BEIRUT: A shocking video filmed by an employee at a nursery in Mount Lebanon, which shows a female member of staff physically abusing infants, sparked outrage when it circulated on social media on Monday night and has highlighted growing concerns about a recent increased in violence against women and children.
Authorities reacted by sealing off the Gardereve nursery, which is in the Jdeideh area, and arresting its 44-year-old manager and a 38-year-old employee.
The video shows a woman hitting a baby for refusing to eat. She is seen forcefully putting food into the child’s mouth and hitting his face in an attempt to make him swallow it. The baby is crying and spits out the food, and she repeats the process in an even more violent fashion. She is also seen hitting another child and calling youngsters “animals,” using profanity.
Arab News has learned that the person who shot the videos was responsible for the children’s hygiene, and sent the videos to the father of one of them. The children involved are all under the age of 3. The father called the other parents to his home and showed them the videos, and they reported the matter to the authorities.
The mother of an 11-month-old baby girl said her daughter “faces hysterical situations during her sleep and she suddenly cries. I didn’t know why until the reason was revealed today.”
The mother of another child said her son “lost the ability to speak and express himself after joining the nursery. It was revealed through the video that he was subjected to physical and psychological abuse by the owner of the nursery, who used to call him ‘deaf.’”
The Ministry of Health, which is responsible for nurseries, held an emergency meeting of the Child Protection Committee on Tuesday.
Health Minister Firas Abiad said his ministry “will follow up” on the matter and added: “We are in contact with the families of the abused children and we seek to prevent the recurrence of this bad treatment and absence of responsibility and trustworthiness.”
On social media, some people condemned the decision not to reveal the names of those accused of carrying out the abuse.
“They can serve as a lesson to others, and stress the need to impose the harshest penalties against them,” one person wrote.
There are growing concerns in Lebanon about recent increases in the number of crimes involving physical and psychological domestic violence, and the mistreatment, exploitation and sexual assault of children. It comes at a time when the country has been mired in a desperate financial crisis for four years.
Some activists on social media highlighted the case of Leen Taleb, a six-year-old girl who was raped and died last week as a result of bleeding. Her death shook the nation but no details have been revealed about the case or the suspects, other than the fact that there was a dispute between the girl’s divorced parents.
There were also recent reports from the Internal Security Forces that in the space of just 10 days, five young girls had failed to return home, sparking rumors that gangs were kidnapping children. However, the General Directorate of Security Forces later said “there are family reasons and some of them returned in good health.”
Nevertheless, experts warn that violent crimes against women and children, including murder, have increased in recent months. In many cases, the victims are women who had requested or obtained a divorce. Some of the killings happened outside of Lebanon.
Zoya Jreidini Rohana, the director of Kafa, a nonprofit organization that works to end violence and discrimination against women, told Arab News: “The organization has monitored, since the beginning of this year, 10 murders of married or divorced women, six cases of suicides of women, and three attempted murders.
“Whatever the motives, killings take place. The man controls the fate of the family and is assisted by the Personal Status Law, which gives him absolute power. The man’s masculine narcissism, when his wife asks for a divorce, controls him and pushes him to kill her.
“What increases this type of crime is impunity, either by escaping outside (Lebanon’s) borders or by not speeding up the trials, as the files remain in the judiciary for years.”
Recent female victims, since March, include Rokaya Halawi, 50, who was allegedly killed by her husband, Khalil Al-Hamoush, 70, with a hunting rifle in June. She had reportedly requested a divorce after decades of marital abuse.
Amira Mughniyeh, 30, a Lebanese women living in Sydney was found dead last week. Her husband Ahmed Hadraj, 39, has been charged with her murder. They recently divorced.
Rabih Francis, a member of the state security apparatus, reportedly shot his wife, Sahar, and her mother, Therese, in the Jezzine District last month before killing himself.
Maher H. allegedly shot and killed his ex-wife, Jumana, in the town of Qamatiyya in Mount Lebanon, amid a dispute over custody of their children.
Ragia Al-Akoum, from the town of Bsaba, died when her ex-husband allegedly stabbed her and ran over her with his car, in front of their children, days after they separated.
Hassan Musa Zaiter, 27, is accused of shooting dead his wife, Zainab, 26, in March in the Choueifat area, south of Beirut, in front of their three children.
Mona Al-Homsi was allegedly shot and killed by her ex-husband in Jabal Mohsen, Tripoli.
According to the World Bank: “Family crime has increased in Lebanon, and the rate of femicide has increased in the Middle East even though rates of femicide globally have been declining since the 1990s.”
In 2020, the Lebanese parliament approved amendments designed to enhance the Law to Protect Women and Other Family Members from Domestic Violence, six years after it was introduced. However, experts say it still fails to provide an effective safety net for women and children. The ongoing financial crisis in the country is adding to the pressure.
According to a UNICEF report published in June: “The ability of families in Lebanon to meet their basic needs has decreased despite having cut expenses significantly. An increasing number of families have been forced to send their children, some as young as six, to work in a desperate attempt to survive in light of the social and economic crisis.”
Caregivers quoted in the report said they are facing “a hopeless situation of tremendous stress, which results in feelings of anger toward their children. Six out of 10 of these (caregivers) felt the urge to yell at their children, and two out of 10 felt so angry that they almost beat their children in the two weeks preceding the survey.”
Heightened tensions, coupled with growing deprivation, also take a toll on the mental health of youngsters. Seven out of 10 caregivers said their children appeared restless, tense and edgy. Almost half said their children seemed very sad or frequently depressed.
A previous UNICEF study found that “the crisis in Lebanon leads to the collapse and fragmentation of family relations. This is evident through children losing confidence in their parents due to their (the parents’) inability to meet the basic needs of the family.
“On the other hand, parents feel that their children do not respect them because of their failure in the role they are supposed to play as caregivers.”
