WUNRN
Amnesty International
EGYPT - VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
AROUND TAHIR SQUARE
Call to Stop Attacks, Protect Women,
Investigate Violations, End Impunity, Enforce Justice
Direct Link to Full 13-Page
Document:
"I
will not stay quiet. All women in Egypt need to wake up – those to whom this
[sexual assault] happened and those to whom this didn't happen. Otherwise, such
violence will continue..."
- Dalia Abdel Wahab, a protester and survivor of a violent sexual assault on 25 January 2013, speaking to Amnesty International
Violent sexual assaults against women, including rapes, have surged in the vicinity of Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square in recent months. They peaked in scale and brutality on 25 January 2013 during protests commemorating the second anniversary of the start of the 2011 uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak.
In a memorandum sent to President Mohamed Morsi on 29 June 2012 shortly after his election, Amnesty International urged him to address chronic violence and discrimination against women, including the targeting of female protesters by security and armed forces. In spite of Morsi's promise to be the president of all Egyptians, such calls went unheeded.
It is vital that President Morsi, as well as leaders of ruling and opposition political parties, exercise strong political will to tackle gender-based violence. President Morsi as head of state must take immediate action to ensure that all incidents of sexual assault and harassment of women in and around Tahrir Square are effectively investigated and perpetrators brought to justice. Until the pervasive climate of impunity for such acts of gender-based violence ends, women will continue to face violent attacks while their attackers brazenly go unpunished. Long overdue legal and institutional reforms must also be introduced to stop repetition of such crimes and end impunity.
_______________________________________________________________
Egypt National Council for Women
EGYPT NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR WOMEN
CALLS TO ALL WOMEN & GIRLS ABUSED IN DEMONSTRATIONS TO REPORT VIOLENCE TO
COUNCIL
February 5, 2013 - The National Council for Women (NCW) calls on all women and girls who were subjected to any form of violence or violations during their participation in the demonstrations to approach it to consider initiating a lawsuit against the perpetrators.
The contact numbers of the Council are:
Phone: 33871204- 33871202 - Hotline: 08008883888 - Fax: 033870595
NCW also declares its full solidarity of the victims of these accidents and its willingness to offer them judicial and psychological support.
Ambassador Mervat Tallawy, NCW President, stated that as the Council seeks to confront the phenomenon of harassment against women and ladies in the streets and public places which has lately escalated, it is currently studying a draft law which criminalize harassment, a crime which was not specifically defined in the penal code.
Ambassador Talawy pointed out the law aims to toughen the penalty of harassment through dealing with it as a crime of definite definition. It also aims to take the necessary action to stop such outrageous behaviors which constitutes unprecedented violation of human rights, human dignity and Egyptian women's rights.
__________________________________________________