Abaad - one assult does not cover another

Abaad is at it again December.... "One aggression does not cover another". Because as Lebanon is barely recovering in the ceasefire, assault on women does not stop. Actually it might intensify under the many different guises and pretexts. Men being "stressed" or "overwhelmed" are too recurrent as excuses. As I said it prior - NGOs such as Abaad try to push such messages right before Christmas perhaps because they need to justify their spend to donors or they have leftover budget for end of year. Yet, for the Lebanese who have had a horrendous year, honestly not sure we can handle anymore not-so-positive news.

Abaad comes up with a new rape awareness ad

Abaad comes with another rape ad.

Here.

Well, sadly I have said it before that Abaad (and Kafa - bot NGOs battling for women's rights) have gone too close to over-exposure (please read here) with Abaad almost getting the message correct in 2021 (here).Their ad this year means that there are still women being raped, harassed, subjected to violence, etc... which is bad news indeed. The only positive news is that they managed to do the ad prior to December and not very close to Christmas as is their usual timing.

And as usual there is a tag - for social media of course - to do along with it: لا_عرض_ولا_عار which sort of translates into "neither dignity nor shame" - "dignity" because one of the major causes of rape not being reported is how all this reflects on the dignity of the girl (and in extenso her family) because of the "shame" it brings them (if you read between the lines it's because her "fault" she got raped, as implicitly it is her who "seduced" him to do what he has done - yes, it is never his fault).

Long story short, it is sad Abaad has to do another ad - yearly - for rape reporting or prevention or awareness. But also and this is what worries me, say a woman goes and reports a rape... Isn't she going to be mocked by the agents who are taking her report, isn't she going to be subjected to harassments because it was her who gave him the wrong signals, who was wearing the seductive clothing, who had loose morals.... 

Which brings us to this 2018 Abaad ad...

Salama cracks domestic violence on its head!

Could Salama have done what Abaad and Kafa have tried to do for a long time but kind of failed? (see here) - what Salama did was flip the scenario on its tail. Instead of the woman going "oh poor me my husband is violent" she actually goes the opposite way and is proud of her marital life. "Marriage is one long never-ending honeymoon" - and then she starts defending him that he is stressed which is why he swears at her, but "look at what he offered me four months ago" (as she points to her earring). Then eventually we build up to masterstroke of leading line "العنف المنزلي عادة مش عادي" (domestic violence is a habit not something normal - since the "3adi" is pronounced the same in Arabic). See the beautiful ad here.

Abaad - for once gets the message (almost) right

Well, I spoke previously how associations that struggle for women's defense were at the verge of over-exposure (see here). For a long time these associations offered the same message with a slight variant. This time around Abaad gets the message (almost) right (will explain the almost below). The ad starts innocently with a woman saying that the prices of good are increasing astronomically. Suddenly, I was attracted to the ad. Then comes the punch "and the number of abuse victims is even more frightening" - the woman is then gently but decisively pulled by her male partner. What follows is a good ad about women's lack of safety anywhere from streets, to the house, to the bathroom. Now, here comes my small gripe, the whole campaign is lead by the #دايما_وقتها (it's always the right time, implicitly, for women's protection). But right before that tag there was a beautiful line that wrapped the ad "بالاولوية ما في افضلية" ("When it comes to priority, there is no priority" in the ad sadly translated as "when it comes to priority, there no one to be favored"). The ad can be seen here.

RDFL takes a page from the KAFA/Abaad playbook

RDFL, who did a brilliant ad post-elections, is sadly taking a somber page from the Kafa/Abaad playbook (namely the distressed bride on a black background). Yes, yes, I understand the idea but it has been used and overused and honestly, and am sad to say this, the level of shoulder-shrugging on women's issues has increased tremendously in a country where everything else takes precedent (specifically this year) without counting the danger of over-exposure I already mentioned before on the blog (here). Surely, the ad is timely, as it discusses laws which were being stipulated by the MPs, but honestly - at this stage - it just looks like "another women's law ad right in December" right at the door of a very troubled Christmas season riddled with poverty and unemployment.

Abaad sharing number against domestic violence #حجر_مش_حجز

So what happens when you are part of a couple where there is a case of domestic violence? When you had a respite where he was at work but are now on lockdown with him at all hours of the day? Where you have no more break and desperately need an emotional refuge. Abaad is launching an initiative where people are encouraged to share its hotline on April 16 at 6 PM (the line is 81788178). A lot of women do not know this number or are aware of its existence. Well, we certainly live in challenging times and any such initiative helps. The tag is #حجر_مش_حجز which roughly translates into "lockdown not lock up".