By Mark Zoarob | Staff Writer
In a recent incident adding to the recurring domestic violence crimes in Lebanon, Ghassan Saleh Al-Youssef shot his wife Aziza Mahmoud Al-Titi, and their two kids, Farah and Walaa.
On April 3, the crime was committed in Burj al Shamali’s Qadado area. According to news reports, the three survivors had various leg injuries and were transferred to a hospital in Tyre. According to the same sources, the attacker is in his forties and had a falling out with his wife. As a result, armed with a military weapon, he attacked the family house and committed his crime. She went on to say that Al-Youssef shot and killed himself inside the family house.
This crime is one of many similar acts of violence being committed in Lebanon recently. Women and children are increasingly more susceptible to violence as Lebanon continues to plunge further into its various crises. Specialists warn of increased familial and social breakdown. The gravity of the situation is exemplified when comparing figures from previous years. Around 1,090 women sought ABAAD’s (an NGO and Resource Center for Gender Equality in the Middle East) assistance in the first half of 2022, compared to 832 in the same period the year before.
Despite the economic situation not being the major cause of this surge in violence, the abundance of everyday triggers due to the situation is making violence more prevalent. Frustrations and problems in the professional and social domain can transfer into aggression and violence at home where there are fewer consequences.
These expressions of violence have not suddenly emerged in recent years but have been ingrained in our culture through generations of men by means of stereotypes and societal norms regarding “masculine behavior”. In our society when a man displays his emotions, he is often asked to repress them and met with the words “تبكي ما” “حالك شد) “don’t cry, hold it together), then grows up lacking mechanisms to deal with his frustrations and anger.
Hence the importance of raising awareness and sharing knowledge and information on dealing with these stressors.
In fact, ABAAD has conducted several Stress and Anger Management workshops, which shed light on identifying stress and anger in thoughts and behavior, healthy and unhealthy stress and anger management, and advanced techniques for short-term stress and anger management. The workshops were reported to be “very successful”. ABAAD is also among the first to establish a men’s center to promote “non-violent behavior and reinforcing positive familial and social relationships.” These services are critical to our society for their provision of tools to cope with pressure through harmless and positive manners.