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Marking the
International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, The
Association for the Development and Enhancement of Women (ADEW) held a
conference entitled "violence against women ... it is about time" on
Sunday 23rd 2008.
The conference
discussed the causes of violence against women, prevention techniques and
elimination efforts and procedures applied by the government and civil
associations both locally and internationally focusing on Egypt.
The first
session of the conference addressed the aspects of violence against women
locally and internationally. Speakers were Dr. Iman Bibars, ADEW
chairperson. Mrs. Amina Shafik - journalist, Dr. Yahya al-Jamal, a
professor at the Faculty of Law - Cairo University. Dr. Hoda Zakaria -
Professor of Political Sociology, Faculty of Arts, Zakazik University.
The second session addressed the criminalization of violence against women
and legal efforts to address this phenomenon. The speakers were Mrs. Azza
Soliman - General Manager of Egyptian women's issues, Mrs.Maya Morsi -
Coordinator of the United Nations Development Fund for Women, Mrs. Aisha
Abdel Nour - novelist, and councilor Adly Hussein - the governor of
Qalubaiya.
Dr. Iman Bibars,
the Association for the Development and Enhancement of Women chairperson
said that the conference discussed the causes of violence, prevention
techniques and the efforts of government and civil organizations, both
locally and internationally, with particular emphasis on Egypt. She
declared that these discussions resulted in a number of recommendations
including:
1 - To amend
the personal status laws and to activate current laws.
2 - Change the culture of the community in the Arab world.
3 - To address openly the phenomenon of violence against women.
4 - To raise the awareness of clergy men, so that their religious rhetoric
should be built on the fact that women have dignity and that they should
be respected.
5 - The importance of cooperation among Non Governmental Organizations to
find solutions to this problem.
6 - To support shelters for battered women and to provide funding.
7 - To spread culture of gender among Media people in order to change the
stereotypical image of women in media.
8 - Establishing a hotline to receive complaints about violence and
provide mechanisms to take quick actions about it.
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