He just finished the online class he was teaching, feeling satisfied with what he has given to his students. It was a heavy session, he thought to himself, and his students seemed to be focused on the lesson, and it was tiring, yet still, it is much better to teach from home than from school, because at school, it would be much harder to see her.
He said his goodbyes to his students, threw a “see you later” smile, and gave them homework. Then, as he moved from the camera, feeling a certain lust, he knew so well where he could go to satisfy his lust. Ashamed of himself? Maybe, but his grown hunger for his daughter was stronger.
Little did he know that his desires for his daughter distracted him from turning off his camera and that the students were learning much more than he could have taught; they saw what it’s like to be tortured yet remain crippled.
This is not a story made out of fiction; this is a story that happened in Lebanon a few days ago. A teacher was caught sexually harassing his daughter on camera after forgetting to turn off his camera and after his students recorded everything and reported it.
He was arrested and is now away rotting seven stories underground- I hope. Imagine, imagine with me, that he did not forget to turn his camera off, and that no one saw what he does and did, and that he kept on harassing her for years to come.
He could have been my teacher, and I would see him every day and let him teach me whatever subject he teaches, and I would listen and study and ask him questions and wish he thinks I’m smart. I could be a student idolizing a teacher, and he could be at home kissing his daughter.
I’m sick to my guts. It could have been easily hidden, and it has been hidden for so long. Imagine the students were not brave enough to report him, were not mature enough to say anything; imagine the life of this little girl who is being exploited by the man who should protect her the most.
Imagine, try to imagine with me, how many girls, and boys, are suffering from the same indescribable cruelty, and in Lebanon only. Imagine that home is the most unsafe place to be in, yet they remain quiet. Imagine dying in pain every single day and still waking up in the morning.
Let us speak about sexual exploitation and abuse. Let us stand against the society that pushes us to stay quiet on sexual crimes, so we don’t scratch anyone’s “dignity.” Let us speak on their behalf and make sure they know that despite their pain, we can help.
We need to adapt more legislations and decrees that penalize sexual misconduct, whether at home, on the streets, at work, or online. Legislation criminalizing sexual harassment at home needs to be thorough and inclusive of all girls and boys living in Lebanon, including marginalized groups and LGBTI individuals.
Our courts need to adapt a PSEA policy that sides with survivors and protects them from abusers; even if/when the abusers are judges and lawyers themselves, the system needs to enforce prevention, protection, and penalization of legislators and society members in case of any breach.
Only when the system adopts women and girls’ rights to feel safe can we normalize ending SEA and gender-based violence within our communities and homes. Women and girls are the center of socio-economic growth in all societies; it is crucial to give them the safety needed to thrive and believe in equity and gender parity among all the sectors of their lives.
As a girl who was raised hearing that women’s image, reputation, and dignity can easily be demolished by a word or sexual innuendo or anything that has to do with sexual behavior and that a man is faultless and is raised to be a sinner, I believe that these critical injustices need to end now.
Raise your voice for women and girls to be seen as a vital part of our nations’ social development and not as sex objects. Raise your voice for thriving women and girls who can walk into any house, office, grocery shop, cafe, school, university, street, city, etc., and proudly say: “I feel safe here.”