Two-times victims

In Algeria, Morocco, Lebanon, Turkey, and also in Italy and Spain, women experiencing conflicting situations or domestic violence are “two-times victims”: of the decisions undertaken by men, and because of discriminating legislation and cultural traditions. This data was presented during a meeting held in Rome the past few days on “Women in conflict situations”, organized by the on-line review Babelmed.net (in French, English, Arabic and soon also in Italian), created to provide “different, more complex and comprehensive information” on Mediterranean cultures through a network of correspondents in many different Countries. In view of the conference, Babelmed conducted a number of surveys in 9 Countries on women’s experiences in situations of conflict. War victims. In Lebanon, for example, “ women are the victims of a war they didn’t choose and are cut out from the decision-making process”, claimed Sahar Al-Attar, reporter of the Lebanese daily L’Orient Le Jour -. “Therefore, they are two-times victims, since they suffer men’s decisions. However, women are the ones who know what is necessary in daily lives, rendered all the more difficult because of the lack of primary goods and the numerous controls”. A culture of peace, Al-Attar pointed out, will have to “involve women. Since they are in charge of raising their children”. Much is done in this field by women working in NGOs, by those committed in social policies and development. Women have been deeply wounded by ten years of civil strife in Algeria between Islamists and the government’s army. Many were raped and bore children from these acts of violence. “Until the 1990s women weren’t considered war victims – said Ghania Khelifi, correspondent of Agerian daily Le Midi -. Local religious authorities were compelled to consult with foreign religious representatives in order to decide whether women could be granted the status of victims and declare them innocent”. It’s still felt as an “embarrassing issue, due to collective guilt and shame”. Foreign and Algerian NGOs supply these women with legal aid in courts and social support. Family violence. In Morocco the new family code enacted by the Parliament in 2004 was expected to change the reality of Moroccan women. In reality, as the journalist of Le Journal Hebdomadaire Kenza Sefrioui explained, “this code is not enforced. There are now conscience-awareness campaigns, especially at rural level, and there still are old laws which oppose the new dispositions”. The situation of Moroccan women, he explained, “is of great social weakness: many work in the field of informal economy but don’t enjoy any form of social protection. Many suffer acts of domestic violence and live in city slums”. The new code is marked by a series of discordant elements such as “the possibility of sentencing to prison for 2 to 5 years those who give hospitality to women who abandon the matrimonial home”. Or “in case of rape, when the offender is released, he has the possibility of marrying his victim”. According to Sefrioui also polygamy, which enables men to have up to 4 wives, “is an act of violence against women”. In Spain the number of women murdered at home has increased: 70 in 2007. “Integral legislation regulating violence against women is currently being discussed – declared journalist Lourdes Vital, of the magazine Afkar/idées – and has triggered much debate on the issue”. The victims of domestic violence and their children are given hospitality in the “Casas de acogida”. “Immigrant women – he added – are two-times victims since they ignore the legal framework and they don’t know who to turn to for advice. It’s therefore very hard to identify them and enable their reintegration into society”. In Spain there is much talk of violent men’s “re-education” through appropriate programs. “However associations are against them since many men opt for re-education programs as an alternative to prison but they’re not really motivated to change. In this case, as relates to the use of resources, women’s support is of paramount importance”. The culture of crime . Journalist Stefanella Campana, from Italy’s daily La Stampa, investigated the relationship between “women and mafia”. Her inquiry revealed contradictions between “women who react and choose to fight against crime” and “women, who play active roles motivated by the quest for power and money just like their male counterparts”. The sad events of the Gypsy camp of Ponticelli, in Southern Italy, with television broadcasts of women -most of whom were more or less blatantly mafia family members – burning gypsy children’s books is “a terrible example of how these facts the forms of crime news reports with no background information. Italy’s media coverage is tragically degenerating”.