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This article presents some of the results of a qualitative study that was conducted within the framework of the strategy implemented by some Lebanese women organizations; namely engaging men in their efforts to combat family gender-based violence. In order to gain a more comprehensive view of the dynamics of violence against women in their families (than that obtained solely from recounts of women victims /survivors of violence that was researched in numerous previous studies conducted in Lebanon), the researcher listened, in an in-depth interview, to eleven wife batterers describing their versions of why they were indicted before the Lebanese court, or why they were seeking psychological help, depending on their case. Qualitative discourse analysis of the recorded free speech and recounts of these men was performed in an attempt to understand their respective family dynamics as manifested by the psycho-social factors around which revolved their recounts; thus laying the ground for understanding the practical implications for the intervention of different stakeholders involved in combating gender-based violence, namely, the psycho-social agents for the rehabilitation of the perpetrators, the judiciary and the women organizations.

Lebanese civil society organizations that work to promote the principles and values of human rights led the efforts to publicly expose the issue of violence against women (hereafter VAW) in the mid-90s of the last century. Since 2008, a coalition of these organizations has been working on a draft law that protects women from family violence, organizing media and advocacy campaigns, and lobbying with legislative bodies and policy makers to promote the passing of the bill. These campaigns with respect to the draft law are a culmination of a number of activities aimed at assisting battered women by lending an ear to their suffering; providing them with legal, medical, psychological, and professional support; and offering shelter to those in danger.

Women today are considered to be outside the political and administrative power structures and their participation in the decision-making process is non-existent. As far as their participation in the political life is concerned they are still on the margins. The existence of patriarchal society in Lebanon as well as the absence of governmental policies and procedures that aim at helping women and enhancing their political participation has made it very difficult for women to be accepted as leaders and to be granted votes in elections (UNIFEM, 2002).This above quote is taken from a report that was prepared to assess the progress made regarding the status of Lebanese women both on the social and governmental levels in light of the Beijing Platform for Action – the name given to the provisions of the Fourth Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995. The above quote describes the slow progress achieved by Lebanese women in view of the ambitious goal that requires that the proportion of women occupying administrative or political positions in Lebanon should reach 30 percent of thetotal by the year 2005!

A one-day expert group meeting called for by Rashida Manjoo, the UN special rapporteur on violence against women( hereafter VAW), was convened in the UNFPA New York headquarters on Wednesday October 12, 2011. Sixteen experts from different countries across the globe presented papers that portrayed the regional idiosyncrasies of the manifestations, root causes, and consequences of gender-motivated killings (femicide or feminicide). In addition to papers that presented concepts and related conceptual challenges, the presentations covered case studies from selected countries from Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, South East Asia, Canada, and Europe. Following is an updated version of the paper presented by Azza Charara Baydoun, a Lebanese researcher on women and gender issues.