Using the dialogue tent to break mental chains: Listening and being heard

Women are silenced by gender-biased practices that reward their obedience and punish them for speaking out. This is especially true of Palestinian women who live under sociopolitical oppression and are faced with a social reality that is sexist, patriarchal, and discriminatory. The dialogue tent introduced here offered a safe space for Palestinian women to break silence, critically consider their own experiences, and conceptualize and voice their feelings. The main aims of this contextually sensitive research were to open a dialogue with those who had been muted, to learn from them, and to search for creative methods to address their concerns.