This diagnosis concerns the battle against trafficking in women. The short-term aim of this diagnosis is to shed light on the phenomenon of prostitution in Lebanese social life based on monitoring in the field. However, the ultimate objective remains the suppression of all forms of discrimination and violence against Lebanese women and, in general, women living in Lebanon.
The subject of the diagnosis is prostitution and trafficking in women. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.
There is therefore a need to fight this crime at international level in order to eradicate it. It should be noted that trafficking is a very old scourge in Lebanon which has flared up again in the last six years due to the Syrian crisis and the arrival of around two million refugees throughout the Lebanese regions particularly Beirut and its suburbs. The problem has been pinpointed in the area targeting for the diagnosis, the eastern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut, and, more particularly, the town of Sin-El-Fil, where several associations are working on the problem so that strategies can be implemented to help both young and older women overcome the obstacles on their path to freedom.
Over the years, other Lebanese families, this time displaced due to the civil war, have joined them, together with Syrians and Iraqis. It is an area where there are tangible social inequalities. In order to outline the possible extent of trafficking in women, meetings were organised with bodies and associations using surveys prepared in advance including questions asked orally to collect as much information as possible. Sometimes the answers led on to other issues. Along similar lines, research was carried out on the laws concerning the fight against trafficking in women, and journalists and media executives were contacted to see whether they were focusing on the problem and to reflect on how to highlight it.
It is important to specify that studies on the eastern suburbs of Beirut are very unusual, unlike those dealing with the southern suburbs forming part of the domain of Hezbollah. This rarity was one of the first obstacles to be overcome, particularly because a large part of the population particularly Shiites and Palestinians from the eastern suburbs were displaced to other Lebanese regions West Beirut and the South at the beginning of the civil war by a conflict with a religious element.
