Women need the practical application of the laws

On Tuesday 25/11/2008 the Palestinian Center for Democracy and Conflict Resolution, in cooperation with the Palestinian NGO Network, held a workshop on the occasion of the International Day for Combating Violence against Women and for the project to combat violence against women at the Centre, funded by Norwegian People's Aid. The workshop was attended by representatives of the education directorate north of Hebron, the member of parliament, representatives of the other education directorates, and also the Ministry of Social Affairs and representatives of civil and non-governmental organisations, among them Defence for Children International, the YMCA, the Hebron mental health programme and the General Union of Disabled People, in addition to a media presence at the workshop and representatives of the women's centres in the areas of Hebron and its villages.

The workshop was opened by lawyer Saad Shalalda, director of the office in Hebron, speaking about the Centre and its achievements and about the projects carried out in Hebron governorate concerning abused women and the mechanism for following them up through the Centre's departments and programmes. He then left the floor to the project coordinator Nour Jaber, who began speaking about the definition of violence and its dangers for Palestinian women, and about the woman's image and her reality with complete transparency. Then the roots of family violence and of violence against women were presented, and the statistics and studies addressed by Amnesty International in 2008 on human rights in the world were also presented, along with the rates of violence and of killing on the grounds of honour in Palestine according to the statistics of the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics for 2005 and 2006. Many interventions from those present were made and the subject was discussed from all sides, and real examples of women were given according to the cases brought by those present, since some of them represent bodies supporting and assisting abused women. At the close of the workshop there were many recommendations from those present, of which we mention some: the recommendation of Mr. Mohammed Al-Farroukh, deputy director of education in the north Hebron area, on the need for education and awareness in the field of reproductive and sexual health and gender. Sona Ahneihen, specialist at the Family Planning Association, recommended the need to amend the Palestinian penal code, particularly on killing on the grounds of honour, stressing the need for severe punishment by the law on those who commit it, actually and without covering it up. Khulood Al-Sharbati, representative of Social Affairs in Hebron, recommended focusing on religious figures with regard to education on women's rights and killing on the grounds of honour, since they are platforms and can be targeted to reach the desired aim of awareness, pressure and drawing a lesson. Iman Saleh, specialist at the Women's Centre for Legal and Social Counselling, added the need to intensify workshops to educate a large number of women and so that the woman may know her rights and the appropriate ways of claiming them. The representative of Social Affairs, Khulood, also added that Hebron lacks a rehabilitation centre for women. The journalist Ajad Shawer recommended the need to speak about violence and to present real stories under assumed names to society. Amal Harb, representative of the WAFA agency, added the need to hold workshops for spouses about women's rights and the forms of violence, since they are the nucleus of society. These are some of the recommendations discussed at the workshop, in the hope of achieving part of them in the very near future.