Nablus, West Bank, Palestine

The project is implemented in Palestine and Catalonia and is based on two basic pillars that pursue the ultimate goal of advancing in the transformation towards fairer and more equitable communities: the empowerment of women and local communities and institutions’ shared responsibility for gender equity. Hèlia is the applicant for the project.

The project helps to improve the quality of life for the women of Nablus by supporting them in their personal and collective empowerment processes. The employment of young women with higher education and the resilience of survivors of sexist violence against women are promoted through psychosocial support and legal advice. We have the commitment of Nablus City Council, which we continue to support in an internal gender mainstreaming process resulting from the gender audit that WSC has been carrying out since 2020. At the community level, awareness-raising actions are included in Palestine and Catalonia to promote international solidarity and sisterhood. Finally, the project also includes actions to advocate for and denounce human rights violations in Palestine, Catalonia and internationally.

The project includes the following services:

• Trainings (professionals, in rights, and in leadership and competences) and accompaniment to women entitled to Nablus in order to maximize their professional integration into the local labour market.
• Psychosocial and legal attention to women in Nablus survivors of male violence.
• Gender training in Nablus City Council staff to consolidate gender perspective in municipal public policies.

One of the actions taken has been the creation of the Tasharuk. website.

Tasharuk [tashàruk], which means “to share” or “sharing” in Arabic, aims to be a space for meeting, raising awareness and spreading information about gender, culture and resistance in Palestine. The website was created from the initial collaboration between five organisations: the Associació Hèlia, Sodepau, Women’s Studies Centre, Family Defense Society and Escola de Cultura de Pau, whose backgrounds and knowledge aim to contribute to the dissemination of the situation in Palestine from a gender perspective, with special attention paid to the experiences and contributions of Palestinian women. Tasharuk aspires to capture the many lessons learned from the experiences of exchange, knowledge and reflection with Palestinian women’s activists and organisations, giving prominence to their voices and stories.

Tasharukwants to expose the interaction between the Israeli occupation and the dominant patriarchal system in Palestine and especially how it affects Palestinian women and girls, who are denied their right to a life free of violence, particularly because of their gender status. The website addresses implementation of the agenda on gender, peace and security in Palestine and highlights the experiences and artistic productions of Palestinian women. Tasharuk makes a wide range of resources available to people interested in gender and Palestine, including films and documentaries; contact with Palestinian filmmakers, activists and women’s organisations; first-person oral and written accounts of Palestinian women who are overcoming situations of sexist violence; and publications and teaching guides to continue to raise awareness in this area.