Stopping virtual violence
THE NATIONAL Council for Women (NCW) launched its annual anti-violence campaign on 25 November. The focus of this year’s campaign, which continues for 16 days, is cyberbullying.
NCW President Maya Morsy says the aim of the current campaign is to reduce violence against women by minimising the use of abusive words and language on online platforms.
The campaign will use Instagram to show the harm bullying causes, to society in general, and to women in particular, Morsy told Al-Ahram Weekly.
Instagram, the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM) and UNICEF Egypt are co-sponsoring the campaign.
Verbal and physical violence against women remains embedded in Egypt’s social culture, says Morsy, and the widespread belief in male supremacy offers a fig leaf to domestic violence and the exploitation of women.
Despite countless initiatives to raise awareness and set new standards for the treatment of women very little has really changed. “Violence remains a sad fact in the daily lives of thousands of women,” says Morsy. “Only by understanding the multi-dimensions of the culture can we develop programmes that empower women to refuse and resist this violence,” she said.
The 16-day campaign will see events held across Egypt to discuss cyberbullying, Isis Mahmoud, head of NCW’s training and awareness, told the Weekly.
Actor and UNICEF Good Will Ambassador Mona Zaki is participating in the campaign. Together with her daughter, she has already directed a message to the public outlining the emotional harm caused by cyberbullying and urging people to be aware of the ramifications of every word they post on social media.
Recent statistics published by the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) reveal 46 per cent of married women aged 18-64 have experienced some form of spousal violence, 43 per cent reported having been subjected to emotional abuse, 32 per cent to physical violence and 12 per cent to sexual abuse. Women below 35, and those from rural areas of Lower Egypt, are the most likely to have experienced multiple forms of violence. According to CAPMAS, 24 per cent of children (male and female) in rural areas, and 45 per cent of children in urban areas, regularly use the Internet, leaving them prey to the possibility of cyberbullying on social media sites.
Mahmoud says cyberbullying is particularly prevalent among university students, with more than 78 per cent of female students reporting that they have been victims. NCW is working on an anti-cyberbullying campaign which it hopes to roll out in the coming academic year. The campaign, says Mahmoud, “will include anti-cyberbullying policies and materials, and provide guidence for students, parents and teaching staff”.
*A version of this article appears in print in the 26 November, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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