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This Instagram Account Is Exposing Sexual Harassers And Abusers In Lebanon
Sexual abuse and harassment is not only an issue in and of itself in Lebanon, but it is also one that is dismissed by our culture at large and our institutions.
Harassment seems to almost always be blamed on the victim, and even when it escalates to rape, the victim is somehow still at blame. Honour killings are ever present in our communities, though they are hidden under the guise of mental illness or fits of uncontrollable anger.
In this atmosphere, some people have taken it upon themselves to call out harassers and publicly shame them, in the hope that it will both warn people about these persons, and show the repercussions of harassment on harassers. In a country where your reputation is almost more important than your morals and actions, this seems to be a great effort to begin to address these harassers in a language that they would understand.
A fairly new Instagram account Pervs of Lebanon/You Are Exposed is working to expose local harassers and rapists. They have posted about 34 harassers and abusers until today, and are still processing thousands of DMs from men and women who are reporting abuse.
In one instance, a harasser exposed was revealed to have been blackmailing women with publishing their private photos should they not answer him.The account routinely backs up the testimonials with screenshots of conversations or video/photo footage of the abusers in action. It has amassed nearly 12,000 followers to date.
Their content has received a lot of positive feedback, especially from people who have seen these harassers or been harassed by them, and more stories about harassment are coming to light. The cultural shame surrounding these stories is melting away in the face of truth and the justice that this account seeks to achieve.
Harassment seems to almost always be blamed on the victim, and even when it escalates to rape, the victim is somehow still at blame. Honour killings are ever present in our communities, though they are hidden under the guise of mental illness or fits of uncontrollable anger.
In this atmosphere, some people have taken it upon themselves to call out harassers and publicly shame them, in the hope that it will both warn people about these persons, and show the repercussions of harassment on harassers. In a country where your reputation is almost more important than your morals and actions, this seems to be a great effort to begin to address these harassers in a language that they would understand.
A fairly new Instagram account Pervs of Lebanon/You Are Exposed is working to expose local harassers and rapists. They have posted about 34 harassers and abusers until today, and are still processing thousands of DMs from men and women who are reporting abuse.
In one instance, a harasser exposed was revealed to have been blackmailing women with publishing their private photos should they not answer him.The account routinely backs up the testimonials with screenshots of conversations or video/photo footage of the abusers in action. It has amassed nearly 12,000 followers to date.
Their content has received a lot of positive feedback, especially from people who have seen these harassers or been harassed by them, and more stories about harassment are coming to light. The cultural shame surrounding these stories is melting away in the face of truth and the justice that this account seeks to achieve.
