Egypt Must End State Oppression of Women and Girls

Egyptian women protesters behind bars. Credit: VOA News By Reem Abdellatif and Nimco AliCAIRO, Egypt, Oct 27 2021 (IPS) The fate of Egyptian women and girls delicately hangs in the balance as the country continues to have one of the worst records in the world for gender equality. With oppression often state-sanctioned, Egyptian women face a daily struggle against sexual harassment and other violations of their basic human rights, including institutionalised violence. Today, African Women Rights Advocates (AWRA) and The Five Foundation, The Global Partnership To End FGM, have come together with Equality Now, Democracy for the Arab World Now and several prominent voices from the region and beyond, to demand that the Egyptian government takes immediate steps to fix this situation. It needs to take clear action to enhance the rights of women and girls in all areas of life, including by ending child marriage and banning articles that perpetuate sexual violence and gender discrimination in the text of the country’s laws. The signatories to an open letter are also demanding that the Egyptian government enforces laws against female genital mutilation (FGM). With 27.2 million affected – around 90 percent of the female population – Egypt has one of the highest number of survivors of FGM in the world, yet the government is failing to act effectively. It’s clear that if and when perpetrators are eventually arrested and convicted, they are given extremely short and suspended s...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Crime & Justice Education Featured Gender Gender Violence Headlines Health Human Rights Humanitarian Emergencies Middle East & North Africa TerraViva United Nations Source Type: news