know her story, especially since her husband brings his friends and girlfriends and Ethiopian women, and that his house has become a brothel…for all to see.

Salwa has been abused since her fourth year of marriage. She has tried to stop and leave her husband but she has grown accustomed to this way of life and cannot stop. So she came back to her husband and resumed her activities willingly… She is now 38 years old.

Case 2

He crippled the wife and raped the daughter…”

This woman’s situation is extremely difficult physiologically and physically: She has become paraplegic because of a medical condition she developed as a result of being abused by her husband. She was sobbing during her interview.

She said: “I wish I didn’t marry this man who hurt my dignity and my humanity until I became exhausted and unable to free myself from his destructive bonds that have consumed my love of life and my will to go on living. Twenty years ago, I taught at a respected private school. When I got married I continued teaching, but the violence I was subjected to including beating, humiliation, and degradation sapped all my strength so I stopped teaching to raise my son and daughter despite the abuse that my husband made me endure. My physical and mental health declined and I became a cripple so he left me in my physical pain and my awful psychological state and began to see other women, cheating on me and turning my children against me until they became violent toward me. He even began to sexually harass his 15-year-old daughter. He sexually abused her and even convinced her to leave school. He made her accompany him to weddings and funerals as if she were his wife. My sister then got me out of this tragic situation and took me to a shelter because I am unable to take care of my personal needs like eating, drinking and bathing, and I cannot move around on my own. What can I say about myself when my life was destroyed by violence and the ill-treatment of my husband and children? My only crime is that I was born a woman…”

Case 3

Sexual harassment and abuse at work

Caron is a 40-year-old woman. She used to work with him in the same bank and he was her boss. She said: “In the beginning he started giving me looks and asking me for files in order to talk to me. He also used to ask me to meet him in the toilets to speak in private. I thought he loved me and picked me above the rest of my colleagues. I started to love him and to find him special and affectionate. He then began to lustfully ask me to have sex with him in the bank’s toilets and I thought that “love” drove him to do that until I became pregnant. This forced him to marry me very quickly against his will… He had hit me once before marriage in the bank’s toilet because I refused to have sex with him there but I took that for love. After marriage he became constantly violent to me. He used to tie me to the bed and hit the soles of my feet with his leather belt and rape me. I found out that he was deviant and violent and that everything that happened between us in the past was motivated by lust and not love. I endured this behavior for 5 years but the beating became worse and he started inventing new ways to hurt me like pulling my hair and slapping me on the face until I fainted then having violent sex with me especially when I was pregnant with my second child. He wanted to make me lose the baby because he did not want it. He repeatedly told me that marrying me was a big mistake and that he wanted to have sex with me because I was young and pretty but that he had no intention of marrying me. He married me because he was afraid of scandal and people saw him as the perfect boss who never made mistakes. He had to submit to the fait accompli.

I complained to my parents after 5 years of torture and humiliation and asked them to help me get rid of him. That day I had been severely beaten and I filed a complaint with the police station without giving them further details but they were not responsive becasue he is a renowned and respected manager and they did not believe me.

He was my father’s age and I became more and more anxious every time I saw him because I knew what would happen to me as a result of his arousal and his obsession. I knew that he was a sick and violent person and that I was the stupid victim…until I left him because I could not take it any longer. He kept the children and used his influence to force me to go back home but I am working now to save money in order to get a divorce even though Armenians cannot divorce.

Case 4

A blow to the head put her in a coma for 40 days

Samia said that she fell in love with this police officer and married him and that he loved her too until she discovered that he was selfish and stingy and thought that women should not speak because they are unworthy and a nobody in his opinion.

Samia describes the abuse that she was subjected to: “He always insulted me and my parents especially my deceased father… He was controlling and violent in everything. He humiliated me in front of family and friends and verbally abused me. He spent money on himself and very little at home. He was a ferocious beast during sex. He beat me brutally before the act and told me that I was a “zero” and that the refrigerator and the couch have more value than me in the house.

In the beginning I used to stay silent and cry and mend my wounds because I was making a sacrifice for the sake of my daughter… He used knives, razors, belts, and sticks to hurt me and I still have scars on my neck and on my body. He beat just for asking him whether he would be late that night, or whether he wanted me to prepare something for him. He told me that I was only a servant with no right to say anything because he was not interested in anything I had to say. He used to go out all night and then came back drunk beat me brutally until he drew blood because he used sharp objects. I was admitted to the hospital because of violent blows to the head and I stayed in a coma for 40 days … After 6 years of unbearable hell and violence and humiliation with a brutal beast of this sort, I decided to leave him because there is no communication and there is no mercy. I used to live in constant fear and shuddered when he came home. He was as stubborn as a wall, refusing any discussion because he was tough and would never yield to a woman because women were “inferior” beings. He forbid me to leave the house for an entire year and prevented me from seeing my parents whether they wanted to visit me or I to visit them. Now, after I filed a lawsuit against him because life with him became unbearable, the court gave me custody of my daughter and a symbolic alimony. My daughter who is 9 years old is in a permanent state of fear. She cannot forget how her father behaved toward me and constantly reminds me of that because he used to beat me in front of her.

Case 5

He impregnated her before marriage then accused her of having someone else’s child…

Mrs. Farida said with visible sadness : “I loved him for ten years then we got married without the knowledge of my parents who rejected him because of his inferior social status, and I became pregnant… The conflict began with his parents 8 months after our wedding when our oldest son was born. He used to blame me and argue with me about the way I talked to them. The situation deteriorated to the point that he threw me out of the house… My mother and father are deceased and I have a sister and a brother who are financially comfortable. I had to tell them about the state of my marriage and my husband and his parents. They offered me help and opened their hearts to me because they know “what I am about”… He was verbally abusive to me and told me: “I am sorry I married you because you are bad and I do not trust you. How did I marry you?” She adds: “I have been tired ever since I got married. He used to deprive me of spending money and tell me that my parents were well off and to let them help me.”

I stayed with my family for a year. They took care of me and my child in every way: psychologically, financially, personally He listened to his parents who convinced him that the child was not his. But I held on to my position because my son was also his even though the pregnancy happened before marriage.

My husband had an internal conflict and kept telling me: “if this child is not mine I am going to kill you because you cheated on me and I will deny the child his family name.”

He finally became convinced that it was his child. However, she continues to hurt because of this wound that would never heal. “He was the first and last man in my life and he doubted me because he listened to other people namely his parents. I suffer from nervous tension and constantly take antidepressants…

Case 6

Raping and holding a wife prisoner in her house

Hanneh”, a 32-year-old woman was married nine years ago and has three children. Her husband is 13 years older than her. Her marriage was arranged and she had no choice in the matter. There has not been a single day without fighting and cursing and beating by the husband. Hanneh says: “My husband is violent and treats me as if I were a machine or a whim that has faded. He asks me to do things I am ashamed to even mention. He used to ask me to dance for him and after I finish he accuses me of dancing badly and starts beating me. Afterwards he has sex with me as if I were an animal. To this day I don’t know the meaning of sexual pleasure because he is a brutal man: sex with him is more like rape. He beats me brutally with his belt and forces me to climb on top of the closet and forbids me from going back down. He puts food for me on top of the closet and falls asleep peacefully on the bed while making sure that I don’t come down.

I complained to my parents 3 years after my marriage but they asked me to stay because divorce is forbidden in our community. No one suffers except me and my children. My husband is very jealous despite the fact that I am constantly locked up and cannot get out. His suspicion is unjustified.”

She describes her situation in great fear. She is afraid to reveal what is happening in her marital life. She is very frail and constantly shudders while speaking. She does not like people.

She says about herself: “It’s over… my life is finished”.

1.2. The questionnaire

The Listening and Guidance Centers for victims of violence

The Survey on Marital Violence in Lebanon

A- General Information:

Questionnaire Number:

Name of the Interviewer:

Branch:

Date of the Interview:

I- Information on the case:

1- Name: Telephone No:

2- Religion: Husband Wife:

3- City/ town / village:

4- Mohafazat:

5- Age group:

18-30 years

31- 45 years

6- Woman’s Educational level: Man’s Educational level:

Illiterate □ Illiterate

Primary □ Primary

Intermediate □ Intermediate

Secondary □ Secondary

University □ University

II- Social Situation:

7- Social status:

Married

Divorced or Separated

Single

8- Age at the time of marriage

Below 18 years

18 – 25 years

26 years and above

9- Duration of Marriage

0 – 7 years

8 years and above

10- Number of children

11- How did you decide to get married?

Free decision

Arranged marriage

Under pressure and by force

III- Employment Status:

12- Employment status:

Spouse Employed Unemployed Type of Employment Monthly income Participates in household expenses
Wife
Husband

13- What are the reasons that caused you to work?

Improving standard of living

Principal breadwinner

Self-actualization

Other, Specify ————–

14- If you are not currently employed, why not?

Don’t want to work

Want to work but could not find a job

Used to work but quit because of household responsibilities

Husband’s refusal

IV -Nature of the marital relationship:

15- Nature of the marital relationship:

Calm

Tense

Violent

16- If the relation is tense and violent, what type of violence are you subjected to? (Explain the type of violence after identifying it)

Verbal abuse (offensive language and insults)

Psychological abuse

Economic abuse

Physical abuse

17- What is the interval between the incidence of violence and its reporting?

18- Do you try to avoid the situations that expose you to violence?

yes □ No

If yes, how?

19- Are any tools used in the context of abuse?

yes □ No

If yes, what are these tools?

20- What in your opinion are the underlying causes of violence?

Shortage of affection

Feelings of inferiority

Jealousy and suspicion

Unbalanced education

Common psychological problems

Other, Specify ——————-

21- How do you describe your husband’s behavior after being abusive?

Indifference

Asking for forgiveness

Sexual intercourse

Other, Specify ——————-

V- The wife’s behavior:

22- Your reaction and the behavior:

Silence for various reasons

Fear from the husband

Objection inside the house

Complaining to family

Contacting anti-violence organizations or associations

Filing a complaint at the police station

other, specify: ———————

23- What are the consequences of abuse in your case?

Continuous fear □ Outbursts of anger □ Nervous tension

Feelings of guilt □ Withdrawal □ Other, specify:———–

24- Did you try to ask for a separation from your husband because you were abused? □ yes □ No

If not, how did the problem end? —————-

25- Do you believe that the woman is partially responsible for the abuse inflicted upon her? □ yes □ No

If not, why? ———————-

If yes, specify how? —————

26- Do you call for the enactment of laws that protect women inside their homes?

yes □ No

If not, why? ———————————–

27- Are you willing to work for that purpose?

Signing petitions

Participating in public demonstrations

Supporting the organizations that do this kind of work

28- Do you believe that violence against women is widespread in Lebanon?

yes □ No

Reported

Somewhat reported

Invisible

29- Do you consider violence against women to be a real problem that affects the family?

yes □ No

In both cases, why? ——————

30- What are the factors that promote domestic violence?

Poverty

Illiteracy

Family values system

Personal status laws

A woman’s education and her self-awareness

Other ——-

31-What is your opinion about violence against women in Lebanon?

32- How can violence against women be eliminated? (Please answer all points)

Role of women:

Role of men:

Role of civil society (Women’s organizations- Parties-Unions etc…)

Role of the government:

33- Do you know, participate in, or are a member of a women’s organization?

yes □ No

34- Do you know any organizations that deal with violence?

yes □ No

35- If yes, how did you find out about this organization?

Through the media

Through family

Through a friend

Other, specify ……………….

36- How do you view the Lebanese anti-violence women’s organizations?

They do their work seriously

They need to change their approach

They are ineffective

Other, specify ———-

37- What are your suggestions to stimulate the work of these organizations?

Expanding their scope of work to cover all regions

Becoming grassroots not elitist organizations

Supporting them socially and financially

Becoming a pressure group

Other, specify —————-

References

– Hisham Shrabi, The patriarchal system and the relational problems of the underdeveloped Arab society, Center of United Arab Studies, 1991.

– Dr. Mustapha Hijazi, Social underdevelopment, Arab Development Institute, 1981.

– Gorge Bordio, Symbolic Violence, translation by Nazir Jahel.

– Dr.Aman Shaarani and Dr. Fahmia Charafeddine, Discrimination in reading books and national education and civil upbringing in the primary cycle: Gender approach, the National Committee for pursuing woman’s issues, 2006.

– Dr.Fahmia Charafeddine , One origin and many pictures. The culture of violence against women in Lebanon, Dar Al Farabi, Fredriech Ebert Association, 2002.

– Anthony Giddens, Sociology, Translation by the Arab Translation Organization & Dr. Fayez Sayegh, 2007.

– Dr. Samir Khoury, Dr. Mary Khoury, Fighting violence against women within the family, Lebanese Women’s Council, 1998.

– Dr.Layla Abed Al Wahhab, Family violence, Dar Al Mada 1999.

– The Lebanese penal code.

– Beijing Declaration.

– Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, United Nations, 1979.

– Second Paper on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, the National Committee for pursuing women’s issues, 2005.

– The Arab media and violence against women, paper of media and violence against women, Amnesty International, 2004.

UNIFEM Report, Progress of Arab Women, 2004.

Third Arab Human Development Report, 2006.

– Human Development Report for violence against women, 1995.

– General Secretary Report on violence against women in the world, United Nations, New York, 2007.

Table of Contents

Introduction ———————————————————————————-

Section One ————————————————————————————-

1. Study framework —————————————————————————–

2. Violence against women in Lebanese ethics, results etc. ————————-

2.1. Addressing the subject of violence against women in Arab societies ———————————————————————————-

2.2. Denouncing violence & current wavering ———————————-

2.3. The study ————————————————————————–

2.3.1. The Study Obstacles ———————————————–

2.3.2. The Selection of the sample —————————–

Section Two: Analysis of the interviews ————————————————-

1. How is this reflected in the interviews?———————————

2. Is this what happened? ——————————————————————–

3. The nature of the relationship between the spouses. ————————-

4. How do women endure violence; why don’t they complain?—————-

Section Three: Post-Violence Behavioural Trends:———————————

1. Indifference ————————————————————————————

2. Asking for Forgiveness ——————————————————————

3. Sexual intercourse ————————————————————————-

4. If this is what the husband/ the perpetrator does, what does the wife do and how does she respond to violence?——————————————

5 How are the respondents affected by violence and how do they describe their situation? ——————————————————————-

Section Four

1. How do we confront violence? ———————————————————–

1.1. The first point ——————————————————————-

1.2. The second point —————————————————————–

1.3. The third point ———————————————————————

2. How do the interviewed women view anti-violence organizations?——-

Conclusions / Recommendations ———————————————————–Annexes of the study ————————————————————————–

The Cases —————————————————————————————

The Questionnaire —————————————————————————–

References ————————————————————————————–

1 Third Arab Human Development Report;p. 109

2 Hisham Shrabi P. 14

3 Mustapha Hijazi, social underdevelopment, Arab Development Institute, 1981, P. 209

4 Bordio, Symbolic Violence,

5 the fourth Arab Human Development report; p. 109

6 Aman Shaarani and Fahmia Charafeddine, Discrimination in reading books and national education and civil upbringing in the primary cycle: Gender approach..

7 Fahmia Charafeddine, one origin and many pictures. The culture of violence against women in Lebanon, Dar al Farabi, Fredriech Ebert, Beirut 2002

8 John Stuart Mill

9 Anthony Giddens, Sociology, Translation by the Arab Translation Organization 2007, , P. 201-202

10 Article 4 of the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, United Nations, 1979.

11 Cf. Reservations to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, edited by Dr Fahmia Charafeddine, Domestic Commission for Following-up with Women Issues, shadow report to the Non-Governmental Organizations 2004, edited by Dr Fahmia Charafeddine

12 Fahmia Charafeddine, The culture of violence against women in Lebanon, Source mentioned earlier.

13 Dr. Samir Khoury, Dr. Mary Khoury, Fighting violence against women within the family, Lebanese Women’s Council, 1998.

14 Mary and Samir Khoury, P.18

15 UNIFEM, Progress of Arab Women 2004.

16 Fahmia Charafeddine: One origin and many pictures, Source mentioned earlier

17 Cf. definition of adultery, Second Paper on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women.

18 Cf. Article 562 of the Lebanese penal code

19 Arab media and violence against women, paper of media and violence against women, Amnesty International 2004, p. 77.

20 Cf. Beijing Declaration p. 94-95.

21 Human Development Report (1995), p. 44.

22 Human Development Report (1995), p. 45.

23 The educational system is a group of values, principles and customs that penetrate the social relations and is reflected in the options of social education.

24 Cf. Fahima Charafeddine, One origin and many pictures, Source mentioned earlier

25 Layla Abed Al Wahhab, family violence, Dar Al Mada 1999, p. 70

26 The fourth report dedicated to women records two types of violence P.109

27 Report of the Secretary General P.29

28 Idem P.31

29 Progress of Arab Women 2004, UNIFEM, P.140

30 Cf. The report of the Secretary General, P.78.

31 Report of the Secretary General P.13.

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