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Political Representation of Women in Lebanon
Women’s Suffrage

Women in Lebanon gained suffrage in 1952, only five years after men did (in the year 1947). Men did not receive the right to vote until fours years after Lebanon was freed from the French Mandate. The Lebanese constitution—specifically Article 7, proclaimed that "All Lebanese are equal under the law, enjoying equally civil and political rights, and performing duties and public responsibility without any discrimination among them." This however did not protect against gender discrimination and thus women were not equally protected. Women were refused the right to vote by early Lebanese government until they organized and began petitioning for equal rights. In 1952 the Women's Political Rights Agreement came about and guaranteed that women would be able to vote.[i] Women gained the right to vote but with a limitation, they had to have an elementary education. Women had to have documents that could prove that they had received at least an elementary level education. This limitation was lifted five years later in 1957 without much discourse or a fight. [ii]

Women in Politics

Women gained the right to vote halfway into the 20th century, thirty years after American women suffragists gained the right in the United States. Though the women of Lebanon garnered their right to vote fairly early on, there is still a huge lack of them in Lebanon’s political sphere. The political field in Lebanon, like most of the rest of the world, is male dominated. That is not to say there are no women actors in Lebanon, they are just few and far between.

As of 2009 there had only been seventeen women to serve on parliament since suffrage. That number is rather dismal but paints the perfect picture of what the outlook of women in parliament is. The lack of women is politics is chalked up the political exclusivity that is bred in Lebanon, constricting societal norms and gender roles. The political arena in the country is mostly made of a small number of elite families that have been in power since the 1950s and 1960s and the beginning of suffrage. There is an extreme lack of women in elected and appointed political positions. To combat the low rate of women's participation in politics and government, the Lebanese Women's Council (LWC) planned a conference in 1998.[iii] Along with other women's NGOs, the LWC proposed a quota system to the government to ensure women's equal representation in elections.[iv] NGOs or non-governmental organizations have been created in response to the lack of women’s political representation. The government did not take heed to any of their suggestions.

According to Dr. Zeina Zaatari “Many women's NGOs have prioritized their missions toward the economic and social needs of women in rural areas and women with little access to resources. These organizations work toward achieving women's rights on the ground. A large number of women's organizations also focus on lobbying and aim to research and publish their findings on women to influence policy makers and the judicial system. The Lebanese Women's Council (LWC), established in the 1950s, serves as an umbrella entity for more than 140 organization

Political Representation

One of the very important characteristics of Lebanese politics is the excess of political parties competing for power and control. There are eighteen political parties in total in the country, but seven currently dominate the sphere. These political parties are almost all men dominated, and the women that do head these parties are often only there because they are a part of one of the political families and have been put in place for power often because of a sudden death or lack of men left to run in the family. Men control the leadership of the country, often silencing the women’s voices.

The Lebanese constitution is a French system, which promotes equality between “all” citizens. However, in Lebanon the governmental power of the country is separated by the religious factions based on the size of each of their populations. These figures are extremely outdated and are based on a census of the country that was taken in the year 1943.[vi]Lebanon formally identifies that there are eighteen religious acknowledgements of Muslim and Christian denominations in the country.

“The major political parties thus include Hezbollah and Amal( Shi'a); Future Movement, led by the son of the assassinated former Prime Minister Rafik el Hariri (Sunni); Phalange Party and the Lebanese Forces( Maronite Christians); Progressive Socialist Party (Druze); and the Free Patriotic Movement which in theory has members from all confessions, but remains predominantly Christian.” [vii]These religious based parties often discriminate against women and refuse to include them, especially Shi’a and Sunni.

As of 2009 according to Don Duncan of Le Monde Diplomatique (English edition), “With only 3.1% of seats now occupied by women, Lebanon is at the bottom of the table of parliamentary representation of women in the Middle East, down with conservative Gulf states like Oman (none), Yemen (0.3%) and Bahrain (2.7%) (2). whereas neighboring Syria has 12.4%, Tunisia has 22.8% and Iraq has a 25% quota for women.”[viii]

The lack of representation of women in parliament is not only disheartening but discouraging. It is a male dominated field and the under representation shows women that are not wanted in the field. The few that make it into the field often do so under patriarchal standards and barely squeeze into the system.