Bisan, together with UNIFEM has been working to build the capicity of health-care workers to deal with domestic and gender-based violence.

While many Palestinian organizations are engaged in raising awareness in the general population about domestic violence and violence against women, none are addressing the attitudes, abilities, and responsibilities of professional healthcare workers to deal with the problem. While violence against women occurs across all demographic divisions, its instance has been proven to be higher when there are external stressors. Formal and informal sources agree that domestic violence has been on a steady rise since the outset of the second Intifada in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Jerusalem.. Experiences of violence because of the conflict are common and violent images of local events are on television daily. The study asserts that there is a strong correlation between family members witnessing and experiencing political and high risk for different patterns of family violence including wife abuse, and sibling violence.

In Palestinian society, domestic violence and violence against women are predominantly seen as issues to be addressed within the family rather than involving social workers or law enforcement officials. There is a fear that involving people outside the family might “break through the boundaries of the family, ruin the family’s good reputation and thereby damage the cultural, social, economic, educational, political, and religious status of all family members – not to mention breaking up the family”. Physicians and healthcare workers can be an effective channel to address such violence as there is already a relationship of confidentiality, professionalism, and confidence between the patients and the doctors. And physicians have the unique opportunity to diagnose abuse and certain risk factors.

A study which conducted by Bisan Center shows that many physicians have profound misconceptions about family violence and are reluctant to address it directly.

In 1992, Bisan was one of the first organizations in Palestine to address the complex and sensitive issue of domestic abuse. In 2000, Bisan became a founding member of Muntada, the Palestinian Non-Governmental Coalition of Organizations Against Domestic Violence Against Women, which now consists of 18 organizations.

In 1999, Bisan commissioned domestic abuse expert, Dr. Muhammad Haj-Yahia to produce, “Wife-Abuse and Battering in the West Bank and Gaza: Results of Two National Surveys.” In 2003, Bisan commissioned Haj-Yahia to research and write, “The Approach of Palestinian Physicians Toward Wife Abuse.” Bisan distributed these studies widely to generate awareness about the problem of domestic abuse in Palestine and to inspire research, advocacy, and direct service initiatives.

Since its inception the project realized a number of things ;

• Publication of the policy paper; The Approach of Palestinian Physicians Toward Wife Abuse
  By Muhammad M. Haj-Yahia, Ph.D. - English version
  Download the PDF
  

  
  

• The creating and provision of training materials and resources to healthcare workers and physicians about Domestic violence and violence against women appropriate for Palestinian culture, society, and the political context of conflict and occupation in order to change their attitudes. A training manual was developed by an expert who incorporated relevant existing materials in Arabic and foreign languages, and consulted social workers, physicians, psychologists and others for their expert perspectives.
• Healthcare workers at all stages in their career were given training about identifying, treating, and referring victims of violence against women with special attention to addressing age- specific issues (young, elderly...etc.).