Amnesty International announced on Wednesday that it is “shameful” what women MPs in the Lebanese parliament, especially those who criticize the authorities, had been experiencing from harassment to bullying by their male counterparts and by the Speaker [Nabih Berri] himself.
“Simply because they are women in a parliament dominated by men,” the organization charged.
Amnesty International is a global movement of more than 10 million people who take injustice personally. It helps fight abuses of human rights worldwide.
“Lawmakers, especially Speaker Nabih Berri, must shoulder the responsibility of ending this abuse of women and stop encouraging a hostile environment for women,” Amnesty stressed.
The organization urged that the parliament should respect human rights and implement the law criminalizing sexual harassment that was issued in 2020.
The appeal comes a day after MPs Halima Qaaqour, Cynthia Zarazir, and Paula Yacoubian faced verbal attacks from male colleagues during a legislative session.
MP Cynthia Zarazir also made shocking allegations about bullying and sexual harassment as well as being denied a proper parking spot for her car and had been given a “filthy” parliament office in which she found “used condoms” and “Playboy magazines.”
The General Secretariat of the Lebanese parliament responded with a statement denying MP Zarazir’s statement, calling it “totally incorrect.”
Related: Harassment, Bullying, Playboy, And Used Condoms In The Lebanese Parliament.
