Progress Amid Resistance

LEBANON 263Aside from a few tallies of complaints submitted to the police, no au -thoritative statistics exist regarding the extent or character of abuse committedagainst women by their male kin. The most reliable informationcomes from NGOs that work with and help battered women, which re -port that almost 80 percent of female victims of domestic violence are alsovictims of spousal rape. 42Women in Lebanon are often subjected to gender-based harassment outsidethe home, most often in the form of sexual harassment on the streetand at work. Victims prefer to confide only in people close to them and aremade to feel ashamed should they decide to report such incidents to thepolice, who often do not know how to deal with these issues. Verbal abusein the forms of slander, defamation, and vilification are prohibited, but thepunishment is usually reduced when such acts are not committed in public.NGOs have initiated various projects in an effort to break the silencere garding domestic abuse. KAFA, the Lebanese Council to Resist ViolenceAgainst Women, and the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA)have all established 24-hour hotlines that allow victims to report abuseand receive counseling. They have also launched awareness campaigns inan effort to focus the attention of the general public, the authorities, andexperts on the plight of victims. Finally, they provide female victims withfree legal advice, shelter, and access to social workers throughout theirrecovery process. As noted above, these organizations have drafted andlobbied the government to pass a law that would explicitly ban domesticviolence. The Ministry of Social Affairs has been cooperating on the issuewith a number of local NGOs for several years now, in some cases undertakingjoint projects with the private groups.RecommendationsF The parliament should enact an optional civil personal status law thatwould offer an alternative to the existing religious personal status laws,providing Lebanese citizens with freedom of choice without directlyantagonizing religious leaders.F The government should specifically outlaw domestic violence andspousal rape, create more accessible mechanisms through which victimscan file complaints, and train police and other public employeeson how to handle such cases.F Custody laws that discriminate against the mother based on the child’sgender and age should be amended to allow courts to determine the