Slain Women: Lebanon s Economic Crisis Leads to The Worst Domestic Violence in Years Published February 11th, 2021 - 10:27 GMT
A Lebanese anti-government protester wearing a water bottle as a shield points during clashes with security forces in front of the Serail (headquarters of the Governorate), in the northern port city of Tripoli, following a demonstration to protest against the economic situation, on January 28, 2021. Tripoli was already one of Lebanon s poorest areas before the coronavirus pandemic piled new misery onto a chronic economic crisis. Many of its residents have been left without an income since Lebanon imposed a full lockdown earlier this month in a bid to stem a surge in Covid-19 cases and prevent its hospitals from being overwhelmed. JOSEPH EID / AFP
The murder of model Zeina Kanjo and two other women has provoked outrage in Lebanon, as authorities revealed a doubling of domestic abuse reports in the country.
Middle-East Arab News and Opinion - Asharq Al-Awsat is the world’s premier pan-Arab daily newspaper, printed simultaneously each day on four continents in 14 cities
BEIRUT: The economic and financial crisis in Lebanon is responsible for the country’s worsening domestic violence, according to women’s rights groups.
Four women have been murdered over the past month by male relatives as Lebanon is in the depths of a dire economic situation, exacerbated by coronavirus lockdowns and a massive explosion that tore through Beirut last August.
“The reason behind this rise in violence is the economic and financial situation,” Hayat Mirshad, the co-founder and co-director at FE-MALE, told Arab News.
“But the violence against women during the lockdown is the most dangerous and most common form of violence. Women are victims of their male relatives: fathers, husbands, or brothers. The lockdown prevents them from leaving their houses or even seeing other people, knowing that violence in Lebanon is the result of a patriarchal culture and mentality that blames women and justifies their aggressors’ crimes.”