"When will the killing of women end? When will this nightmare end?" reads one of the placards outside the Palestinian High Court, in
the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Collective Efforts to Tackle Violence Against
Women
Agroup of
indomitable
women stand in
the rain outside
the highest legal body in the occupied Palestinian
territory (oPt), to protest against what
they see as a lack of appropriate
legislation to protect women from
a range of crimes. It was the recent
murder of a young woman and
mother of four by her husband that
brought them out on this cold winter
day, incensed by another instance of
femicide within their community."We are completely outraged by
the murder of another woman,
by someone who was supposed
to protect her,"said 23 year-
old Ruba Anabtawi. "In 2005
there have been around twenty
similar cases that we know of,
but unfortunately the legal system
does not act as a deterrent, as
the sentencing structure is so
limited."Confronting lawyers and judges
entering the High Court, these
women are just some of the manyworking towards highlighting
what they regard as a growing
problem within Palestinian
society. They work tirelessly in
an effort to initiate a more open
discussion and dispel the idea
that there is any "honour" in
these crimes."It is not always easy to talk
about these issues in Palestinian
society," explained Zahira Faris,
a clinical social worker at the
Palestinian Counselling Centre
(PCC). "Referring to the killingUNDP/PAPP
supports
programmes
aimed at
highlighting and
eradicating this
alarming problem
