On 6 March 2024, Bethlehem University’s second and third-year midwifery students participated in a training session focused on prenatal care and community health, led by faculty members. Dean of the Faculty of Nursing and Health Sciences, Mrs. Salam Awad, and Mrs. Fatima Al-Madany, the Midwifery Program Coordinator, attended the session.
The event, organized by the Women’s Psychosocial Counselling Centre of the Union of Social and Psychologists in Bethlehem, featured training delivered by social worker Mr. Rai`d Amera, a Psychologist. The session, titled “Gender-based Violence and Familiarization with Protection Providers,” is part of the project “The Participation of Palestinian Women and Girls in Women, Security, and Peace Issues in the Occupied Palestinian Territories Together is Rising.” This initiative is implemented in collaboration with the Dutch War Children’s Foundation and funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The meeting included various awareness-raising and recreational activities aimed at introducing students to fundamental concepts such as the nature and types of violence, distinguishing between violence based on sex and violence based on gender.
A pre-session assessment was conducted to gauge students’ understanding of violence and its underlying causes. Rounds of questioning covered societal roles of both men and women, and the scope of the concept of gender.
Supervisors elucidated the complaint system available to female students, providing a mechanism for recourse in instances of feeling abused or threatened. All activities emphasized cognitive engagement, awareness-raising, and recreation, ensuring optimal delivery of information. An evaluation test was administered at the conclusion to assess conclusions, recommendations, and conceptual understandings.
The Centre also presented an initiative, inviting female students to propose ideas targeting specific age demographics for societal advancement and heightened awareness.
