posted
Women in Egypt are often exposed to violence, whether from their husbands, fathers or other family members, according to pro-women groups.
If this happens, a woman often doesn't know where to go to find relief from this unbearable situation, they say.Some NGOs have now come up with the idea of letting women subjected to violence stay at guesthouses under strict conditions for up to six months. During their stay, they can receive job training (if they don't have work already), as well as psychiatric therapy. These NGOs keep the location of these guesthouses a closely guarded secret, so that they cannot be attacked or harassed by their husbands. This experiment, though not a new idea, has met with controversy. Azza Salah, who works for Beit Hawaa (the House of Eve), affiliated to an NGO called the Egyptian Association for the Development of Women, told the Arabic-language Al- Mussawer magazine that their guesthouse consisted of a six-floor building with 90 beds where abused women and their children could stay. “They stay from three to six months and they are given healthcare, as well as being fed and educated. The association does its best to reconcile abused women with their husbands,” she added. "In 40 per cent of cases we are successful, with the help of the couple's relatives. Eighty per cent of the women are married; the rest are young women who've got problems with their fathers, mothers or brothers."Azzat explained that 60 per cent of the women come from Cairo, while the Association has another seven guesthouses, including one in Alexandria, el-Mansoura in the Delta, el-Minya (about 150 miles south of Cairo) and Heliopolis."Rape is the most cruel from of violence forms and some of the women staying here have been raped. The oldest woman at the guesthouse is 64 and we don't accept girls under the age of 21, for legal reasons. The lady of 64 was beaten up by her brother's son who wanted to steal her flat. Another woman had her nose broken by her husband, who refused to give her money for the household expenses," she added.Professor of sociology at the National Centre for Sociological and Criminological Research in Cairo Fouad el-Saeed says that similar guesthouses are found in several other countries, some of them Arab, to allow women to live a decent life. He appeals to the Ministry of Social Security to cooperate with NGOs in establishing more such guesthouses to shelter victimised women. According Amnna Nuseir, a professor of Islamic philosophy, such social institutions have Islamic roots, noting that there were shelters for women as early as the fourth century of the Hijra (the Islamic calendar). "These shelters, called 'houses of angry women', were established in the Levant countries at the time," she says, adding the guesthouses in Egypt for abused women are a very good idea. However, a professor at the Academy of Arts Samih Shaalan says that in the past a woman who had a problem with her husband would get her family to sort it out and two or three days later everything would be fine again. "But nowadays, everything has become more complicated, with strangers helping to resolve couples' problems. It's better if the families do this, not mediators," he stresses.
Is there a hotline also for these women or do they have to go to the police to receive help???Posts: 30135 | From: The owner of this website killed ES....... | Registered: Feb 2004
| IP: Logged |
UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
Printer-friendly view of this topic