Euro-Med Monitor in Lebanon

The security situation in Lebanon deteriorated in 2013 with violence spilling over from the armed conflict in Syria. Sectarian tensions led to deadly clashes in Tripoli and Saida amidst a climate of impunity for gunmen. Internal Security Forces (ISF) subjected suspected drug users, sex workers, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in their custody to ill-treatment and torture. Migrant domestic workers were excluded from the labor law and subjected to restrictive immigration rules based on employer-specific sponsorship—the kafala system—which put workers at risk of exploitation and abuse. Discriminatory provisions that significantly harm and disadvantage women continued to exist in personal status laws, determined by an individual’s religious affiliation.