Fadia Jomaa

Lebanon — Amid the destruction of wars, displacement, and waves of migration, women were never mere victims playing secondary roles; they were at the center of the tragedy, confronting renewed forms of violence that infiltrate the smallest details of daily life. This violence is no longer loud as it once was; it has become more covert, more cunning—seeping into dimly lit homes, aid offices, societal gazes, and all the state institutions that deepen hostility towards women.

In this section of our report, we do more than document the manifestations of violence; we seek to analyze its roots embedded in politics, economics, and law. It is an attempt to understand how violence against women has shifted from isolated incidents to a systematic and structural reality. This system is nourished by a culture of patriarchal—state-centered—dominance, legitimized by corrupt policies and overlooked by institutions.

This year has been no exception for women in Lebanon; on the contrary, the deeper the state’s crises grow, the more severe the social crisis becomes. The year has been marked by wars and massacres, leaving the country more fragile than ever for women. Alongside war, the economic collapse and the paralysis of public administration led to an almost total breakdown in public services. This deterioration came with the unrestrained spread of gendered norms that justify all forms of violence. Today, women find themselves in the heart of an invisible war—one fought not only with weapons, but also through poverty, isolation, silence, and legal betrayal.

Violence is no longer an individual phenomenon or an exceptional case; it has become the language governing life in the absence of justice. This reality is a direct consequence of political collapse, failed policies that erode society’s trust—especially women’s— and laws complicit in sustaining a culture of domination. The unchecked spread of violence against women is not just a phenomenon; it is a mirror reflecting a country where values and justice have collapsed.

For every tale of liberation that reaches the public, another remains buried in the dark—within a country where justice has crumbled and women’s endurance is constantly tested. Most cases of violence in Lebanon go undocumented and often unrecognized by the law. Violence seeps silently as an unseen face of the country, manifesting in families, workplaces, and every detail of daily life. Yet the state frequently ignores this reality, leaving behind indelible scars. What emerges is the portrait of an undeclared war on women—stretching across families, workplaces, legal systems, and the entire nation.

 

Violence Intensifies Amid Official Silence

With escalating attacks and waves of displacement in the first quarter of this year, risks of domestic and institutional violence increased—especially in camps across the south, Bekaa, and the north. The absence of essential services has pushed communities to rely on traditional forms of “protection,” which are often unjust.

The head of the Parliamentary Committee on Women and Children, Inaya Ezzeddine, confirmed that rising attacks, the expansion of Israeli operations, and the increase in forcibly displaced people have had severe consequences on education, health, food security, and the economy.

When it comes to crimes committed against women and children, the state’s mechanisms for prosecuting and punishing perpetrators remain weak. This weakness leads to the neglect of women’s and children’s rights and the overlooking of crimes against them. While crimes against women often appear well-documented, investigations and accountability processes remain vague or deliberately obscured. This reality effectively exonerates male perpetrators through the very systems meant to deliver justice. As documented by Human Rights Watch, impunity is reinforced through legal loopholes, fueling further violence against women amid institutional silence.

 

Digital Violence: A New Arena of Oppression

The year 2025 witnessed a significant rise in organized digital violence against women in the media sphere. Many digital platforms now reproduce and normalize all forms of violence against women. In Lebanon, women—especially journalists and politicians—have become targets of cyberattacks involving defamation campaigns, blackmail attempts, and politically motivated hate speech. Reports by Maharat and SMEX revealed that 8 out of 10 women experienced some form of digital violence, signaling that online spaces are increasingly weaponized to silence and exclude women from public life.

In Beirut, a female activist and media professional was subjected to a brutal digital assault involving leaked private photos and a coordinated defamation campaign due to her feminist positions. This incident led to the first official investigation by the Public Prosecutor into gender-based digital violence—marking a key step toward recognizing digital violence as a systematic tool used to silence women.

A report by the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies (LCPS) clearly showed that the state itself exercises direct institutional violence against women through legal gaps and discriminatory public policies. Personal status laws remain hostage to religious and political authorities, contradicting principles of equality and reform.

Lebanese media also bear responsibility. According to Maharat, female journalists who are victims of violence are often portrayed as responsible for the harm inflicted on them, perpetuating victim-blaming and weakening pathways to justice.

Ongoing Israeli attacks have also pushed the country to the brink of severe economic collapse. As the crisis deepens, violence intensifies. The state attempts to mask its failures by placing women at the heart of the crisis—reinforcing gender discrimination across all sectors. Women are simultaneously depicted as both the cause of the crisis and those who must bear its consequences.

Women continue to face discriminatory practices such as restricted access to resources, loss of income, forced or early marriage, and exclusion from education. These policies not only reflect current instability, but also reinforce women’s dependence on patriarchal power structures, hindering their economic and social independence.

Against this backdrop, violence against women cannot be seen as a mere social issue; it is the direct outcome of political, economic, and legal structures that reproduce oppression and sustain its continuity.

Data from the Gender-Based Violence Information Management System (GBVIMS) from January to June 2025 show that 12% of reported cases involved underage girls, and 34% were linked to forced marriages. While these figures do not capture the full scale of violence, they clearly reveal the extreme vulnerability of young girls and the deep entrenchment of violence within societal and political structures.

Case Studies: A Grim Reality

In Taalabaya, a woman was stabbed to death by her husband in front of their children, despite having previously filed a complaint—no legal action had been taken against him.

In Achrafieh, a woman in her twenties was found murdered after being beaten and strangled. The perpetrator fled the country. The case was classified as a femicide.

In Tyre, a Syrian refugee woman was found dead in her tent after enduring repeated violence by a relative, shedding light on protection gaps in refugee settings.

In Tripoli, a woman in her thirties was burned to death. The perpetrator tried to claim it was suicide, but forensic evidence revealed signs of torture.

In Nabatieh, a woman was shot by her partner under the pretext of “jealousy,” prompting renewed demands for faster arrest warrants.

In Sofar, a pregnant woman and her husband were murdered by family members for marrying without approval.

In West Bekaa, a 16-year-old girl ended her life after being forced into a marriage, classified as a “disguised honor crime.”

According to estimates by KAFA and Maharat, more than 20 women were killed in Lebanon by October 2025. The majority of perpetrators were husbands, fathers, brothers, or extended family members. Data shows that 60% of victims had previously reported threats or violence, yet the state took no preventive measures.

The crisis is even more severe in rural areas and refugee camps, where no meaningful punitive measures are implemented—reflecting a lack of political will to protect women and a culture of impunity that enables violence to continue.

The Burdens of War and Displacement

War not only destroys homes—it shatters psychological and social security. Women have been pushed into environments ripe for exploitation, where patriarchal dominance merges with weapons and corrupt policies. Violence is reinvented in more complex, invisible forms. Women now understand that violence is not limited to physical or verbal assault; it is a structural reality reinforced by the state itself through institutions, laws, and silence.

Ongoing Israeli attacks do not distinguish between men and women, civilians or combatants. Even after ceasefires, hundreds of women and children have been killed, and many more injured, with little official data or medical support. “What women endure during war is a systematic form of violence,” said Inaya Ezzeddine.

Thousands of women have been denied the right to return to their homes and lands and excluded from reconstruction efforts. Displacement has left women in precarious conditions with no privacy, increased burdens, and worsening gendered discrimination—straining their economic and emotional well-being.

“When infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, and care centers is destroyed, women are the first to feel its repercussions,” Ezzeddine noted.

She highlighted that violence in conflict zones is multi-layered—stemming from war, displacement, poverty, and discrimination.

 

Digital Progress That Fails to Translate Politically

Despite women’s suffrage being granted over seven decades ago, women’s political participation in Lebanon remains limited. Since 1953, only 17 women have served in parliament—a discrepancy highlighting a vast gap between theoretical rights and actual representation.

Social and cultural shifts have not translated into political inclusion. Women make up 15–58% of party membership, yet only 20% hold leadership positions, with as little as 5% in executive roles.

Women constituted 15.7% of parliamentary candidates in 2022, up from 12.1% in 2018, yet only five women from party lists won seats—showing that candidacy does not guarantee support or fair chances.

In the 2025 municipal elections, women won 10.37% of municipal seats and 16.4% of mukhtar council positions—but only 2.42% became actual mukhtars.

Behind these numbers lies daily resistance—women combat sexist norms, patriarchal party structures, and the reduction of their political identity to their marital or familial ties.

A Feminist Movement Rising Through Self-Reliance

Lebanon’s growing feminist movement has emerged in response to violence stemming from the ongoing political crisis. Women are building stronger, more independent structures that redefine political and social participation from a feminist, resistant perspective.

Despite lack of institutional backing, women-led initiatives have created psychological support networks, raised awareness about digital violence, and established hotlines for threatened activists.

The RDFL (Lebanese Women Democratic Gathering) serves as a leading model, offering safe shelters and psychological empowerment. Yet such groups face structural challenges—underfunding, socio-religious pressures, and minimal institutional support.

Rania Miela, head of protection at RDFL, noted:
“Survivors express their pain only in closed sessions because society stigmatizes them as if they are responsible for the violence they endured.”

Legal barriers—from the high cost of divorce to sectarian discrimination—make protection almost unattainable.

She emphasized:
“The setbacks we see are not due to weak organizations but to the state’s policies toward women. Even when laws exist, they are not implemented.”

Accountability and Enforcement… What Changed in 2025?

Despite rising violence, 2025 saw no major legal reforms to strengthen women’s protection. The 2014 Law on Domestic Violence remains the primary framework, but it suffers from major gaps in implementation.

Poor enforcement, institutional inconsistency, and legal loopholes prevent meaningful prosecution and leave women vulnerable.

The current landscape shows that gender-based violence is no longer an accumulation of isolated incidents but a consequence of structural discrimination embedded in family systems and state institutions.

Understanding violence as part of a broader structure necessitates comprehensive policy reform aimed at addressing root causes—not just temporary reactions.

The challenge now is to transform growing awareness into tangible political and legislative action. Redefining protection against violence is not just a legal matter—it is a measure of a society’s humanity and its willingness to confront injustice rather than coexist with it in silence