Workshop on gender based violence

Nisaa FM conducted a final workshop as a termination of the show KAFA shedding light on gender based violence.

The show was aired weekly on Tuesdays with presenter Israa Orabi and a weekly guest discussing a different theme of gender based violence each week. The eight radio shows sought to give women the opportunity to gain knowledge and enquire about their legal rights and the counseling services available to them. The shows were meant to give important public exposure to an issue that often is labeled as “taboo” and confined to the domestic spheres, thus opening up for much-needed debate on the underlying causes of sexual and gender-based violence, the consequences of this violence on Palestinian society as a whole, and the ways in which the issue can be addressed at the national level.

The themes of the shows were; 1. Definition of violence and forms of violence in general; 2. Workplace harassment; 3. Violence against divorced women; 4. Domestic violence; 5. Honor killings and the question of virginity; 6. Electronic violence and online harassment; 7. Violence against children; 8. How to protect women from violence. The guests were social workers, psychologists, and legal experts.

All the participants of the shows and the Canadian representative, who funded the shows, were invited to the final workshop held at The Grand Park Hotel. The evaluation of the shows was presented and afterwards there was an open discussion on what recommendations should be made to reduce and prevent violence against women. Among the recommendations were education of young women in the seriousness of violence and the consequences thereof, raising awareness of domestic violence, and the need to form a lobby advocating for a change in law on this topic.