Deterrent provisions awaiting societal action. Has violence against women stopped in Egypt?

CAIRO — While talk on social media in Egypt about the execution of Mohamed Adel, the killer of Egyptian student Naira Ashraf, is still hot, the National Council for Women (a government agency) has launched in recent days a new campaign to confront all forms of violence against women, in an effort to restore a culture of respect for "Eve" in Egyptian society, which considered harming women a "red line."

According to specialists, only issuing deterrent sentences such as the death penalty does not solve the roots of the problem based on the emergence of a popular incubator that fuels violence against Egyptian women, which requires intensifying national awareness campaigns in several tracks.

And you have a life in retribution, O wise ones, that you may fear
the truth of the great
God Your right has returned Oh my daughter #نيرة_أشرف pic.twitter.com/gWlAGIc4sK

— Radwa El Sherbiny (@RadwaElSherbiny) June 14, 2023

Article 11 of Egypt's constitution states that the state is obligated to protect women against all forms of violence, and in this context, the government has established, in addition to many of its efforts, the "collective unit to protect women from violence" to organize confrontation efforts.

Earlier, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called for the importance of intensifying efforts to restore respect and appreciation for women, stressing that Egyptian women deserve the best from society and the state.

Judiciary at the forefront

The judiciary has recently issued deterrent sentences against many of those involved in violent crimes, most notably two death sentences against the young man Muhammad Adel, the killer of student Naira Ashraf, which was carried out by the local authorities on June 14, as well as against the young man Islam Tartour after he was convicted of killing student Salma Bahgat last year.

The past two years have also witnessed the issuance of severe sentences against celebrities who reached life imprisonment, including the late businessman Mohammed Al-Amin, actor Shadi Khalaf, and citizen Abdullah Ahmed in the famous case in the media for "beating the bride of Ismailia", along with doctor Michael Fahmy.

The former President of the Court of Appeal, Judge Mohamed Suleiman, in an interview with Al Jazeera Net, that these provisions may be a deterrent, but the spiral of violence will not recede as long as there is an insistence on the absence of respect for women in society "by an active act", according to his opinion.

The former judge added that relying on the judiciary only, without paying attention to improving the legislative system, protecting the family system, developing education and activating the role of religious institutions, will not change anything from the deteriorating reality, which negatively affected society's treatment of women, and plunged them into a great spiral of attrition after they were previously strengthened in society and sacred.

Government statistics monitor escalation of violence

According to statistics from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (a government agency) for the year 2021, 21% of currently married and previously married Egyptian women (aged 15-49 years) have been subjected to some kind of physical, sexual and psychological violence by their husbands.

According to a recent study by the National Center for Social and Criminal Research (a prominent government research center), nearly 75% of the study sample acknowledged that Egyptian women were exposed to violence in society, with violence in the street ranking the most frequent, followed by domestic violence.

The study, released last year, showed that 50% of the women in the study had experienced some form of violence, insults or harassment, and that spousal violence topped the list of domestic violence.

For his part, an official source at the National Center for Social and Criminal Research, told Al Jazeera Net, that "more than one party must participate to restore the Egyptian society culture of respect for women, otherwise the circle of social violence against women is a candidate for expansion, God forbid."

The source, who asked not to be named, adds that the matter must start from the family, school, mosques, churches, media, cinema and drama, with the role of the judiciary eventually coming to face cases that are not suitable for all previous means.

The director of the Osraty Center for Social and Family Counseling, Dr. Manal Khader, believes in an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera Net, that breaking the status of Egyptian women began with the rape of the famous "threshold girl" in one of the largest squares in Egypt in 1992 in full view of citizens, explaining that this issue, for her, was an earthquake that destroyed the value of women in the hearts of Egyptians, and from that day she sees the rest of the issues as one of the consequences of the disintegration of the contract of respect for women in Egyptian society.

The social expert regrets the decline in the values of some social groups who used to see the abuse of women as a "red line", but added, "There is still a possible time for a proper upbringing within the family on the values of respect for women, as mothers, sisters and wives, through good treatment so that children grow up in front of a new positive reality that motivates them."

Feminist and human rights campaigns

On the ground, the National Council for Women launched, a few days ago, a media campaign to raise awareness of the issue of violence against women, in conjunction with an intensive campaign by the "New Woman" Foundation to issue a "unified law to combat violence against women" under the title "Protecting women is a priority", which believes - according to a statement - that the obstacles to passing the law do not stop only at legislative challenges, but are mainly cultural and social obstacles.

For her part, human rights defender and women's rights defender Shorouq Salam, in an interview with Al Jazeera Net, that the death sentence has become the easiest solution always that the authorities are heading to when societal pressure escalates with every brutal murder of a woman, despite the international community's rejection of the death penalty and its futility and criticism of it.

Salam calls for new protection laws for Egyptian women with accurate descriptions of domestic violence and controls that prevent abuse, noting that the state issues legislation after crimes have occurred or under pressure from public opinion, citing the example of the law banning circumcision, which was enacted only after the death of a girl in 2008.

Salam warns of the emergence of a popular incubator for violence against women, in conjunction with what she described as an "authoritarian patriarchal culture" among those in charge of interpreting and implementing the law in investigation and accusation headquarters in a way that frightens women and impedes legal prosecution.