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lebanon

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Author: Usta, Jinan

Title: Child Sexual Abuse: The Situation in Lebanon

Summary: This study examines the extent of child sexual abuse in Lebanon by: 1) assessing the magnitude of the problem; 2) identifying its predisposing factors and drawing a profile of children who may be at high risk for victimization; and 3)assessing the effect of the July 2006 war on the prevalence of child sexual abuse.

Details: Beirut, Lebanon: KAFA (enough) Violence & Exploitation, The Higher Council for Children,and the Ministry of Social Affairs; Stockholm: Save the Children Sweden, 2008. 148p.

Source: Internet Resource

Year: 2008

Country: Lebanon

Keywords: Child Abuse

Shelf Number: 114417


Author: International Centre for Migration Policy Development

Title: Trafficking in Human Beings in Lebanon: A Stock-Taking Report

Summary: This assessment looks at the situation of trafficking in human beings in Lebanon through an analysis of existing legal and institutional responses. An attempt has been made to identify the current state of play of the main forms of trafficking present in Lebanon, as well as the challenges related to the identification and referral of trafficked persons. Based on these analyses the document outlines the ambiguity and complexity which surrounds the issue of trafficking in human beings as a crime: a crime that is often hidden and intertwined with other migration related matters. With regard to the Lebanese context, policies and actions against human trafficking cannot be dealt with separately from policies and actions related to the status of migrant domestic workers and migrants working under the 'artist's visa'. As this report argues a comprehensive anti-trafficking response needs to be part and parcel of a wide-ranging response mechanism which will ensure coordination between the actions taken by the authorities involved in anti-trafficking activities and those responsible for tackling broader migration issues. The assessment is part of the project 'Training to Enhance Lebanese Anti-trafficking Effort (TELAE): Identification, Referral and Policy Responses', implemented by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) and financially supported by the United States Department of State, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. The document was regularly updated during the entirety of the project and its findings served as a basis for the development of capacity building activities and two strategic documents: the Draft Standard Operating Procedures for Identification and Referral of Trafficked Persons in Lebanon and the Draft National Anti-trafficking Action Plan. The assessment shows that human trafficking has been recognised as a pressing problem by the national authorities in Lebanon and important steps have been taken to strengthen antitrafficking efforts. The introduction of the Anti-Trafficking Law Number 164 created a legal basis for the anti-trafficking response in Lebanon. Even though Lebanon still lacks specialised antitrafficking institutional structures, it has to be noted that the relevant institutions have proven their commitment and determination to improve the situation and actively participate in the reform process and in specialised capacity building activities. Despite the progress achieved so far, this report also identifies shortcomings in the anti-trafficking response in Lebanon. It spells out the actions that need to be undertaken in the near future - especially in relation to the implementation of the existing anti-trafficking law. Additionally it highlights developments needed in order to prevent trafficking in human beings and to ensure a human rights and a victim-centred approach in other related legal instruments (such as the Labour Code, provisions regulating the work of foreigners and administrative directives). Furthermore, the establishment of coordination structures, the formal endorsement of standard operating procedures and the adoption of a national strategy on anti-trafficking and a national action plan have been identified as key to ensuring a comprehensive national anti-trafficking response.

Details: Vienna, Austria: International Centre for Migration Policy Development, 2013. 103p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 1, 2013 at: http://www.icmpd.org/fileadmin/ICMPD-Website/ICMPD_General/Publications/Stock_taking_report_on_THB_in_Lebanon.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: Lebanon

Keywords: Forced Labor

Shelf Number: 131578


Author: Anti-Slavery International

Title: Into the Unknown: Exploitation of Nepalese migrant domestic workers in Lebanon

Summary: Hundreds of thousands of migrants are currently working in the Middle East in situations that can amount to forced labour and slavery. This is a direct consequence of the systems currently in place in these countries, as well as policies and practices in their home countries, including in South Asia and further afield. Research by Anti-Slavery International, KAFA - (Enough) Violence & Exploitation in Lebanon- and GEFONT - the General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions - has identified that domestic workers from Nepal seeking legal and decent work in Lebanon are one such group who are suffering from this type of exploitation. Domestic work includes a range of tasks carried out in private homes including cooking, cleaning, washing clothes, taking care of children or the elderly, running errands and sometimes looking after an employer's small business. Domestic workers can live in their employer's home or independently from them, but working within the home is the single most important determinant in defining a domestic worker. Migrant domestic workers are workers who have migrated to other cities or villages, either internationally or within their own countries' borders to find employment. Thousands of women and girls migrate every day to find work as domestic workers and provide for their families. In Lebanon alone, there is currently an estimated 200,000 migrant domestic workers. The abuse and exploitation they suffer is well documented. Until 2012, Lebanon was the top country of destination for female migrant workers. The plight of Nepalese migrant domestic workers is rooted in a continuum of vulnerabilities starting from their recruitment in their rural villages and lasting until they start work in a home in the Lebanese capital city and beyond. At every stage of the migration process and employment, they risk being abused and exploited. Many are trafficked for forced labour, with some employers forbidding them from leaving the house, confiscating their passports and using violence or threats of violence to control and force them to work, often without pay. Others fall into bonded labour as a result of the transportation and recruitment costs, as well as the commission fees charged by the agent and/or broker and incurred in taking up a job abroad. They are put in this situation as a result of inadequate policies, discrimination, lack of preparedness, isolation, and an absence of coordinated efforts to protect them. Each one of these factors can lead to serious labour and human rights violations; when combined, as they are for migrant domestic workers including for Nepalese in Lebanon, they create the conditions within which abuse and exploitation can flourish. In 2012, Anti-Slavery International launched a project looking at the situation of migrant domestic workers from Nepal, prior to and after they migrate to Lebanon. The work is implemented in partnership with KAFA in Lebanon and GEFONT in Nepal. The activities build on research undertaken in these two countries as well as India examining the legislation, policy and practice of the migration cycle in origin and destination countries, with particular reference to its impact on female migrant domestic workers. The research concluded that the combination of gender discrimination in policies, lack of relevant and accessible training pre-departure, lack of protection or little or no regulation of recruitment agencies, as well as discriminatory policies in the countries of destination, mostly through the kafala - or sponsorship system - all result in a failure to protect female migrant domestic workers. The research also showed that the vulnerabilities to abuse and exploitation suffered by migrant domestic workers are inter-related and interdependent; for example, even if women received appropriate pre-departure training, they would remain vulnerable to exploitation if the ban currently preventing women under 30 from migrating to Lebanon remained. Therefore, it will be only be possible to improve their situation by addressing, concurrently, the continuum of vulnerabilities to which they are subjected prior to, during and after migrating and by making them agents of change for themselves and others in Hundreds of thousands of migrants are currently working in the Middle East in situations that can amount to forced labour and slavery. This is a direct consequence of the systems currently in place in these countries, as well as policies and practices in their home countries, including in South Asia and further afield. Research by Anti-Slavery International, KAFA - (Enough) Violence & Exploitation in Lebanon - and GEFONT - the General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions - has identified that domestic workers from Nepal seeking legal and decent work in Lebanon are one such group who are suffering from this type of exploitation. Domestic work includes a range of tasks carried out in private homes including cooking, cleaning, washing clothes, taking care of children or the elderly, running errands and sometimes looking after an employer's small business. Domestic workers can live in their employer’s home or independently from them, but working within the home is the single most important determinant in defining a domestic worker. Migrant domestic workers are workers who have migrated to other cities or villages, either internationally or within their own countries' borders to find employment. Thousands of women and girls migrate every day to find work as domestic workers and provide for their families. In Lebanon alone, there is currently an estimated 200,000 migrant domestic workers. The abuse and exploitation they suffer is well documented. Until 2012, Lebanon was the top country of destination for female migrant workers. The plight of Nepalese migrant domestic workers is rooted in a continuum of vulnerabilities starting from their recruitment in their rural villages and lasting until they start work in a home in the Lebanese capital city and beyond. At every stage of the migration process and employment, they risk being abused and exploited. Many are trafficked for forced labour, with some employers forbidding them from leaving the house, confiscating their passports and using violence or threats of violence to control and force them to work, often without pay. Others fall into bonded labour as a result of the transportation and recruitment costs, as well as the commission fees charged by the agent and/or broker and incurred in taking up a job abroad. They are put in this situation as a result of inadequate policies, discrimination, lack of preparedness, isolation, and an absence of coordinated efforts to protect them. Each one of these factors can lead to serious labour and human rights violations; when combined, as they are for migrant domestic workers including for Nepalese in Lebanon, they create the conditions within which abuse and exploitation can flourish. In 2012, Anti-Slavery International launched a project looking at the situation of migrant domestic workers from Nepal, prior to and after they migrate to Lebanon. The work is implemented in partnership with KAFA in Lebanon and GEFONT in Nepal. The activities build on research undertaken in these two countries as well as India examining the legislation, policy and practice of the migration cycle in origin and destination countries, with particular reference to its impact on female migrant domestic workers. The research concluded that the combination of gender discrimination in policies, lack of relevant and accessible training pre-departure, lack of protection or little or no regulation of recruitment agencies, as well as discriminatory policies in the countries of destination, mostly through the kafala - or sponsorship system - all result in a failure to protect female migrant domestic workers. The research also showed that the vulnerabilities to abuse and exploitation suffered by migrant domestic workers are inter-related and interdependent; for example, even if women received appropriate pre-departure training, they would remain vulnerable to exploitation if the ban currently preventing women under 30 from migrating to Lebanon remained. Therefore, it will be only be possible to improve their situation by addressing, concurrently, the continuum of vulnerabilities to which they are subjected prior to, during and after migrating and by making them agents of change for themselves and others in In Nepal, a model has been developed to bring relevant and adequate pre-departure information to potential female migrants in the two districts of Jhapa and Morang in a format they can easily rely on. The information is relayed by members of the community called Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHV) who have been trained on issues of safe migration, especially for women migrating for domestic work. As members of the community, these FCHV will have a better knowledge of the situation of women in these areas and will be more likely to gain their trust. Providing adequate pre-departure information to prospective migrant domestic workers is a crucial step in making migration safer for women. If they are informed of the legal steps to migration, of the realities and potential dangers linked to working abroad as a domestic workers, women are more likely to make informed decisions about their migratory plans. In Lebanon, the project also supports the development of the Nepali community of migrant domestic workers, who came together under the NARI group. The objective is to scale up and replicate this model across communities, based on lessons learnt from the Nepalese experience. As illustrated in the report, in addition to building stronger and better prepared communities of domestic workers, these interventions are also crucial to informing and strengthening the partnership's campaign for policy and practice reforms.

Details: London: Anti-Slavery International, 2014. 44p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 15, 2015 at: http://www.antislavery.org/includes/documents/cm_docs/2014/i/into_the_unknown_report.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Lebanon

Keywords: Domestic Workers

Shelf Number: 136070


Author: Arbid, Jeremy

Title: Captured by Captagon? Lebanon's evolving illicit drug economy

Summary: Lebanon has a long history of drug cultivation and trafficking, which predated the civil war, and has long been attributed with resourcing conflict protagonists thereby prolonging it. By the end of the war in 1990, Lebanon was home to a multi-billion drug economy which was firmly entrenched both into local and central politics and power. The Bekaa valley, which assumed prominence as a drug producing hotspot during the conflict, has retained its reputation as a source of opium and hashish production. Estimating the exact size of the country's current drug trade is difficult given the paucity of reliable figures, although its assumed to have reduced since the war. There is however a worrying new trend: the growth of the illicit economy around the drug Captagon - a global illicit industry worth an estimated US $ 1 billion a year. Captagon is an amphetamine and popular party pill widely used throughout the Gulf countries. Profit margins of Captagon are astonishingly high: a single pill can be produced for a few cents with easy to access precursor chemicals, but currently retails at up to US$20 in the Gulf. Evidence presented in an earlier Global Initiative report, "The Nexus of Drug Trafficking and Conflict in Syria and the Wider Region" suggests that the trade in Captagon is burgeoning, with much of the production in Syria and its neighbouring countries. and profits from the drug trade once again fuelling conflict actors. This paper explores the evolution of Lebanon's drug trade, and in particular the production and trafficking of Captagon. Major seizures were made in Lebanon in 2014 in particular, but the subsequent steady decline in seizures suggests, that smuggling groups have adapted to law enforcement interventions rather than increased efficacy of enforcement. Given the litany of other challenges faced by the Lebanese government, curbing the illegal trade in drugs is not a priority. Lebanon's military is focussed on more significant cross-border threats and terrorist violence, and the police force is understaffed, underfunded and under equipped. A central directorate for drug control within the Ministry of Interior exists only on paper. Lebanon's own Finance Minister has suggested that weeding out corrupt personnel at Beirut's airport is a more urgent need to combat smuggling than to reinforce capacity or introduce new technologies aimed at curbing these illicit practices. Legal and institutional frameworks are inadequate and international support in the area of organised crime and drug trafficking is small. Tracking the money flow is next to impossible, but various patterns for laundering money in Lebanon are clearly apparent: from Halawa cash transfer networks, to smuggled telephones, to a real estate sector where cash-based transactions are still common. Drug use, addiction prevalence and rehabilitation statistics in Lebanon are nearly non-existent, as is the amount the state dedicates to the war on drugs that officials involved insist they are waging. Lacking reliable data, drawing detailed recommendations is difficult, but what is clear is that Lebanon needs more of everything (funding, manpower, strategy, rehabilitation facilities) if it ever wants to genuinely address its growing drug problem. A lack of resources continues to bedevil attempts at border control and law enforcement. The international community and the Lebanese themselves may rue this lack of attention in future.

Details: Geneva, SWIT: Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, 2017. 48p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 16, 2017 at: http://globalinitiative.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/lebanon-drug-report_24.05.17_low.pdf

Year: 2017

Country: Lebanon

Keywords: Amphetamines

Shelf Number: 147632


Author: Human Rights Watch

Title: "I Don't Want my Child to be Beaten": Corporal Punishment in Lebanon's Schools

Summary: Lebanon's Education Ministry has banned corporal punishment in schools since the 1970s, and the penal code allows no defense for the crime of assault by school staff against students. Yet because of a lack of accountability, the ban on violent discipline is often disregarded. Based on the cases of 51 children, and interviews with NGO staff, teachers, and government officials, "I Don’t Want My Child to Be Beaten": Corporal Punishment in Lebanon's Schools finds that students at both public and private schools suffer humiliating insults, hair-pulling, and beatings with rulers and other objects. Parents said that their complaints about violent abuse were rebuffed or that they received little or no information as to how they were handled. Syrian refugee children may be particularly vulnerable to abuse and afraid to complain, as the majority lack legal residency in Lebanon. The report urges the Education Ministry, which launched a comprehensive child protection policy in 2018, to take concrete steps to enforce the ban on corporal punishment and ensure all teachers are trained in positive discipline.

Details: New York: Human Rights Watch, 2019. 70p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 4, 2019 at: https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/05/13/i-dont-want-my-child-be-beaten/corporal-punishment-lebanons-schools

Year: 2019

Country: Lebanon

Keywords: Child Maltreatment

Shelf Number: 156161


Author: Shanahan, Rodger

Title: Radical Islamist Groups in the Modern Age: A Case Study of Hizbullah

Summary: The emergence of al-Qa'ida has focused the attention of the West on the threat caused by radical Islamist groups. Hizbullah, or the Party of God, represents another radical Islamist group that has demonstrated the ability to organise itself in a manner that allows it to operate effectively on both the military and socio-political level. Its military success was instrumental in forcing an Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon in May 2000. Unlike many other radical Islamist groups however, Hizbullah plays a significant role in the formal political institutions of Lebanon. This paper examines the environment in which the party operates, the structure and ideological basis of the organisation, as well as the reasons for its success and the limitations it faces within Lebanon. It demonstrates that, despite its colourful rhetoric, the party is a largely pragmatic organisation and that, while it has been a very successful Islamist movement, it faces significant practical limitations in advancing its cause further.

Details: Canberra: Australian National University. Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, 2003. 42p.

Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper No. 376: Accessed June 7, 2019 at: https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/34069/062003_376_RadicalIslam.pdf

Year: 2003

Country: Lebanon

Keywords: Al-Quaida

Shelf Number: 156320