GCMHP Starts University Workshops As Part of 16 Days of Activism against GBV

Gaza Community Mental Health Programme has held on Tuesday, December 6, 2022 a workshop on women’s rights at the University of Palestine. The Workshop is one of the activities GCMHP conducts as part of the 16-day campaign against GBV.  

The workshop held under the rubric ‘Women Are Born Free; They Are Not Born To Be Humiliated’ is planned to be conducted in three other different universities across the Gaza Strip.

Attended by more than 150 male and female students, Dr Mahmoud Al-Ajrami, Vice President of the University for Academic Affairs delivered the opening speech, in which he placed emphasis on the role of his university in reinforcing women’s rights and working on their empowerment.

Then Mr Qusai Abu Odei, GCMHP’s Director of External Relations and Resources Development Department, took the floor and explained the organisation’s role in supporting the mental health of the Palestinian community as a whole, manifesting the efforts done to support the psychological wellbeing of women not only through mental health interventions, but also through championing their rights, considering this as a bedrock of achieving the overall goal of improving the mental  state in the community.  

psychologist Rania Al-Sousi from the program, and the lawyer / Walaa Abu Amr from the Women’s Affairs Center, in the presence of more than 150 students at the University of Palestine.

A short film on the impact of violence against women was presented along with other activities during the workshop. The film provided an example of the explicit and implicit violence women are exposed to in their daily lives, paving the way for an open discussion, which was directed by GCMHP psychologist, Ms Rania Al-Sousi, who also answered the questions by the audience.

On her part, Lawyer Walaa Abu Amer, from Women Affairs Center, made a presentation about the diffrerent forms of violence (physical, sexual, verbal, emotional..etc), and explained how to deal with it and what support women can get in case they are exposed to any of these forms.

Awareness promotion materials –  carrying the free telephone counselling number – were distributed to the attendees ate the end of the workshop.