The Epidemic of Domestic Abuse in Egypt

The Epidemic of Domestic Abuse in Egypt

“One night my father beat me up, dragged me [across the floor] with people watching and no one did anything,” said Samia, a young woman in her twenties has suffered from domestic abuse consistently through her life as an Egyptian female (Mecky). The extreme acts of violence being committed against women is a widespread issue throughout the modern world, but more specifically Egypt. Domestic abuse violates basic human rights, which normalizes the dehumanization of women. 

The epidemic of domestic abuse is so extreme that 47 percent of women who have been married at some point in their lives have fallen victim to physical abuse within their household (Abdellatif). In fact, Egypt has been ranked 136th out of 145 countries in terms of gender equality, in the World Economic Forum’s Annual Global Gender Gap Report (Ahram). The inequality between genders throughout the Egyptian society proves the lack of concentration being put upon the well being of women. This unbalanced society is one of the major causes for the lack of social progress within Egypt.

An initial cause of the domestic violence in Egypt is the lifestyle of abuse within a household being normalized. Not only are basic rights of women being stripped away in the hands of men, but women help men take away rights of fellow females. In fact, 39 percent of women agreed that a husband is justified in beating his wife (Chungtai). Due to this overarching problem, which involves the subservience of women, it is consistently seen that domestic abuse within a household subdues the overall actions of women; which is a result of females in Egypt being subjects of the incapability of speaking out about the abuse due to public shaming (Mecky). Not only are women afraid of public shaming but, a majority of the women in Egypt are afraid to speak out against domestic abuse to family members because the women will be shunned by family due to the common beliefs held by the society (Montasir).

Women consecutively deal with society’s cultural standards, this permits the male to have the right to simply “discipline” their women. The abuse is a culturally ingrained act and has become a general norm throughout the society. It is commonly seen that if a woman decides to take legal action, a social stigma is handed to her. If the woman has children, they will also be stigmatised (“Spousal Violence”). Women are trapped within a household due to cultural standards which have become a burden put upon them, and when women try to break free from this burden they are punished heavily. Additionally, when women try to escape their current lifestyle of abuse, they lead a life with no support from ay family members because it is a disgrace to leave a husband no matter what the reason is (Montasir).

Egyptians suffer the lack of sources to escape their abuse and receive more shame then support. However, due to the criticism put upon Egypt, the government has taken action and have put a new strategy in place which will put a quick intervention and respond with government officials when emergency calls regarding violence against women is put in place (“Spousal Violence”). This approach is very unstable due to the fact that 19 percent of women in Egypt have said that they have experienced some sort of harassment from the government (Abdellatif). Women will not want the help from a group of people which have become notorious for their harassing actions. Until a new consensus is put into place, women will have to continue straying from the norm in order to earn their freedom.

Works Cited 

Chungtai, Alia, and Megan O'Tool. “Infographic: Violence against Women in Egypt.” Al Jazeera , Jazeera Media Network, 26 Jan. 2015, www.aljazeera.com/indepth/interactive/2015/01/infographic-violence-women-egypt-150126150958383.html.

“30 Percent of Egyptian Married Women Suffer from Spousal Violence.”Egyptian Streets, Egyptian Streets, 28 Nov. 2015, egyptianstreets.com/2015/11/27/30-percent-of-egyptian-married-women-suffer-from-domestic-violence/.

Mecky , Mariam. “Behind Closed Doors: Plight of Egyptian Women against Domestic Violence.” Ahram Online - Behind Closed Doors: Plight of Egyptian Women against Domestic Violence, 6 Dec. 2016, english.ahram.org.eg/NewsPrint/250820.aspx.

Montasir, Jenny. “EGYPT: Legal Teams & Advocates Work to Save Women from Domestic Violence.” Womens News Network , WORDPRESS, 27 Nov. 2012, womennewsnetwork.net/2012/11/27/egypt-women-domestic-violence/.

Reem Abdellatif, Girls International, Violence against women, Reem Abdellatif. “Exposing the Secret of Domestic Abuse in Egypt.” Women's Media Center, 9 May 2016, www.womensmediacenter.com/women-under-siege/exposing-the-secret-of-domestic-abuse-in-egypt.