العربية
In a session for the Commission on the Status of Women 65 entitled: Interactive Dialogue “Eliminating Violence Against Women in Public Life”, H.E. Wafa Bani Mustafa, Chairperson of the Coalition of Women MPs from Arab Countries to Combat Violence against Women, spoke about the role of parliamentarians and parliaments in combating violence against women in public life and indicated that parliamentarians must work to criminalize political violence against women in national laws, lobby for the enactment of laws that guarantee women a fair share of the quota in parliaments, municipalities, political parties and syndicates, working closely with civil society organizations and stakeholders to ensure that best practices are included in the laws, include male representatives in the dialogues, work with the media to form a platform that advocates for women who suffer from political violence or cyber bullying, spreading awareness among people through their personal pages on social media sites about the dangers of political violence against women, and training women parliamentarians on skills to confront political violence and deal with the media.
She indicated that parliaments should include the protection of women from political violence in the parliament’s bylaws and codes of conduct, build supportive mechanisms such as: affiliation with political parties and blocs in parliament, and establishing women caucuses, define mechanisms within the House of Representatives to file complaints and investigate them impartially. Procedures should include reviewing complaints of harassment, abuse, bullying, sexual harassment and violent behaviors. Moreover, she added that parliaments should provide legal aid services, develop gender-sensitive policies within parliaments, and then train and educate parliamentarians and employees to deal with these policies.
She referred to the campaign carried out by the coalition in cooperation with the National Democratic Institute on the protection of women against violence in public life and indicated that the National Consultative Team has trained 435 women on dealing with violence against women in public life in Jordan so far.
