79

Female circumcision

Dear brothers and sisters
In Egypt forms of violence directed against women since their early childhood are numerous. It multiplies with little girls getting older. Violence against young women and middle aged women is more pronounced. It is mostly practiced by men based on familial ties (husbands, fathers and brothers), in addition to violence in the streets, work places and in police stations.
Despite the exiting legislation and the fact that most of the laws in Egypt give both men and women equal rights and duties, numerous forms of discrimination still persist. The gap between the text and the application is huge. This gap is the result of several social and cultural factors related to the inferiority of women position within the Egyptian society, to the lack of legal awareness among women and the anchored customs and traditions.
Forms of violence against women varies between individual direct violence (physical and/or verbal), collective violence (despising them, exclusion or genocide) and formal state violence towards marginalized groups. In this issue we will focus on violence from family members.
Beating wives is a form of familial violence resulting from miss use of force towards the weakest within the family. This is the most prevailing form of violence, usually victims are women and children. This practice is spread and acceptable among the different social classes.
Statistical data:
The LCHR monitored in its reports that 42 – 46 % of beaten women were illiterate women or women having a basic education certificate, 14% of those holding a higher degrees have been beaten throughout their married life.
One out of three Egyptian women has been beaten at least once since her marriage. 45% have been beaten at least once a year and 17% at least three times a year. 39% of the last group required medical care and a third of the the beaten women were pregnant.
The sad thing is that 86% of women agreed to the fact that husbands have the right to punish his wife including beating her. Punishment vary between, verbal insults, threats to extrem violence forms such as burning, throwing out of the window, chaining, etc.
Violence battens are divided as follows:
1- family violence: is the most prevailing form and victims as we mentioned earlier are often women and children.
2- social violence : resulting from under estimation of women role in society. Applying ideas, policies, customs and traditions that reduces women value and exposes them to violence, discrimination and deteriorating economic and social conditions.
3- Political violence: goes on parallel with the prevailing vision of women as being inferior creatures and therefore not worthy of participating in political life and in decision making. This is reflected in reality by women deprivation from entering key positions in state institutions and this one of the most important aspects of political violence.
Available legal protection:
Article 306 of the Egyptian penal code: provides custodial sanctions for insult or defamation that do not exceed one year.
According to articles 236, 240, 241 and 242 of the Egyptian Criminal Law, beating, hurting or administrating damaging substances with no intention of killing is punished by the law. The sentence is decided according to the damage done.
Law enforcement:
In reality and contrary to the law, when a women goes to the police station to file a lawsuit for verbal injury, she is intimidated by the police agents (all men) not to do so. Then she also pressured by her family and the society not to take any legal measures in order to protect her home, married life and relationship with her husband. If she dares to continue and actually manages to file a lawsuit, she is faced with carelessness and more violations of her rights. To begin with, the report is usually classified under “no further action” in case she can not provide two witnesses to prove prejudice. Similarly in cases of physical violence, women are embarrassed to take an action since the society as a whole condemns such behavior (complaining form family violence). They are also pressured by their families and friends to keep silent in order to protect their family. If a wife attempts to file a lawsuit, she is faced with mockery and carelessness, and her chances of bringing the case before a court is usually wasted. If she manages to get through and her case is heard by a judge, the verdict is not dissuasive and usually suspended or reduced , since it is influence by the same considerations mentioned above. This is due to the widespread conviction that women are impulsive by nature and their behavior can only be corrected through punishment from their husbands. Also from the judge's point of view, men are wiser and usually more keen on keeping matrimonial relations. The same applies in cases of violence against sisters or daughters which is perceived as a kind of correction to their behavior. Wives do accept such punishment thinking that husbands have the right to punish them. In a relatively recent study, 86% of married women accept punishments from husbands. In 72% of the cases the violence came from husband, 43% from fathers and 18 from brothers. The motives for husbands' violence were mainly refusal to have sex and disagreements and arguing of wives.
Violence consequences on women:
Physical injuries:
• Death
• Broken bones and wounds
• Poisoning and burning
• Permanent handicaps or disablement
a quick look at the first half of 2009 shows that death cases of women were mainly due to disputes with husbands, followed by suicide. Out of 256 cases, 29 deaths were due to disputes with husbands, while house wives were the most violent towards themselves 17 suicide cases.
Psychological:
• Loss of self confidence and personal capacities as a human being. • General deterioration in social life and in her role as a citizen.
• Lack of feeling of security indispensable for a normal life.
• Lack of ability to raise up children normally and correctly.
• Health deterioration that can reach permanent handicap.
• Hatred of men which renders joint life based on cooperation extremely complicated.
Failure of marriages through increase of divorce cases which negatively affects children as follows:
Health problems:
• Lack of sleep and decrease in ability to concentrate.
• Fear, anger, lack of self confidence, anxiety.
• Lack of self respect.
• Depression, isolation, loss of friends and weak relations with the family. • Violent behavior, accepting violence from others at school or in the street, absenteeism and ability for delinquency.
In addition, violence against women has a high economic cost. It reduces their productivity at home, reduces creativity and consumes social health and justicial systems' resources.
Recommendations:
Raising legal awareness among women of their rights and how to protect themselves. Adopting all necessary measures to give the required attention to women complaints at police stations and to monitor violence against them within state institutions and punish perpetrators.
Adopting all necessary measures (including legislative measures) to ban all forms of violence against women.
Establishing a legal protection against discrimination and enforcement of the law. Abolishing laws and legislation that are discriminatory.
Providing physical protection for against husbands' violence.
Family has a crucial role in raising up children on values of gender equality, respect of the other and rejection of violent attitudes towards women.
Civil society also has an important role in changing negative customs and traditions. This is a long and difficult process that can only be achieved through serious long term-commitment. Non governmental organizations can pressure governments and societies apply and respect international treaties on women rights. Their effeort needs to be continuous and they need to be inventive concerning their methods and strategies to reach people and change the current image of women. The change of this well anchored negative and discriminating image is indispensable in order to bring closer the law and its enforcement and reduce the gap between the text and the reality.
State institutions and legislative bodies:
The state's role is essential in this matter and things can not be changed without its implication. Legislation is crucial in order to insure the enforcement of the law and help women obtain their rights. Laws must be amended to avoid weakness points that allow violence perpetrators to commit their crimes and escape from punishment. State monitoring is a must, to prevent law violations and reduce the gap between the legal text and the reality. This gap is maintained because people consider it normal and do not see the necessity to change their practices. Women being perceived almost as a personal property of their fathers, brothers and husbands, if a quarrel takes place in the street and a man hits a women, it is enough for him to say that she is his wife daughter or sisters and people will leave him to deal with her as he wishes. The society allows men the right to practice physical violence against women to protect family life as if women were handicapped creatures deprived of reason. She is always to blame for her behavior while men are always right or at least have acceptable reasons for their bad behavior. Women have to put up with bad manners of their husbands in order to keep the family's privacy, otherwise she is wrong and deserves the punishment she gets. Unfortunately this vision is applied even by the law keepers, where women complaints of family violence are dealt with with a great deal of carelessness and bureaucracy.
The LCHR calls upon the civil society organizations to work together in facing violence against women and guarantee their rights to equality.