The purpose of this Rapid Assessment on Gender-Based Violence before, during and after the coronavirus pandemic and COVID-19 lockdown is to take stock of the current situation and assess the multiple effects of confinement due to a health crisis on women and girls, including economic impacts, where possible.
The reference guide for preparing national plans to enforce Resolution "1325 Women, Peace and Security" helps understanding Resolution 1325 and the decisions supplementing it, how to collect data, develop indicators and methods of measurement, as well clarifies the direct and indirect authorities responsible for implementing the 1325 Action Plan.
The present study has been prepared as part of the Center of Arab Women for Training and Research/CAWTAR and the Open Society Foundations/OSFs Partnership, and in the framework of a sub-regional project. It falls in line with CAWTAR’s mission, which is to “contribute to the empowerment of women in the Arab World so that they can fully exercise their human rights, economically, socially and politically, through gender- and human rights-based approaches”. To this end, CAWTAR generates knowledge with the aim of producing a core, evidence-based database to advocate against all forms of discrimination and violence against women, and to promote gender equality.
Field surveys conducted in four university institutions in the city of Sousse during the period April-September 2018.
It addresses the social representations of the university space, as well as the perceptions and lived experiences relating to violence : political violence, sexual harassment, victims’ feelings, stigmatizing attitudes and behaviors, women as objects of morality, the avatars of sexism and the representations of violence in relation to gender challenges and social relations among teachers, students, and administrative staff.
Despite its being governed by legal norms, among others, and by specific social, political and
economic functions, the public space is « logically » influenced by implicit codes, behaviors
and representations associated with the private sphere, especially when it comes to women
and girls. The continuity and/or interconnection between these two spatial categories raise
the issue of the Gender construction and distribution of the public space and of each specific
location within, and the prevailing power dynamics, especially with regard to GBV in general,
and sexual harassment in particular.
The Center for Arab Women for Training and Research (CAWTAR) is concerned with the issue of combating violent extremism as part of its strategy to reduce the gender gap between women and men and to activate the role of women as active citizens in the public and private spheres. In this context, the Center seeks to shed light on this phenomenon, its obvious and latent causes, its psychological and social effects, and to find possible solutions and mechanisms to reduce them and thus develop a set of recommandations that will be directed to decision-makers as partners.
The completion of this report represents the first phase of the Arab Women and Legislations Program, implemented by the Center for Arab Women Training and Research (CAWTAR) with the support of the Arab Gulf Fund for Development (AGFUND).
