2016-07-14

Khan Yunis

Human Rights Defenders / Gaza

A workshop under the title of “Violence against Women” was carried-out by MUSAWA, in cooperation with the PHRDs Network and Al-Waleed Charity. The workshop was held in Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, targeting 21 female participants.

The workshop aimed at spreading the culture of human rights in marginalized regions and communities, introducing the community to the existence and importance of the Palestinian Human Rights Defenders Network (PHRDs), disseminating its goals and mission in order to include new individuals and institutions as members, raising legal awareness, and enabling community groups to defend their rights and realize the legal tools and mechanisms available to protect these rights.

The workshop was lectured by lawyer Mirvat Sahmood, a member of the PHRDs Network.

Several topics were addressed throughout the workshop, including the definition of the law; the concept of violence against women and its types (political, societal, domestic); violence against working women; Palestinian laws that ensure legal protection for women; the procedures for filing a complaint; and institutions that offer legal aid for women.

The lecturer referred to the Palestinian Penal Code No. 74 of 1936, valid in Gaza; the Personal Status Law; the Penal Procedure Law; the Public Health Law; the Labor Law; and the Law on Public Service.

At the end of the workshop, participants gave the following recommendations: continue to raise legal awareness amongst women in marginalized areas; increase the monitoring of law implementation to protect the rights of women; activate the role of governmental and non-governmental institutions when it comes to legal and judicial aid for abused women; increase the number of research studies and media reports that shed light on violations against women; firmly establish the principle of social justice and advocate for women issues as a mechanism for demanding the implementation of the law.

This workshop comes as part of a project to empower human rights defenders, carried out by MUSAWA in both the West Bank and Gaza, with the support of the European Union.