National Women Council urges encouraging women to report sexual harassment cases

CAIRO – 20 November 2020: Head of Egypt’s National Council for Women (NCW) Maya Morsy urged continuing efforts to raise awareness of ways to face sexual harassment and encourage women and girls to report their cases.

During her participation in a forum held at the American University in Cairo, under the title “We Shall Speak” to shed light on means of eliminating the phenomenon of harassment, Morsy affirmed that the Egyptian law and constitution protects women.

Morsy referred to 22 units available in Egyptian universities to counter violence and sexual harassment against women, calling for activating the role of these units through encouraging women to report their cases.

She lauded the measures taken by the government in combating harassment and also the effective and prominent role of the social network websites, which emboldened the women for reporting their cases.

In July, the Egyptian government ratified a draft law that guarantees the secrecy of testimonies made by victims of harassment, rape and sexual assault.

The law stipulates that violators, who uncover information about the victims or their testimonies, will be punished by imprisonment of no more than 6 months or a fine that does not exceed L.E. 500.

This came as part of the state’s keenness to maintain ethical principles at the time many victims are reluctant to report these crimes out of fear of harming their reputation.

That’s why violators of the law will be punished as per Article 310 of Penalty Code, which says:

“Each one of the doctors, surgeons, pharmacists, midwives or others who is assigned, per his industry or job, to keep a secret, but discloses it, will be punished by imprisonment of no more than 6 months or a fine that does not exceed L.E. 500.”

This law came as multiple Egyptian girls and women filed official complaints against the same man, Ahmed Bassam Zaki. Within days, Zaki's case became a public opinion case, especially after an Instagram page that was set up to expose him identified 93 credible accusers, some as young as 13.