By Khaled Tayeh
TULKARM, December 5, 2017 (WAFA) – As the United Nations designated the 25th of each month as “Orange Day” marking collective efforts to end violence against women and girls around the world, the Palestinian Bar Association has launched “Be Kind to Women” campaign to address violence, raise awareness and take action in Palestine.
“Be Kind To Women” was started simultaneously with the international campaign launched by the UN Secretary-General’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign and managed by UN Women to raise awareness and take action against violence committed against women and girls worldwide.
The campaign’s first activity in the occupied West Bank kicked off on Sunday, November 26, with an introduction to the campaign’s vision and objectives.
Shorouq Dweikat, an independent lawyer who was assigned by the Palestinian Bar Association to organize the campaign’s activities in the northern West Bank city of Tulkarm, told WAFA that the campaign’s theme was inspired by a saying with the same words for Prophet Muhammad.
“The campaign was scheduled to begin in the week Muslims were celebrating the birth of Prophet Muhammad,” she said, “and we wanted to show people that women must be treated with kindness, consideration and dignity.”
Dweikat spoke about the slight changes that were made to the international campaign to suit the Palestinian community, saying that the Bar Association thought it would be better not to focus on the idea of “men vs. women” in the campaign, rather to urge society in general to treat women with kindness.
“Even though the society still needs awareness regarding women rights, we don’t want to be misunderstood when it comes to violence against women. We don’t want the world to think that it’s men against women or even women against women here in Palestine,” she said. “That’s why we chose “Be Kind To Women” because while women here do have rights to some extent, we also ask that they be treated with kindness as we stand by them in their demands for equality.”
According to Dweikat, violence takes many forms and it is not necessarily only committed by men against women, and through physical abuse or assault only.
“Violence can be deprivation, right confiscation, racism, being taken advantage of. It’s not necessarily physical assault. I think when women are taken advantage of is one of the worst forms of violence against women. It’s called violence when it affects you on the psychological side because it can lead to more serious results,” she said.
Dweikat says that violence is not exclusively done by men against women as in husbands against their wives. “It can be fathers against daughters, brothers against sisters, even an employer against employees, and it is not only men against women always, it can be women against women, too,’ she said.
As a lawyer, she deals with many cases where women are subjected to different kinds of violence. For example, some women are denied their inheritance, or denied custody over children. She says she aims to help women and females get legal help throughout the campaign.
Waed Fuqha, a Palestinian lawyer, also spoke about her experience when it comes to violence against women.
“As a lawyer, not many families would want their sons to marry a lawyer because they think that just because you work in law, that means you’re too strong for them,” Fuqha said. “Men want to take advantage of their wives and take their salary, which I consider to be a form of violence.”
One of the campaign’s activities is for the Palestinian Bar Association to provide free legal consultation to women seeking help during the nine days of the campaign.
The Bar Association is also willing to give lectures in Palestinian schools on this subject. The lectures will be given by volunteers and will focus on the campaign and other topics like raising awareness, morals and human rights.
Dweikat advises Palestinian women and girls who are subjected to any kind of violence, oppression or suppression not to be silent and to seek help and legal action immediately.
According to the UNwomen.org, the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence is an international campaign which takes place each year and runs from 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to 10 December, Human Rights Day.
In support of this civil society initiative, each year, the United Nations Secretary-General’s campaign UNiTE to End Violence against Women (UNiTE) calls for global action to increase worldwide awareness and create opportunities for discussion about challenges and solutions.
K.T./M.H./M.K.
