Azza Charara Baydoun
Personal information
Contact information (Private)
Community/Lebanon Impact
As a Lebanese woman, Azza Charara Baydoun embraced the choice to be a citizen of a secular state and—according to the constitution—a free woman. Unlike many women of her generation in the Arab world, she was granted the opportunity to receive an education, pursue a career, and actively participate in the public sphere. This allowed her to transcend the limitations of being defined solely as “female” or as a subject of the religious community into which she was born. She affirms that if being a researcher and an activist for women’s and human rights is considered her contribution to Lebanon, then she is simply actualizing the abundant opportunities that come with being a Lebanese citizen.
Work history
- Researcher and Gender consultant, 1993 - present.
- University professor and advisor, 1996 - 2008, Lebanese University.
- Mathematics teacher and coordinator, 1966 - 1996, public schools (secondary levels), Lebanon.
Major Achievements
Most of her publications are posted on her website: www.azzachararabaydoun.wordpress.com
- Baydoun, A. Ch. (2016). Family Violence: Men Speak Out. Beirut: Ab'ad: Center for Gender Equality Resources.
- Baydoun, A. C. (2014). Muwatina la 'ountha [A Citizen, Not a Female]. Beirut: Dar Al-Saqi.
- Baydoun, A. C. (2012). Al-gandar maza taqulina: al-sha’ i`wal waqi` fi ahwal al-nisa’ [Gender, What Was It You Said: Common Knowledge versus the Reality of Women's State of Affairs]. Beirut: Dar Al-Saqi.
- Baydoun, A. C. (2011). Cases of Femicide Before the Lebanese Courts (Abu Rayyan M., Ed.). Beirut: KAFA (Enough) Violence and Exploitation.
- Baydoun, A. C. (2010). Nisa' Yuwajihna al-Unuf: Dirasa Maydaniya [Women Facing Violence: A Field Study]. Beirut: KAFA (Enough) Violence and Exploitation.
- Baydoun, A. C. (2008). Jara'em Qatl al-Nisa' Amam al-Qada' al-Lubnani [Cases of Femicide Before the Lebanese Court]. Beirut: KAFA (Enough) Violence and Exploitation.
- Baydoun, A. C. (2008). Sex Education in Lebanon: Between Secular and Religious Discourses. In P. Ilkkaracan (Ed.), Deconstructing Sexuality in the Middle East. Aldershot, Hampshire: Ashgate.
- Baydoun, A. C. (2007). Al-Roujoula wa Taghayyor Ahwal al-Nisa`: Dirasa Maydaniya [Masculinity and Changing Conditions of Women: A Field Study]. Beirut: Al-Markaz Al-Thakafi Al-Arabi.
- Baydoun, A. C. (2002). Nisa` wa Jam'iyaat: Bayn Insaf Athat wa Khidmat al-Ghayr [Women and Organizations: Between Doing Justice to Oneself and Serving Others]. Beirut: An-Nahar Publishing House.
- Baydoun, A. C. (1998). Sehhat al-Nisa` al-Nafsiyya Bayna Ahl al-'Ilm wa Ahl al-Din: Dirasa Maydaniya fi Bayrut al-Koubra [Mental Health of Lebanese Women Between Men of Science and Men of Religion: A Field Study in Greater Beirut]. Beirut: Dar al-Jadid.
- Baydoun, A. C. & Bizri, D. (1998). Al-Amal al-Ijtima'i wa al-Mar'a: Qira'a fi al-Dirasat al-'Arabiyya wa al-Lubnaniyya (Dirasa Bibliographiya) [Social Work and Women: A Reading into Studies on Arab and Lebanese Women (A Bibliographic Study)]. Beirut: Dar al-Jadid.
- (Research in process) with Azza Haj-Suleiman, Lebanese Women in the Judiciary: Added Value or More of the Same.
- Baydoun, A. Ch. (2023), (with Azza Haj-Suleiman), Lebanese Women in the Judiciary: Enhancing the Status Quo and Neglecting the Margins. Beirut and Doha: Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies.
- Baydoun, A. Ch. (2021). Through the Eyes of Women: Lebanese Women's Affairs and Issues. Beirut: Dar Al-Jadid (Translation into French underway - Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris). [Link: http://www.darjadid.com/uploads/7/0/8/6/70862181j/عزة_بيضون_شرارة_بعيون_النساء.pdf]
- Contributing to drafting the official periodic country reports (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th) concerning the implementation of CEDAW in Lebanon, 1998 - present.
- Board Member of the yearbook BAHITHAT (vols. 1, 6, & 14) published by the Lebanese Association of Women Researchers (BAHITHAT).
Accomplishments
- Certificate of Excellence for her scientific research, from 2001 until 2011, in the psychological field (emphasis on women and gender) from the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), 2012.
- Arab Women Organization Award for Social Sciences, 2007.
Competences & Skills
- Social Psychology
- Education
- Women and Gender Studies
- Teaching Mathematics
- Arabic
- English
