The Lebanese Women Democratic Gathering has launched a campaign to urge the Lebanese Parliament to discuss a law prohibiting marriage before the age of 18 with the motto “مش وقتها (It is not the time)” as part of 16 Days of Activism campaign.

CAROLINE BAZZI

Beirut – The Lebanese Women Democratic Gathering (RDFL) has launched a campaign to urge the Lebanese Parliament to discuss a law prohibiting marriage before the age of 18 with the motto “مش وقتها (It is not the time)” as part of 16 Days of Activism campaign against Gender-Based Violence. We spoke to Rasha Wazni, the media coordinator of the RDFL, about their campaign. She told us that some families force their daughters into child marriage due to economic reasons. “We reported the rising child marriage to the relevant authorities but we were told ‘Now, it is not the time’. When it comes to the issues of girls and women, they say ‘it is not the time’. And we say it is not time to postpone enacting laws,” she told us.

Two campaigns

The RDFL has launched another campaign as part of the 16 Days of Activism campaign. “We have also launched a campaign in the Baalbek region in cooperation with the Action Aid Association with the motto, ‘Communicate Safely’ to raise awareness about online violence against women. We have distributed booklets in the region to draw attention to this issue,” Rasha Wazni told NuJINHA.

Other works of the RDFL

The RDFL also carries out works on women's sexual and reproductive health issues. “We have distributed brochures giving information about how women can protect themselves and how to obtain sexual and reproductive rights in the Joub Jannine town, located in the Beqaa Valley. We had a meeting at the municipal building of Jounieh on the impact of crises on women's mental health,” Rasha Wazni said.

Stating that they chose the regions such as Beqaa and Joub Jannine because women in these regions are also neglected by the state, Rasha Wazni said, “There is a need to raise awareness against online violence in these regions. We have monitored many cases of online violence in the Beqaa region. We have discussed how we can solve this problem. As part of the 16 Days of Activism campaign, we held a round-table meeting to determine a roadmap for next year. At the meeting, we discussed how we push the government to enact laws protecting women, prohibiting child marriage, and ending gender-based violence.”