Women can shatter the glass ceiling. They can overcome the glass cliff. These are invisible barriers that hinder women from succeeding in their professions, but they are not impossible to surmount.
Within this global campaign, #FemaleForwardInternational, we look at Lebanon, where societal and cultural norms continue to influence the status of women at home and in the work place. But amidst these hurdles, women have also shown that they can conquer obstacles and break stereotypes.
#FemaleForwardInternational presents stories of 10 Lebanese women - written by Nicole Hamouche - who are impacting their communities, inspiring the youth and celebrating their Lebanese heritage.
Johanna Howari Bourjeily is the founder and director of the Professional Center for Mediation at USJ.
Through this center she has trained more than 10,000 people in Lebanon (pupils, students & professionals) to resolve conflicts without violence. In our last Women of Lebanon series edition Nicole Hamouche profiles Johanna, who shared with us how she encountered the power of mediation in the courtroom as a criminal lawyer.
Lina Abyad, is a Professor of Theater Arts at the Lebanese American University and Director of the recent production, “The Royal Pardon”. She studied Child Development and Communication Arts at Beirut University College, and Psychology at American University of Beirut, before pursuing her MA and Ph.D. degrees in Theater Arts in Paris.
In our 8th issue, Nicole Hamouche profiles Caroline Fattal, Business Woman and Feminist, who empowers all girls and women around her to achieve their goals through sisterhood and mutual empowerment.
Like many architects who are concerned by the meaning of their practice, Josiane Adib Torbey can’t limit hers to only designing walls and building structures. She is more interested in the interaction architecture has with people’s lives. “Architecture, this book of humanity” said Victor Hugo.
Our 6th profile in the Women of Lebanon Series is Judge Braidy. As one of two Lebanese judges assigned at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, she has accompanied the jolts of the highly symbolic trial of Rafik Hariri’s assassination.
