Within the framework of the project “Emergency Humanitarian Assistance and Protection for Vulnerable Persons with Disabilities, Especially Women in the Bekaa Region”, the Lebanese Union for Persons with Motor Disabilities, in cooperation with “Movement for Peace”, organized a workshop entitled “Report of the Workshop on Protection, Detection and Response to Gender-Based Violence for Persons with Disabilities”, in the city of Chtoura on Sunday, March 3, 2023, with the participation of representatives from 16 local and international associations and organizations.

After the Lebanese national anthem, the opening session introduced the project and its objectives, the two organizing bodies, the importance of empowering communities to integrate people with disabilities, and the dimensions of the joint project, funded by the Spanish Cooperation Agency.

Trainer Muntaha Al-Harassis, an expert and consultant on gender-based violence and disability issues, then outlined the objectives of the workshop and presented the reality of girls and women with disabilities and their exposure, especially those with intellectual disabilities, to sexual violence, addressing the obstacles to the inclusion of girls and women with disabilities and proposed solutions to confront them.

Participants in the workshop were divided into four working groups to explore the reality of women and girls with disabilities:

• Laws and legislation: The social and economic dimensions
• The impact of socialization on reinforcing stereotypes
• Lack of information and data on people with disabilities, especially girls and women with disabilities
• Gender discrimination, patriarchal society, and lack of enforcement and monitoring.

The groups then worked on developing recommendations and proposed solutions to get out of the reality, most notably:

• The texts of laws and legislations should be comprehensive and should be amended in accordance with the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
• Providing community outreach in general and to service providers in particular.
• Keeping the media abreast of issues
• Sharing experiences with related organizations
• Sensitize people with disabilities to know the available services, especially survivors of gender-based violence.

At the end of the workshop, bouquets of flowers were distributed to the participating women and girls on the occasion of International Women’s Day.