Gaza - CMC Community Media Center - October 2022

The Community Media Center (CMC) in Gaza held four awareness-raising workshops on “Women’s Rights in Palestinian Laws” according to the approach of peer education between young people, as part of the activities of the second phase of the project “Promoting a culture of respect for women’s rights in academic institutions - Respect it” implemented by CMC in partnership with the German Heinrich Böll Foundation.

100 university students and graduates in the southern, central, and northern Gaza Strip governorates participated in the awareness sessions. The workshops were implemented in cooperation with 4 universities and colleges, with whom the CMC signed memorandums of understanding within the activities of the "Respect Her Project", which are the Al-Aqsa University, Palestine University, Gaza University, and the Al-Zaytoonah College.

Andalib Adwan, Director of the CMC Community Media Center, said that the "Respect Her project" aims to promote a culture of respect for women’s rights and equality in academic institutions in the Gaza Strip, by raising the awareness of university students and academics on women’s rights, empowering female academics, and institutionalizing the Palestinian Women Academies Authority (PAC), which was established by CMC two years ago; In an attempt to create an independent feminist framework that includes female academics to defend their rights, represent their issues, and provide them with specialized services in various fields.

In the awareness workshops, the facilitators discussed the issues of basic human rights, the Palestinian Basic Law and the rights guaranteed to the individual in the Palestinian society, such as the right to work, education, health, mobility and housing. They discussed the extent to which Palestinian laws are compatible with the Convention to End All Forms of Violence against Women, and the clear discrimination based on gender in these laws, and reviewed a number of practices and behaviors that violate women’s rights in the workplace and education.

The facilitators also discussed the draft law on protecting the family from violence and the urgent need for the community to approve it, in addition to showing a series of films produced by the CMC, which deal with different stories of a group of women who have been subjected to gender-based violence; This is in order to open the door for discussion about the rights that have been taken from women, and to reflect on proposals and recommendations on how to address issues of violence against women, and the possibility of limiting its spread.

On the other hand, the awareness-raising meetings attracted the attention and interaction of the participants, as it was the first time during which they became acquainted with the level of harmonization of Palestinian laws for women’s rights. The participants recommended intensifying these meetings, which would enhance awareness and knowledge of the reality of women’s rights in our Palestinian society.

It is noteworthy that the CMC Community Media Center is preparing to launch an electronic campaign at the end of October to advocate for women’s rights in academic institutions and raise awareness about them.

The Community Media Center (CMC) is a non-governmental organization that has been operating in the Gaza Strip since 2007. The Center seeks to develop a sustainable media approach that targets societal issues, and promotes the values ​​of democracy, equality and a culture of human rights. The Community Media Center targets marginalized groups, giving priority to women and youth, and relies on a human rights-based approach to dealing with issues that it highlights to attract the attention of responsible authorities and decision-makers.