Egypt has a LOOOOOOOONG way to go to treat women equally to men.
Posted by Ayisha (Member # 4713) on :
"Religious clerics, on the other hand, attribute the prevalence of gender-based discrimination in Upper Egyptian communities to poverty, low incomes, and male frustration over unemployment."
I would tend to agree more with this after reading that. Apart from the FGM issue, I have suffered the same from my unemployed ex-husband of 21 years, he was English and we lived in UK. Abuse happens everywhere, and also everywhere there ARE women for who it is seen as 'normal manly behaviour'. Difference being that in many other countries there is counselling for the women that have suffered this form of abuse and places they can go for help, here there isn't yet.
Posted by stayingput (Member # 14989) on :
Sure there is, Ayisha.
There are domestic violence shelters and whipping the wife is illegal.
BUT the problem is that if the police arrest the husband for spousal abuse and he goes to jail, who is going to feed her and the children. Not only that, he will eventually get out and return to the home. Also, what is she going to do for income if she leaves him? We all know how divorce is discouraged and we all know how difficult it is for a woman to bring children back to her parents to raise. Of course, it's not that it doesn't happen, but it varies from family to family.
We've lived in three flats in Egypt. In every single building there were men who beat their wives - loudly and tenaciously. The neighbors hung out their windows and listened like it was an evening's entertainment.
Posted by Stephie_ELH (Member # 16197) on :
The violence thing isn't just amongst the lower classes, my husband is well educated and from a good family; however, when we got married he had this bizarre idea that talking calmly and rationally when there was a problem was somehow not masculine....he would lose his temper and go crazy, throwing things, screaming and threatening, but it didn't get the reaction he wanted, just pissed me off so he has stopped that rubbish. It is about what they can get away with, if they were taught from childhood that violence is not the proper reaction to troubles, then they wouldn't do it...(not just Egyptians but guys in general)