The KIP Project
The KIP Project on Gender and Sexuality
The Knowledge Is Power (KIP) project was a two-year US-funded multidisciplinary project aimed at supporting the production and dissemination of information related to gender and sexuality in Lebanon. To encourage the availability and accessibility to this kind of data, KIP’s goal was to build bridges between stakeholders working in the field, including academics, civil society members, students, public and private sector representatives, and others.
In the project’s second phase, we presented the findings of 9 documentation and 6 research projects related to themes identified by private round tables in the project’s first phase. This research was also presented at a two-day academic conference on March 31 and April 1 in 2017, along with discussions, debates, and training from various stakeholders in the fields of gender and sexuality, specifically focusing on issues of discrimination and sexual harassment.
The project also held two training workshops, one targeted at students and aimed at addressing Sexual Harassment in Society and Spaces, and the other targeting Lebanese SMEs and revolving around the drafting of anti-sexual harassment guidelines and policies.
You can learn more about the project here and more about our activities below.
In the Media
#Mesh_Basita anti-sexual harassment campaign
Interview with Charlotte Karam on CNN:
About the KIP Conference:
Opening Session from the KIP Conference:
Article in the Independent
Article in L’Orient le Jour
KIP Funded Studies
The KIP Funded Studies
During its first year, the KIP Project funded 9 documentation and 6 research projects directly related to questions and themes identified in five private roundtables, held to identify gap areas for research and work related to gender and sexuality in Lebanon.
These multi-stakeholder, multidisciplinary, multi-sector private roundtables were held around gender and sexuality on education, health and well-being, economic empowerment and opportunity, politics, and legal and civil rights and brought together members from the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Ministry of Social Affairs, university professors, activists and civil society members.
During its second year, these studies were presented the KIP Project’s a two-day interdisciplinary Conference on Gender and Sexuality on March 31st and April 1st, 2017, at AUB, where hundreds of academics, students, activists, journalists, researchers, and other stakeholders were invited to share their knowledge in the field.
These reports were funded to fulfill the KIP Project’s goals to (a) support the gathering, generation, and dissemination of information and data concerning gender and sexuality in Lebanon; and (b) foster knowledge-sharing concerning gender and sexuality in Lebanon by creating a platform for academia/civil society interactions and partnerships.
The executive summaries of the studies can be found below:
Sectarian Power-sharing and Women’s Political Representation: A Lebanese Oxymoron or an Opportunity?
by Carmen Geha, PhD, Assistant Professor of Public Administration, American University of Beirut
Krystel Tabet, Research Assistant
Sally Abi Khalil, Project Advisor
Download here: KIP-Executive-Summary-Carmen-Geha.pdf
The Perception of Students towards Women and the Perception of Women Themselves about their Role and Status in Lebanese Rural Communities
by Nisreen Alwan, PhD, Dean of School of Health Sciences, Modern University for Business and Science (M.U.B.S)
Diana Maddah, Recruitment and Impact Measurement Manager, Teach for Lebanon
Download here: KIP-Executive-Summary-Diana-Maddah.pdf
The Sexual Health of Men Who Have Sex with Men in Lebanon
by Marsa Sexual Health Center
Ayman Assi, PhD, President
Diana Abou Abbas, Project Manager
Sara Abou Zaki, Project Coordinator
Download here: KIP-Executive-Summary-Marsa.pdf
Knowledge, attitudes and practices towards family planning: A national survey in the Lebanese community
by Ghada Khoury, PharmD, Clinical Assistant Professor, Lebanese American University
Download here: KIP-Executive-Summary-Ghada-Khoury.pdf
Sectarianism and National Emergencies: Barriers or Facilitators for Women, Sexual Minorities and Transgender People
by Nadine Naber, PhD, Associate Professor, University of Illinois, Chicago
Download here: KIP-Executive-Summary-Nadine-Naber.pdf
Facilitators for the effective participation of Lebanese women at work in leadership positions
by Pascale Daher, Doctoral Researcher, Aston Business School
Download here: KIP-Executive-Summary-Pascale-Daher.pdf
Social norms in the workplace in the context of breastfeeding
by Yusuf Sidani, PhD, Associate Professor Olayan School of Business, American University of Beirut
Sarah BouDiab, Senior Internal Auditor, American University of Beirut
Download here: KIP-Executive-Summary-Sarah-Bou-Diab.pdf
Social Workers’ Perceptions and Attitudes towards the LGBT Community in the Lebanese Context: An Exploratory Study
by Soins Infirmiers et Développement Communautaire (SIDC)
Nadia Badran, MSW, Program Coordinator & Knowledge Hub Manager
Hala Najm, MPH, Research and Project Coordinator
Download here: KIP-Executive-Summary-SIDC.pdf
Family, Adulthood, Citizenship and Queer Subjects
by Zeina Zaatari, PhD, Lecturer and Research Associate, University of California, Davis
Download here: KIP-Executive-Summary-Zeina-Zaatari.pdf
Lebanese News Managers: A Comparative Study of Gender in the Workplace
by Sarah Mallat, M.A., Instructor at the Media Studies Department, American University of Beirut
Jad Melki, PhD, Associate Professor at the Department of Communication Arts, Lebanese American University
Download here: KIP-Executive-Summary-Sarah-Mallat-Jad-Melki.pdf
Fighting sexual harassment in Lebanon: Where are we now, and how far have we come?
by Nour Nasr, PhD Candidate, SKEMA Business School
Download here: KIP-Executive-Summary-Nour-Nasr.pdf
Attitudes and Practices towards Sexual Harassment in Beirut
by HarassTracker
Sandra Hassan, Myra El Mir, Nay El Rahi, Co-founders
Download here: KIP-Executive-Summary-Nay-el-Rahi.pdf
Perception of Physicians on Women Surgeons in Lebanon
by Eman Sbaity, MD, Surgical Oncologist, AUBMC
Jihad Makhoul, PhD, Professor at Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut
Download here: KIP-Executive-Summary-Eman-Sbeity.pdf
Experience and Attitudes of Harassment and Discrimination from a Subset of Students at the American University of Beirut
by Brigitte Khoury, PhD, Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, AUBMC
Trudi Hodges, AUB Title IX Coordinator, Office of the President, American University of Beirut
Download here: KIP-Executive-Summary-Brigitte-Khoury.pdf
KIP Training Days
The KIP Project’s Training Workshops
In addition to a two-day interdisciplinary conference around discrimination and sexual harassment on March 31 and April 1, 2017, the KIP Project has also aimed to push for the generation and dissemination of related knowledge through two training days. One training day targeted students, while the other will target HR staff of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME)s.
Student Training Around Sexual Harassment in Society and Spaces
As part of the post-conference activities of the conference, the KIP project invited students to a full day student-oriented training workshop on April 8, 2017 addressing Sexual Harassment in Society and Spaces. Students from across faculties and disciplines and various universities attended one or all of the four back-to-back sessions covering issues related to conceptions of masculinities, consent and rape culture, sexual harassment in the workplace, and online harassment.
Check out the Facebook event page to see photos, or read coverage of the training workshop by AUB’s student newspaper, Outlook.
Training Workshop On Anti-Sexual Harassment Policies in Lebanese SMEs
The KIP Project held a training workshop on the implementation of internal policies addressing sexual harassment in Lebanese small and medium enterprises (SME)s. The training day took place on June 10th and invited senior HR staff in Lebanese SMEs to learn about the drafting of anti-sexual harassment policies within their internal policies and procedures.
For more information, please find the following press release about the session.
Conference Overview
Why talk about discrimination and sexual harassment?
Based on the KIP Project’s multistakeholder roundtables in its first year, the themes of discrimination and sexual harassment were identified as overlapping areas where knowledge-production and dissemination should focus in the Lebanese landscape. Focusing on this theme, the KIP Project held a two-day multidisciplinary conference on March 31 and April 1, 2017 at the Olayan School of Business at AUB and aimed to:
- Encourage multi-stakeholder dialogue about gender and sexuality, and more specifically, discrimination and sexual harassment in Lebanon.
- Support the production and dissemination of knowledge related to these issues in the Lebanese landscape
- Generate policy recommendations for sexual harassment in the Lebanese landscape
- Build lasting networks which cut across disciplines and sectors
Over 800 members from academia, civil society, private and public sector as well as independent researchers, students, activists, among others, attendedthis two-day event. A total of 25 panels, workshops, poster sessions, and exhibitions tackled issues pertaining to sexual harassment and discrimination in healthcare, businesses, public and private spaces, education, art, media, politics, activism, and more.
Read press about the KIP Conference
Student soapbox performances around campus tackle discrimination
Students chat with Mashrou’ Leila as part of KIP conference
KIP conference a forum for diverse voices tackling big issues
KIP panel: Marginalized groups in the political sphere
Saadawi: Women are more than hymens
Tackling sexual harassment positive, but progress slow
مؤتمر عن التمييز والتحرش الجنسي من داخل الجامعة الاميركية
افتتاح مؤتمر حول التمييز والتحرش الجنسي في الجامعة الاميركية
Women, homosexuals, and artists as politicians in Lebanon – @thekipproject
Why Is Sexual Harassment In Lebanon Still A Laughing Matter?
Check out the dialogue from the sessions by clicking through the Storify below:
Downloads
The files linked below are all powerpoint (.pptx) presentations.
KIP Slideshow
Closing Event
Closing Event 2
