Violence against women claimed more than 300 lives during the past year, Reem Leila reports Domestic violence tops a long list of discrimination and abuse against women in Egypt. Other crimes include killing, sexual violence, female genital mutilation (FGM), sexual harassment and human trafficking, as well as poverty and inequality. All these issues were extensively discussed in a report issued by the Earth Centre for Human Rights (ECHR), describing incidents of violence against women in 2009. According to the report Violence Against Women, 129 women died due to crimes of violence in the second half of 2009, bringing the annual toll to more than 300 victims. The report referred to incidents of violence against women that were published in local newspapers during the second half of 2009. It points to a systematic campaign of abuse and violence against women that amounted to 256 crimes of violence, of which 129 were fatal. Reported incidents of abductions of and sexual assault against women reached 33 -- three perpetrated by members of the family and 30 by members from outside the community. Eleven of the total claimed the victims' lives. The report cited 10 cases of domestic abuse and 44 cases of spousal dispute; 29 of the latter were fatal. Surveys conducted by the ECHR tell other tragic stories. A 2008 survey showed that 39 per cent of women interviewed said they were beaten if they left the house without permission, neglected their children, talked back to their husband, refused to have sex, or burned the food. Poor healthcare accounted for 29 of the recorded cases, 11 of which caused death. The number of suicides reached 22. Other categories included road accidents and premeditated murder, which claimed the lives of 14 and 50 women, respectively. According to the report, violence against women is still on the rise. In the first half of 2009, 232 crimes of violence were recorded, of which 172 caused death, when compared to the 256 cases reported in the second half of the year. During 2009, more than 300 women died out of a total of 488 recorded cases of violence. Violence against women impedes the creation of well-functioning institutions which are capable of providing an ample level of security for them. Nihad Abul-Qomsan, director of the Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights (ECWR), described violence against women as "the curse of recent times". Abul-Qomsan said statistics showed that every 15 seconds a girl is circumcised; 95.6 per cent of Egyptian women are circumcised; and 80 per cent of women support circumcision. Other reports say 21 per cent of husbands in Egypt are the victims of domestic abuse, with the highest ratio being in upscale neighbourhoods and among the higher social class. In low-income areas the ratio is 18 per cent, the reports claim. Yet, according to Nahed Ramzi, a researcher at the National Centre for Criminal Studies, domestic violence against men has never been investigated. "To my knowledge, no study has yet been conducted on violence against husbands in Egypt," Ramzi said. Although Ramzi has not investigated domestic violence against men, he has studied violence against women and is seeing changes. In the past, female criminals would drug their victims before carrying out a crime. However, more recently such criminals have started using weapons, including guns and knives, in carrying out their crimes. "Women's crimes are not particularly committed against husbands, but against any man who assaults them," Ramzi argued. At the same time, Abul- Qomsan pointed out that 90 per cent of battery reports filed by husbands in Egypt are false. The husbands involved are merely trying to fend off charges of battery or deprive their wives of their right to divorce. "We cannot say there is a new trend going on. Instead, these are merely legal machinations. As for the numbers that have been published, I doubt their accuracy," Abul-Qomsan says. On cases of familial sexual assault, the report included details of three incidents which took place in August, October and November of 2009. The first was of a student who attempted to rape his stepmother, which eventually led to her death. The second was a father who impregnated his daughter and the third a father who attempted to rape his three daughters. Cases of sexual assault by members of the community were attributed to harassment and revenge. The report also sheds light on the increase in gang rape and abductions, citing 22 cases of two to six men abducting women for the explicit purpose of raping them. In most cases, the attackers hold their victims captive for not less than two days as they take turns raping them, after which they leave them on the street. The report also points to taxi and tok tok drivers who kidnap women to rape them alone or in the presence of other men. In addition, 16 women have been subjected to violence from police officers, government personnel and people of high rank, according to the report. Such violence resulted in physical and psychological damage and is manifested in detention, discrimination, lashing, sexual harassment and the lack of access to education and employment. Of the 16 cases, seven women are housewives, according to the report. The rest are either employees or students, which include journalists, helpers, a teacher, an accountant, a lawyer, housing manager and principal of a school. The report calls on amending existing Egyptian legislation to abide by international standards that ensure women are not discriminated against. In addition, the report calls for criminalising all acts of violence against women under the penal code. It also called on school curricula and media outlets to promote non-violence and equality among all members of society. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), nearly 70 per cent of female homicide victims are killed by their male partners. In a WHO survey of 16 countries, researchers found that the levels of violence conducted by an intimate partner are at their lowest in countries that have collective restraints discouraging the phenomenon. Legal measures, moral pressure and safe houses all help to reduce violence against women. Many people believe that domestic violence is more prevalent among the less educated and poorer classes. Some believe that domestic violence is caused by modern economic and social pressure. It is also sometimes said that women are in some ways "responsible" because they don't do what their husbands tell them. Also, some people are under the impression that men who perpetrate violence are mostly addicts or psychologically ill.
