Arab Women’s Stories of Economic Survival. Picture a woman confined to her home due to occupation; a mother carving out time from her caregiving duties to pursue education; a daughter enduring violence at home, and yet deciding to share her story; a woman dictating research notes from her hospital bed with a baby in her arms.

This booklet is intended as a tool to amplify the diverse voices of young women across Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Tunisia facing Economic Gender Based Violence (EGBV). Here, we transmit the findings of a 9-month-long Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) involving 18 local co-researchers (CRs) and engaging 85+ women in workshops and semi-structured interviews.

As part of this research, we discovered what EGBV meant for the women involved. We accompanied co-researchers and research participants by creating a space for them to share their experiences. Hearing the stories you will read here was heartbreaking, moving, and confronting to us — we hope they will act as a wake-up call to consider the vast implications of EGBV and advocate for urgent systemic action.