Online meeting reflects the necessity of societal discussion in family protection from violence law
An online meeting held by ACT for Alternative Dispute Resolution & Studies last Tuesday revealed the large extent of societal and religious disagreement on the Palestinian family protection from violence law, in addition to a huge divide among different groups of the Palestinian society on enacting the law and interpreting its contents. This demonstrates a need for a comprehensive discussion with the Palestinian government, civil society institutions, and the community at large in order bring the different viewpoints closer and reach full agreement on the law.
From their side, both the attorney and co-founder of “ITTQAN for Legal Consulting Services” Rania Gosheh, and the attorney and partner manager in "Equity Legal Group" Lubna Katbeh presented a paper on enacting the family protection from violence law in light of the spreading domestic violence phenomenon.
Mrs. Katbeh asserted the importance of having a legislative policy note for the draft law, with the aim of clarifying the necessity for enacting the law, and the need for wider community consultations to engage all spectrums of the Palestinian society to reach a consensus on enacting the law.
From her side, the general manager of the Women’s Studies Center, Sama Awaida clarified that the first draft of law was prepared in 2004, and that it has taken a longer time to release than any law truly requires.
Regarding domestic violence, Mrs. Awaida confirmed the huge outbreak of violence in the Palestinian society including, sexual, physical, and economic violence, in addition to an increase in the rates of murder, demonstrating several examples of girls being killed by their families.
Sama also confirmed the significant societal need to provide wider protection to the family including, women, children, and men.
On the other hand, attorney and rights activist Bilal Mahfouz demonstrated a different point of view, stressing that several provisions of the law are against the Islamic Sharia law, declaring this law as a foreign requirement resulting from Palestine’s accession to "CEDAW". According to his point of view, this allowed for foreign pressures to be enacted in order to amend the Penal Code and the National Personal Status Law.
From a psychological aspect, psychologist Mohammad Al-Safadi talked about the dangers posed by the increasing level of violence in Jerusalem, taking into consideration its political sensitivity. He confirmed the continued exploitation of women who seek protection from domestic violence by the occupation that outbreaks in Jerusalem are subjected to by the occupation, leading to them facing violence of a different kind which sometimes includes blackmail and pressure to become informants.
The meeting concluded with several recommendations, most importantly the revelation of the large amount of religious and societal disagreement on passing the law, the necessity of holding more meetings and discussions in order to bring the viewpoints of conflicting parties closer, in addition to the necessity of inviting representatives of the government to participate in these meetings featuring discussions around controversial issues, in order to reach a comprehensive agreement.
The general director of ACT for ADR confirmed that this law is extremely important at the legal, social, and ethical level, as he stressed that protecting family from violence is not the responsibility of women’s organizations alone, but the responsibility of Palestine civil society in its entirety. He added: "for this reason, there needs to be a majority on the Family Protection Law."
The meeting came within a series of online meetings held by ACT for ADR for the sake of promoting civil peace, the rule of law, and bringing light to controversial societal issues in order to decrease the societal gap and reduce the spread of violence.