File photo: Head of the National Council for Women (NCW) Maya Morsy
The groom appeared in a video on social media Thursday, grabbing his bride by her head and throwing her to the floor and forcing her into a car.
The video, which was filmed by journalist Amira Abdel-Hakim, triggered public uproar across social media.
The incident drew further outrage when the couple appeared on Friday’s episode of Yasmin Ezz’s TV program Kalam El-Nas on MBC Masr.
The newlyweds, who are cousins, appeared smiling in front of cameras and spoke about their long love story on the first day of their marriage in Ismailia, reportedly going to Sharm El-Sheikh to spend their honeymoon.
The husband said it is “normal here to hit your wife and cousin, although the people of Lower Egypt can see it as terrible,” while the wife said she was shocked by the reaction of people on social media and that “nothing can force her to marry someone that she does not love.”
During the segment, Ezz praised the bride’s willingness “to forgive him … and contain her man’s anger.”
“Whoever asks you to get a divorce after being hit or touched for the first time does not love you,” Ezz also said.
The NCW decried Ezz’s remarks as “showing acceptance and tolerance toward the violence, humiliation and intimidation the bride has seen in front of everyone at a time when the Egyptian society has rose up to condemn this disgraceful behaviour.”
The council said it is inappropriate for an Egyptian female media figure to issue such remarks and that she should reject such crimes that offend Egyptian women and the society.
The Ismailia incident “contradicts the Egyptian state’s efforts to protect women from all forms of violence as per Article 11 of the 2014 constitution,” the NCW said.
The council also condemned Ezz’s remarks as a “clear violation of the media honour code that affirms the necessity of adhering to objectivity in addressing [a topic], balance in presenting viewpoints, and not to give priority to personal interests over professional and national considerations.”
The NCW also warned that these statements justify and encourage the repetition of such crimes of violence.
The council urged MBC Masr TV channel to “adhere to standards of objectivity and impartiality when addressing and presenting Egyptian women’s issues, which receive strong and direct attention from the Egyptian political leadership.”
In a Facebook post on Friday, Head of the NCW Maya Morsy criticised the bride’s decision to forgive her husband after the incident, saying “it will never be surprising if he recklessly kills you or beats you in front of your children or in the street again.”
“Men do not beat women,” she said.
Spousal abuse in Egyptian law
Egyptian law criminalises violence against women, including wives. However, officials and activists have called for toughening the penalty.
On Friday, MP Amal Salama said parliament is discussing a draft law to protect women against violence.
Earlier this year, Salama said she would propose an amendment to Articles 242 and 243 of the country’s Penal Code 58/1937 which currently imposes a penalty of one year in prison or a maximum fine of EGP 200 for hitting one’s wife, and a maximum of five years and a EGP 300 fine for those who injure or beat others in a manner that results in injuries or permanent disability.
Instead, she wants the article to state that “if the husband beats or injures his wife, the penalty is obligatory detention for a period of no less than three years and not more than five years.”
Based on NCW statistics released in the past years, around eight million Egyptian women are at risk of domestic violence each year, and up to 86 percent of wives may face spousal abuse.
Four out of every five married men have psychological abused their wives, statistics show. Additionally, almost half of young women have reported physical violence against them by either their brothers or fathers.
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