Anita Nassar: Going Beyond the Line of Duty

By Caroline Hodroj

LAU Tribune staff

Inside Shannon Hall, and within the unassuming quar­ters of the Institute for Wom­en’s Studies in the Arab World, IWSAW assistant di­rector Anita Farah Nassar struggles to open an uncoop­erative door. She laughs at her situation and samples other keys.

“What is the matter with this door?” she asks with an im­pressive lack of frustration. After twists and turns, one key clicks into place and Nas­sar ushers me into her world. Those who know Nassar and those who don’t can tell that she confronts obstacles with patience, perseverance, and dedication.

“I’m a strategist,” she said.“I push myself beyond the line of duty. As you struggle to reach your objective, you see that there is always some­thing new to learn.”

Nassar remembers, for in­stance, the year 1985, when IWSAW had to deal with an income-generating project in the midst of the Lebanese civil war. “The institute de­cided to reach out and help displaced women. Some­times it was frightening,” she said. “The fear of being in an unsafe place and the pos­sibility of getting killed were always there but, because we believed that these wom­en needed our help, we went through with it.”

Nassar’s work at IWSAW is rigorous and hard at times. It includes training of train­ers, raising awareness about gender-based violence and empowering young women.

“What we do at the insti­tute is work on empowering women without leaving out or antagonizing men,” Nas­sar said. “We try to part­ner with them as we defend important issues related to women.” IWSAW organiz­es awareness-raising cam­paigns, lectures, workshops and conferences with inter­national speakers. Subjects covered recently include gen­der-based violence, citizen­ship, politics, media, human rights and the law.

Nassar has been involved for over ten years in projects un­dertaken by IWSAW to assist female prisoners in Lebanon.

Her contribution has helped improve the conditions of countless female convicts, who end up in prison because of life’s harsh circumstances. “I don’t feel they are prison­ers,” she said. “I trust them and they, in return, put their trust in me.”

Nassar has recently complet­ed the final draft of the Guide to Work in Women’s Prison in Lebanon, soon to be pub­lished by IWSAW and UNF­PA. It includes practical in­structions and tips to ensure the success of projects under­taken in women’s prisons in Lebanon; as well as a com­parative study about female prisoners over ten years.

As part of her job at LAU, Nassar also teaches early childhood education and chil­dren’s literature at the edu­cation department.

Nassar’s inspiration is her mother. “Along the way, my mom Eleonore inspired me, my model. She was a pio­neer,” the IWSAW assistant director said. “She was one of the first women to open a ‘boutique’ in Lebanon in the early ‘60s, which was not common, nor possible, at the time. Unlike many women of her generation, she was persistent and pursued her dream to the end.”

Although Nassar has earned the right to be one of the re­gion’s renowned women, she is quite low profile and pre­fers to remain as such.

“I’m not a person seeking fame,” she said. “I’ve been asked to go on a lot of shows but I always refuse. There’s no point in being celebrated, I just want to get the work done as perfectly as possi­ble