Village in Egypt lauded as ‘free of violence against women’

A village in Upper Egypt has been designated as a “Safe Village Free of Violence against Women” by the Equal Opportunities Unit of the Department of Women, Motherhood and Childhood in the Minya Governorate.

The village of Abyouha received the recognition as part of an awareness seminar on “Women’s Economic Empowerment” and the “Decent Life” presidential initiative, reported Egypt Independent.

The seminar addressed various important issues, including services provided by the National Council for Women, and training courses on entrepreneurship for women to empower them economically and to make them aware of their rights and opportunities.

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Fatima Al-Zahraa, the Director of the Equal Opportunities Unit in the Governorate explained that the village has a high percentage of women (47 per cent) and that the main objective of the unit is to provide services to women and children in all aspects.

The problem of violence against women is a significant issue in Egypt and has been described as “endemic”. According to a 2013 study by the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the Egyptian Centre for Women’s Rights (ECWR), 99 per cent of Egyptian women have experienced some form of sexual harassment, and 91 per cent of Egyptian women have experienced physical abuse.  A study by the Edraak Foundation for Development and Equality (EFDE) recorded 813 violent crimes against women and girls in Egypt in 2021, up from 415 in the previous year.

Earlier this month, an Egyptian man was sentenced to death after murdering his fiancée and followed by similar cases of femicide in the North African country in recent months. Last week, another man was arrested after murdering and decapitating his wife, before live-streaming himself sitting next to her body.

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