http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=107107
Print
Copyright (c) 2009 The Daily Star
Saturday, October 03, 2009
Palestinian women denied rights even in camps
Study indicates females "experience refugee status different than male
counterparts"
By Josie Ensor
Daily Star staff
BEIRUT: Palestinian women in one of Lebanon's largest refugee camps say
that with no rights in the country or even within their own community, they
feel they are treated "worse than dogs." Offering a unique insight into life in
one of 12 refugee camps in the country, Medical Aid for Palestinians, a British
charity working for the health of Palestinians in Lebanon, released a report
Wednesday on the disenfranchisement of Burj al-Barajneh's women.
The study, entitled "Palestinian Refugee Women in Lebanon: Conditions and
Challenges in Burj al-Barajneh Camp," reveals that, degraded and abused, women
feel "buried alive" by repressive conditions in the camp.
The report claims the services provided by the UN Relief and Works Agency
(UNRWA), marking its 60th anniversary this year, are insufficient to secure
dignified living conditions for the roughly 21,000 residents living in the
square kilometer on the outskirts of Beirut.
Female Palestinian refugees in particular bear the brunt of this, facing
double discrimination: first for their refugee status and second for their
position as women. "They have experienced refugee status differently than their
male counterparts at all levels of the public sphere," the report reads,
specifically referencing marginalization in the work force, education and
political representation as well as the more private domestic sphere.
The study notes that Lebanon has signed the Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) but has not committed
itself to Article 16, which governs equitable marriage and family relations,
which undermines the purpose of the treaty.
The monitoring of CEDAW for Palestinian refugee women is particularly
difficult, with the number of different institutions accountable for their
welfare, such as the Lebanese state, UNWRA and other civil societies
complicating governance.
Lebanese law forbids Palestinians from working in 72 professions,
including engineering, medicine, law and public-sector jobs. But Palestinian
women face further obstacles in the workforce, such as discriminatory
conditions favoring men who lack familial responsibility. These structural
challenges have been codified to become standard practice in Lebanon.
Ninety-one percent of those interviewed by Women's Humanitarian
Organization (WHO) for the study said they did not get to spend enough time
with their children because of harsh working conditions, and a large majority
said they felt unable to take any time off for maternity leave.
The study offers that inequality between the genders has also been
exacerbated by the reinterpretation of the Koran on religious duties to excuse
the marginalization and abuse of women. They put the rise in fundamentalism in
the camps down to the disempowerment of women, who have been stripped of
decision-making power.
Not only barred from participating in Lebanon's politics, refugee women
in Burj al-Barajneh also find themselves excluded from the Popular Committee,
the internal decision-making body responsible for electricity, water supply and
the overall running of the over-crowded camp. But almost 40 percent of the
women said that such formal decision-making was, culturally, a man's duty.
The holy book represents a crucial tool for education and the pursuit of
equitable communities, yet the WHO find that it is now being used to restrict
rather than maximize the contribution women make to society. The study
particularly refers to long-standing cultural traditions that recognize
domestic violence as a custom.
Ninety-three percent blamed the problem on the environment in the camp,
which serves as an excuse for such destructive behavior.
The study showed that 93 percent of women ask permission from a male
family member before leaving the house, as it would be haram to do otherwise,
and 94 percent are asked to be back before dark.
Forty-one percent of women indicated that either they or women close to
them are exposed to physical violence, including hitting, slapping or pushing.
Given the widespread view that violence must remain private, the most common
coping strategy for women facing abuse was to "keep silent and stay patient."
Twelve percent of the women were found to be illiterate, with half of
those surveyed leaving education before entering high school. Only 11 percent
had a bachelor's degree, and less than 1 percent obtained a master's degree.
Comments in the focus group with WHO underlined the sheer desperation
women in the camp felt, with many saying they felt "buried alive" and often
comparing their lives with animals, stating, "Dogs have better lives than we
do."
Despite the camp's proximity to Beirut, 91 percent of women responded
that they did not see themselves as part of Lebanese society, while 100 percent
reported feeling isolated from the outside world.
Sixty-two percent said they would like to live outside the camp, in order
to benefit from better living conditions, but 38 percent reported that they
would not like to move, as they feel lost beyond its borders.
Eighty-six percent of the women said they lacked a sense of belonging
within the camp, where most of them had spent their entire lives.
When asked what they would change if they could go back, one-third said
they would have had fewer children, reasoning that it would be better to have
fewer or no children because of all the unfairness of bringing children into
such poor conditions.
The idea of the future offered little more optimism: 83 percent indicated
that they expected the status of refugee women to remain "very bad," while
almost all of the women said they no longer wanted to be refugees, and 79
percent said they would change everything about their lives.
Recent political developments in the region and the new policies of
Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing cabinet suggest that the right
of return for Palestinians is highly unlikely in the near future.
Yet at the same time President Michel Sleiman, addressing the UN General
Assembly last week, rejected any form of settlement of Palestinian refugees in
Lebanon, saying that their position will be "neither compromised nor reversed."
The position of Palestinian refugees therefore remains as uncertain as it
does unsettled, with no chance of naturalization in Lebanon and little chance
of returning home.
Copyright (c) 2009 The Daily Star
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
