“I advise women to think of themselves and not only of others. A woman should think what she wants, and go for it.”
As part of Medical Aid for Palestinians’ celebration of International Women’s Day, we are highlighting the work of women in MAP’s projects in the West Bank, Gaza and Lebanon.
Buthaina Saad is a Palestinian refugee from Lebanon, who works as Violence Against Woman Support Programme Coordinator for Najdeh Association, a local partner of MAP. She was born in the Shatila refugee camp and became involved with youth organisations a young age, but met challenges on account of being a woman: “before leaving the camp, I kept my participation in youth activities a secret as I come from a very traditional and conservative family. In my family, it was very difficult for a woman to work or participate in community activities. After a long struggle, I succeeded in convincing my parents to let me work for few months as a part-time teaching assistant in a kindergarten.”
Buthaina was deeply affected by the Sabra and Shatila massacre of 1982, and she and her family were finally forced to leave Shatila camp in 1985 during the fighting and destruction of the “War of the Camps” conflict. They moved to live in Beirut, which she describes as a major turning point in her life. “People who grew up in the Palestinian camps understand what it means to leave. The camp has a special place in the hearts of its residents, and it was very difficult for my family and me to adjust to the life outside with its different social fabric.”
But these challenges also provided her with an opportunity to fully pursue her community work. “After the War of the Camps and suffering the displacement and witnessing the massive destruction, Palestinians felt that they need to do something. These circumstance led my parents to allow me to work and to be a community activist. So the work that I was doing secretly, I started to do openly.” In 1988 she began work with Najdeh Association, running the Popular Education and Tutorial Project, a literacy initiative for Palestinian refugees.
She has since married and had three children, and went back to school to earn her university degree in social science and psychology. Following stints with Najdeh’s social affairs programme and running their Emergency response project during the 2006 war in Lebanon, Buthaina has been the coordinator for the Violence Against Woman Support Programme since 2009.
This project aims to increase awareness among local community of the consequences of inequality and discrimination against women. Through workshops, interactive theatre performances, and the provision of counselling and support services, MAP and al-Najdeh are supporting women and girl survivors of gender-based violence and fostering an understanding of the root causes and effects of violence.
According to Buthaina, Palestinian women in Lebanon are particularly vulnerable to restrictions and violations of their fundamental rights. “The same level of domestic violence applies for Palestinian and Lebanese women, but Lebanese women may have more courage to ask for their rights because they are in their own country. Palestinian women are doubly vulnerable and marginalized because they are women and because they are refugees.”
Thanks to initiatives such as the Violence Against Woman Support Programme, however, change is happening. “Before, nobody was talking about GBV or sexual harassment, but now they do” she said. “Now they participate in awareness sessions, in workshops, they even come to the listening centers to say that they have a problem and they need help – they are able to talk and seek help. These are major improvements.”
Asked what advice she would like to send to women on International Women’s Day, Buthaina reflected on women’s contribution to wider struggles for justice and dignity. “Over the years, women have participated and struggled for the causes of others” she said. “However, when the goals were achieved, women often took a back seat.” With women becoming increasingly a cause in and of themselves, she sees an opportunity to redress the imbalance. “I advise women to think of themselves and not only of others. A woman should think what she wants, and go for it.”