Guest Editors’ Introduction

Gender-based violence (GBV) is a worldwide problem that violates fundamental human rights and threatens the well-being of women and girls. Knowledge about GBV is increasing in Middle East and North African countries (MENA); however, the evidence base remains considerably limited especially compared to the need for up-to-date information upon which effective interventions and policies can be based. This special issue begins to fill this gap by examining GBV in several communities in the MENA region.

This special issue had its origins in a research workshop on the same topic convened during the 11th Mediterranean Research Meeting organized by the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies. The workshop, which took place in Montecatini Terme, Italy, from March 24 through 27, 2010, brought together a multidisciplinary group of scholars and practitioners from various countries in the MENA region, the United States, and Europe. While the call for papers for this special issue extended beyond the workshop, the manuscripts represented in this issue are true to the goals of the workshop in that they (a) expand our knowledge about the magnitude of GBV and some of its health and socioeconomic consequences for individuals and communities in the MENA region; (b) fill gaps in our understanding of factors associated with experiences of violence; and (c) highlight laws, services, and programs intended to protect victims and eradicate violence.

In their contribution, Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian and Suhad Daher-Nashif explore femicide in a community in Israel with a large Palestinian minority that is socially, politically, economically, and physically isolated. The authors focus their analysis on the formal and informal sociolegal systems that construct and frame Palestinian women’s murders. Importantly, the authors situate these systems and the occurrence of violence against Palestinian women within the broader context of colonization and its impact on women’s status and gender relations in the Palestinian community.

In a similar vein, Maria Holt explores violence and trauma that Palestinian and Shi’i women in Lebanon experience during times of conflict. Through extensive ethnographic research, Holt examines how these experiences have impacted women’s identities and agency, finding differences according to whether the violence is perpetrated by a family member or the enemy, the former being shameful and private, the latter being public and potentially empowering. Similarities and differences in women’s experiences and the political, social, and economic conditions in which women in these two communities live are also examined.

Cagla Diner and Şule Toktaş reveal a web of contextual factors that hinder the provision of shelter services for victims of GBV in Turkey. Social (e.g., emphasis on family unity over women’s security), legal (lack of legal obligation), economic (e.g., insufficient state-level funding and staffing), and institutional (lack of infrastructure to coordinate efforts) shortcomings were noted, that, when taken as a whole, create an environment where the effective provision of shelter services and ultimately women’s safety are compromised.

Jinan Usta, Nisrine Makarem, and Rima Habib explore the often-neglected topic of economic abuse. Types of abuse, reasons for tolerating the abuse, and contributing factors are examined through qualitative research with men and women in Lebanon. While the types of abuse are similar to those women face in other parts of the world, the authors situate the findings within the context of men’s and women’s legal and social rights and responsibilities. By doing so, the authors are able to identify specific reforms that would begin to address this neglected form of violence in Lebanon with potential application to other Arab countries.

Muhammad Haj-Yahia examines definitions, perceived causes, and appropriate interventions for wife abuse from the perspective of Palestinian physicians practicing in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The results indicate that the wider patriarchal context influences physicians’ opinions about wife abuse, although signs of change are also apparent. The results also indicate areas where professional training could be used as a first step toward making the health visit a viable lifeline for victims of violence.

Women’s exposure to intimate partner violence in Egypt is the focal point for Elena Ambrosetti, Nisrin Abu Amara, and Stéphanie Condon’s examination of changes in gender equality in Egypt. Through the use of Demographic and Health Surveys (1995, 2005, 2008), legislative texts, and media reports, the authors find that the extent of the problem did not change over time, but attitudes toward it have. Recent legal and social changes are also examined and attributed in large part to the work of nongovernmental organizations.

Shireen Assaf and Stephanie Chaban’s contribution to this special issue sheds light on the experiences of single never-married women in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In addition to exploring the extent of the problem, Assaf and Chaban examine contributing factors and find that both young age and low decision-making power in the household are risk factors for psychological and physical abuse, pointing to the need to understand the factors that contribute to young women’s power in the household.

In addition to examining the contexts (e.g., patriarchal society, ongoing conflict and oppression, insufficient legal protection, deteriorating economic situation) that interact to create the conditions under which GBV is perpetrated, the successes and failures of key stakeholders are also highlighted throughout the articles in this special issue. The state was generally recognized to have failed to create the conditions for the institutionalization of GBV prevention and services. Namely, it did not sufficiently prioritize, fund, or provide the necessary infrastructure and policies in support of GBV prevention. Activists and nongovernmental organizations were recognized as key change agents, but ones whose missions were under- and insecurely funded. Physicians in the health sector were not prepared, in large part, to address GBV with their patients. On the other hand, the articles also document successful legal reform and social change. Greater awareness and condemnation of domestic violence were noted and laws that criminalize domestic violence and provide greater services to victims of domestic violence have been realized in some contexts.

The articles in this special issue also reaffirm many of the research gaps noted during the workshop. Lacking is research that: (a) extends beyond intimate partner violence, (b) involves men and examines their perspectives on and experiences of violence, (c) examines risk and protective factors associated with perpetration, and (d) tests the effectiveness of interventions designed to prevent or better protect victims (Clark, Khawaja, Lennon, & Usta, 2010). This research must be firmly situated within the changing political and economic contexts in which MENA women live since, as authors in this special issue have noted, these contexts impact women’s rights and well-being. Identifying the features of these changing contexts that increase women’s exposure to GBV as well as those that protect them will be essential information to guide future reforms in GBV prevention and services. As the region’s nations continue to grow, change, and experience upheaval after the “Arab Spring,” it is imperative that GBV research keeps apace.