File photo of a girl holding a sign during a protest on International Women s Day in Egypt saying No to domestic violence. (Photo: Reuters)
Citing the latest results of the Egyptian Family survey, CAPMAS said that 22.2 percent of married women experienced psychological abuse at the hands of the husband, while 25.5 percent experienced physical abuse.
In addition, 26.1 percent of the women in the same category were subject to both physical and psychological abuse, CAPMAS said in a statement marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which is celebrated annually on 25 November.
The statement also indicated that Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) has declined in Egypt, as the survey showed that only 14.2 percent of Egyptian girls between the ages of 0 and 19 had undergone the illegal procedure, down from 21.4 recorded in 2014.
Egypt recently established 26 anti-domestic-violence units at university hospitals to help women nationwide, as well as eight equipped medical response units at public and private university hospitals for survivors of violence.
The country has also raised penalties for violence against women – including female genital mutilation – to serious prison terms.
New legislation has omitted any reference to medical justification for performing FGM and introduced separate penalties for the medical personnel involved – including physicians and nurses – and for the facilities in which the operation was conducted.
Meanwhile, on the same occasion, the Ministry of Social Solidarity and the National Council for Women (NCW) launched 16-day campaigns to combat violence against women.
The campaigns, which run till 10 December, aim to combat all forms of violence against women and create local momentum to find solutions to the problem.
Globally, one out of every four young women (between the ages of 15 and 24) have experienced violence, while 27 percent of married women (between the ages of 15 and 49) reported that they were subject to some form of violence by their husbands, CAPMAS added in its statement, citing statistics by the World Health Organization.
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