#PriorityToo Deyman Waa'ta: The Intersectional Politics of Crisis, State-Sanctioned Gendered Violence, and Guardianship

The existing political and economic compounded crises facing Lebanon, alongside Lebanon's gendered and sectarian legal framework, impedes women's access to justice and protection from gender-based violence (GBV). These frameworks discriminate against women by placing men as heads of households and as legal and social guardians of women, thus, perpetuating discrimination and violence against women. With the intersecting consequences of these compounded crises, unsurprisingly, women and marginalized populations have been disproportionately affected. This thesis counters the state's view that gender-based violence is a separate issue for another time. Given this exacerbating backdrop, it seeks to underscore the importance of an intersectional approach to illustrate the varying depths of intersecting inequalities facing women and marginalized groups. By employing discourse analysis on a Lebanese non-governmental organization (NGO), ABAAD (Dimensions)-Resource Center for Gender Equality's recent gender violence media campaign #Priority Too Deyman Waa'ta, I ask how does this campaign exemplify an intersectional approach toward GBV? I argue that the state has rescinded its role to protect women during times of crisis. Due to the power vacuum created in Lebanon, NGOs have stepped up and formed programs that address gender-based violence in an intersectional manner. Moreover, I advance the view that GBV reforms that do come into effect do not threaten the precarious system of religious confessionalism and the control of its ruling elite and remain perfunctory since they are not tackling the root of women's dilemma.