"Really, I'm only 18. I only look much older because I've suffered so much. I got married without realising that there would be a lot of pain in store for me. My husband was very cruel.
He and my mother tortured me,” says the teenage girl, whose back, legs and face were covered in burn marks. She's just one of many women who go to the Nadim Centre for the Cure and Rehabilitation of the Victims of Violence for treatment.“My uncle teases me. In fact, he doesn't tease me, he does something else. He always comes to our house and my mother doesn't want to prevent him from coming,” another young woman called Souad tells staff at the Nadim Centre.They and other girls who've suffered from domestic violence were the main reason for the issuing of an international announcement that calls for banning psychological, physical and sexual violence against women. In 1999, the UN also called for November 25 to be an international day celebrating the banning of violence against women. But, the UN call hasn't succeeded in stopping this violence, according to a study by the world body that stated that two-thirds of women suffer violence.This year on November 25, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched a campaign to prevent and eliminate violence against women and girls in all parts of the world. The campaign runs until tomorrow, which is the International Day of Human Rights.Nihad Abul Komsan, the head of the Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights, denies that the violence is only the struggle between men and women at home or in the family. But she stresses that the law treats men and women very differently when it comes to what she calls 'institutional violence'. “Any woman or girl who suffers harassment or rape thinks many times before using her legal right and going to the police station,” says Nihad.She adds that, in many Arab countries, women get flogged because of the clothes they wear.“In some areas in Upper Egypt, the groom asks the family of his bride, before marriage, to ensure she undergoes genital mutilation. This is a very nasty crime,” stresses Nihad, who warns people against such cruelty, which is blamed on ignorance. She also describes what many girls in local districts in Egypt experience on the dokhla baladi (wedding night). After the wedding party, the groom must enter the bedroom with his wife and some other women from both their families. He must then ascertain that his wife is a virgin and show her blood to all the women and the other members of their families waiting outside the room. Then the wedding celebrations continue, with everyone congratulating each other, because the girl was a virgin, while the young bride is inside the room alone mourning her lost dignity.“This is what really happens to many girls. Many married women are very devoted to their husbands, who always treat them harshly and every day threaten to marry another woman or divorce them. This represents another kind of psycological violence,” she explains.“Many male voices say that men suffer violence at the hands of women, as wives hit their husbands, who file reports against their abusive at the police station,” Nihad said.“There is no comparison between the number of cases filed by women and men at police stations. Most of the reports filed by husbands against their wives are a result of previous reports that had been filed by those same wives,” Nihad argues.A report released by the Earth Centre stated that there were 232 cases of violence against Cairo-based women in Egypt in the first half of the year and that 172 women died as a result of this violence.“The family is the main base of any violence committed against women. I believe that changing the mindset of the Egyptians is more difficult than changing the laws,” says Neveen Mousaad, a professor of political science at Cairo University.In her view, violence is not only physical but psychological and any sort of gender discrimination, preventing the latter from being promoted in the workplace, is also a kind abuse against women.“If we wait for the change to come from the Government, it won't come. It must come from us,” stresses Neveen.In her study entitled 'Using the Body of Women: Between the Domination of Men and the Authority of Work', Mona Ezzat, a researcher, says that violence against women has recently increased dramatically in the family, streets and workplace. “Men ignore the age, martial status, education and the clothes of women. Men harass women because of their desire to dominate them,” she comments.Mona also explains in her study that stopping harassment is not linked to laws, rather changing the ideas of society about women. She stresses that men can harass women with as little as an “inappropriate look”.'Sexual Harassment' is the title of a campaign launched three years ago by the Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights. “The People's Assembly [Lower House of the Egyptian Parliament] has been tarrying in issuing a law that would criminalise sexual harassment. But I think the law will be passed this year, similar to what has happened in Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and six other Arab countries,” Mona comments.According to a survey made in 2005, 95.8 per cent of married women in Egypt suffer from Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) before marriage.“FGM is a tradition that many people are very loyal to. They cloak it in a religious guise, making it seem more deep-rooted and acceptable,” says Samia Kadri, a professor of sociology, Ain Shams university.
