Let’s restore proper human rights for the population of Lebanon and especially eliminate the discrimination against women across the country.
The rights situation in Lebanon drastically deteriorated in 2019, reaching a state of widespread anti-government protests that began on October 17. In general, security forces use excessive and unnecessary violence against protesters and on several occasions they fail to stop violent attacks on demonstrators. Lebanese authorities have been punishing individuals who practiced freedom of speech, and security agencies have been interrogating these individuals, who most of the times have been subjects of abuse and violence. These people have been sent to trials with the accountability that torture remains applicable, despite the recent passage of an anti-torture law. In 2019, authorities continued to detain individuals for their freedom of expression and charge them with heavy sanctions.
In addition to the lack in free expression, article 534 of the penal code punishes also any sexual intercourse contrary to the order of nature with up to one year in prison. Homosexuality is seen as a crime and transgender women in Lebanon face heavy discrimination when accessing basic services, like employment, health care, and housing.
Going on, an estimated 250,000 migrant domestic workers, primarily from Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Nepal, and Bangladesh, are excluded from labor law protections. They are not eligible to normal payment so they wages get delayed and they are forced to confine, refuse holiday hours and to undergo verbal and physical abuse. Migrant domestic workers are seeking accountability and investigations for abuse and violence in their work place.
Other similar abuses and discrimination deeds are: the exploitation, abuse and neglected access to work, education and healthcare for the Syrian refugees fleeing their country to seek peace, the lack of education for over 300,000 children, open waste burning in poorer areas and women discrimination. These are all examples of human rights violation which need to be addressed by the government of Lebanon. Things need to change, in better.
For what it regards women rights, women in Lebanon still face discrimination under 15 separate religion-based personal status laws. Child marriage and marital rape remain legal for women in Lebanon. Unlike men, women cannot pass their citizenship to their children and foreign spouses. Lebanon has no minimum age for marriage, and some religious courts allow girls younger than 15 to marry. A Law established in 2014, aimed at protecting women from domestic violence and at establishing important protection measures to any kind of misdeed against women. Unfortunately, it failed to criminalise all forms of domestic violence, including marital rape, so women are still objects of these kinds of abuses.
We, as the Lebanese International Lobby Organisation, want to stop these types of violence and discrimination against the Lebanese community. We want to achieve great results in the creation of a peaceful and safe space for people to live and grow. Human rights should be respected as well as women rights. Through our cause and your support, we want to achieve:
- safe country to learn, grow and freely express own opinions
- respectful environment where children can study, people can work according to the law and women don’t suffer domestic violence
- environment where health and protection are priorities
- government free of discrimination, corruption, violence and abuse agains its people
We can achieve these results with your help and great effort. We want a better future for Lebanon and this is the moment where to start working hard on achieving our goals. Human and women rights are essential to live a balanced and safe life.
