NCW to submit draft law against domestic violence to parliament

CAIRO – 6 September 2017: The National Council for Women (NCW) shall submit a new draft law to the parliament criminalizing all types of domestic violence, and providing that any family member who commits any act of violence shall be jailed for a period not less than a year.

According to NCW member, Rania Yehia the draft law draft was already sent to the cabinet for approval, and will be subsequently sent to parliament for ratification.

The draft law identifies domestic violence as “all kinds of acts or behaviors that harms someone materially or morally, including threat, abuse, rape, harassment and denial of inheritance.”

NCW receives several complaints on a regular basis of domestic violence, and violence against women according to Yehia’s statements to Egypt Today. She added that the Council has several studies and statistics on domestic violence in the Egyptian society, hence, the importance of having this kind of law.

Heba Hagras, another NCW member, told Egypt Today Wednesday that women are now facing one of the worst phenomena that must be countered by firm penalties.

“This draft law would be our priority during the coming period. We need a clear and firm legislative text regarding these kinds of acts.”

About 1.5 million Egyptian women face domestic violence annually according to NCW’s latest study. It also shows that 70 percent of violation cases are caused by husbands against their wives, 20 percent by fathers against daughters and 10 percent by brothers against sisters.