Inside Palestine’s first camp for former female prisoners
The Women's Association for Development and Empowerment launched the first-of-its-kind camp in Jerusalem to help former female detainees cope with their new lives inside their communities after their release.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The Women's Association for Development and Empowerment in Jerusalem concluded May 6 the first-of-its-kind camp for former Palestinian female detainees in Jabal Baba in the town of al-Eizariya, southeast of Jerusalem. Eleven former female prisoners ages 12 to 18 from various West Bank governorates attended the camp.
Elham Naaman, the director of the association, told Al-Monitor that the idea for the camp came in response to the needs of former female prisoners. She said, “We received word that former female prisoners needed courses in social awareness, education, personal development and psychological assistance."
Naaman added, “The camp lasted for three days and was organized for the first time by our association as part of its activities aimed at empowering Palestinian women — an important group in Palestinian society." She stressed that the camp aimed at employing the detention experience “to serve the Palestinian national project and the community.”
She said the camp’s activities were divided into two parts. The first was related to personal and skills development, which included lectures by professors from Palestinian universities specializing in law, rights, citizenship and religion, psychological support, prisoners’ rights in international law, history of the prisoners’ movement, the role of religion and the prisoners' hunger strike. Participants were also provided with information on how to use social media and benefit from it.
