A website has been launched in Lebanon aiming to combat sexual harassment by gathering information on the whereabouts and details of specific incidents. Still in its infancy, harasstracker.org is focused on the capital city of Beirut, but will increase its scope after a three month trial.
“Sexual harassment affects the lives of hundreds in Lebanon, and we can't ignore the problem or wait for a magical solution. For this reason we work to encourage the society to completely reject sexual harassment, and to consider it a crime it cannot remain silent about,” the website states.
The site crowdsources information on specific incidents of harassment, posting the details on an interactive map. The goal, according to the website, is to gather and display this information in order to dispel the many myths which are spread about harassment, and later use the reports to advocate for official policies to deal with the persistent issue.
“We also hope that this site will succeed in using reports for advocating towards official steps and policies to combat harassment, to assist in warning those exposed to harassment and helping them avoid it, and to make public and private spaces safer for everyone,” the site states on its “About Us” page.
“We may be able, through the information which we will obtain from this map, to work on other laws for protecting women and groups that experience harassment.”
Sexual harassment in Lebanon is an ongoing problem, with reports showing that Syrian refugees are also at a high risk of being victims.
