“Let us not meet again in a year, to count additional women killed or beaten by their loved ones. Let us work to end violence against women and girls.” This is how the UN Women Special Representative in Palestine Maryse Guimond marked the opening of the 16 days of Activism against Gender-based violence in Ramallah, Palestine.
The campaign, held internationally by the United Nations each year, had a special, even further engaged aspect this year. Indeed, the campaign, which started on November 25th, was led under the following theme: “Women and girls safe at home, online, in the street, at work and in society as a whole.” Women and girls shall be safe from violence everywhere, and with the COVID-19 pandemic, the task has become harder. Now, imagine dealing with the burden of the pandemic, along with living a humanitarian crisis, violence from occupiers, constant security instability, and perhaps, living in one of the tensest and most controversial land conflicts in the world. This is what Palestinian women go through every day.
For this reason, and as repeatedly done in previous years, UNESCO, in partnership with UNRWA, launched the campaign on Palestinian lands, in Ramallah. What is special about this year’s campaign is the diversity of campaigning strategies adopted in order to raise the alarm about the increasing number of Palestinian women who face violence on a daily basis. As explained, Palestinian women and girls live in circumstances that make them more vulnerable to gender-based violence than other segments of society.
The radio episodes recorded in partnership with Radio Philistia constituted one of the main elements of the campaign. The talks were held in Arabic in order to reach a wider audience and enhance education regarding the topic. The three episodes tackle numerous significant gender-based violence problems faced by Palestinian women including Online Violence Against Palestinian Female Journalists, Unequal Burden On Female Students and Working Women Due to COVID-19, and Unequal Burden On Female Students and Working Women Due to COVID-19. The last two episodes will air on the 6th and 8th of December respectively and can be watched live on the radio’s Facebook page.
On a more ground-work spectrum, the organizers of the campaign made sure to involve real-life victims and witnesses of gender-based violence as a core component of their events. “Cologne Mobile Exhibition,” a mobile exhibition, was opened on Nov. 25 in the West Bank town of Sabastiya. The name of the bus exhibition came after one of the contributors to the tour had said that “[She] used to feel sick and disgusted, especially of the smell of his cologne in the class,” when talking about her male teacher harasser. And so, the Cologne Exhibition toured around 16 Palestinian cities from the West Bank to Gaza. Its main aim is to directly reflect and transmit the suffering endured by survivors of Gender-based violence. As such, 16 women shared their stories, as a means to inspire, educate, raise awareness, and achieve change.
Participation in the events involved numerous active organizations and movements, which are at the forefront of the fight for gender equality in Palestine, including over 100 entities coming from private, public, communal, and international backgrounds. One of the most prominent collaborations was with the UN Women's Palestine Gender Innovation Agora. The exhibition was created along with this consultative forum and venue for frequent gender debate and advocacy with Palestinian youth. Palestine Agora is a group of 31 young women and men (advocates, civil society professionals, business innovators, and social media influencers) who share insights and experiences on youth and gender issues.
Notwithstanding the crucial role played by sharing personal experiences and survival stories with the public, officials have also highlighted the importance of taking action in the legal realm in order to institutionalize change, prevent gender-based violence against Palestinian women, and give abusers the punishment that they deserve. Mrs. Guimond, representing the UN, has called for further reforms which include working on family protection laws, increasing the budget to protect women, and expanding the provision of services for the victims in need.
Hence, with the increasing prevalence of gender-based violence in the world, and in Palestine more specifically, it is safe to say that the issue at hand is not solely directed towards one country or another. Rather, women and young girls face gender-based violence everywhere, at any time. It is consequently undeniable that the fight is here to stay, until authorities, women, and men unite to take tangible action to end gender-based crimes and atrocities globally, setting aside politics, culture, religion, or any other factor.