Dignity for displaced women and girls in Lebanon

Background during and after the implementation of the project; Regarding the situation of the girls in the most vulnerable and marginalized communities in Lebanon including displaced communities, the difficult socio-economic situation results in parents allowing or encouraging their daughters to get married at an early ages, due to the conventional thought between the people which resides on marrying a girl off while she is still young is believed to be less expensive than waiting till she and the groom reach adulthood, protecting the girl sexuality because they guess one of  the leading causes of early marriage is the over-emphasis on virginity and chastity of girls and the consequent control of the sexuality of women and girls , Developing and alliance between two families so the  child marriages are planned and conducted to create an alliance between two families for social, political and economic reasons., lack of awareness of the law related to child marriage , in addition to Lack of access to education and reproductive health services.

Therefore, based on the previous causes that we have been mentioned above there are several rights that are undermined or lost by children forced to marry early that summarizes as the right to an education to be protected from physical and mental violence, injury or abuse, including sexual abuse, rape, and sexual exploitation. Also, The pleasance of the highest possible standard of health. In addition, the right to rest and leisure, and to participate freely in cultural life. Furthermore, the right to not be separated from parents against the child's will. Moreover, deprivation from the right of protection against all forms of exploitation which affect any aspect of the child’s welfare.

Naba’a Achievements;

The most highlighted achievements during this period, are focused on protecting the adolescent and girls from risks of early marriage;

-          (Protecting Girls from Early Marriage), where the Child Marriage rates are reduced among the most vulnerable populations in Lebanon

-           Empowering the local community, particularly parents, mothers and girls so they became are able to take decisions to become agents of positive change to take action towards reducing the early marriage in their communities. 

-          Empowering the vocational skills and enrolling the girls in the vocational training center to study a vocational profession, which provide an opportunity for the young girls to find a job in the Lebanese community and to afford their daily expenses and improve their socio-economic situation, so that, their parent will not consider them as a financial burdens which is one of the main reasons that lead the girls to get marry in the early ages.

-          Finally, improving the status of the adolescent girls, young women and their mothers is  to ensure that they are treated equally within their community and they are aware about their rights and how to protect themselves from abuse

CASE STUDY

Age: 17

Nationality: PRS

Status: married

Family: 2 (3 years girl, 5 years boy)

About the wife:

The wife lives with her family consisting of husband and two children in a rent house, she suffered many problems in her life since she was in adolescence, she suffered from sexual abuse from her uncle who asked her to keep silent in order to preserve the dignity of the family.

She get married when she was 17 years old, her husband does not have identification papers he escape to Lebanon because of the war in Syria.

 The second problem is that her second child was born in the camp  and was not able to register him  so they feel ashamed that their children have no identity papers .beside of this she suffered from violence from his husband and she keep silent because in their traditions the husband has the right to do anything to his wife .

The wife know someone who helped her in home in the absence of her husband, which started to a romantic relationship and then turned into a sexual relationship, and after a while her mother know about this relation, so she asked the husband to move to another place .the wife felt lonely and boring, she hated her family and crying all the time which making her try to suicide several times.  After she get treated in the hospital, she get back to home to continue her life with her family even she get bored  she had emotional deprivation from her husband and family side, let her seek for another person to saturate her needs. She is now living in Loss and the conflict between conscience (her mind) and heart (her desire), because she can't live without her children conversely she don't want to live with her husband.

Economic situation:

Very bad

Social situation:

The relation between the wife and husband: very bad she hates him and didn’t want to live with him.

The relation between wife and her family: her relation with her mother very good ,she told her everything about her feeling ,and regarding to her father the relation is very bad .

The relation between her and her children: she loves them but because of them she can't leave her husband .

The problem:  depression

 Interventions:

Psychological support /listening/ counseling session/home visit

Recommendation

Follow up twice weekly /share her in parents deal/share her in awareness sessions   

Links:

• Naba'a website