Context
After they played a high profile role in the 2011 Arab Spring in Egypt, women are once again being gradually pushed back out of the public space. In order to counteract this process, President Sisi has called on all the country’s ministries to contribute actively to the national strategy to combat violence against women, and in so doing to take an effective stance against sexual harassment. This strategy was formulated collectively by the National Council for Women and a number of civil society organisations. It is intended to ensure greater safety for women and girls in public spaces.
Objective
The Ministry of Youth and Sports (MoYS) as well as selected non-governmental actors and young men and women, are actively working to combat sexual harassment.
Approach
The project is active in three areas, which together offer a cohesive answer to sexual harassment. It is supporting MoYS in formulating a policy against sexual harassment for implementation at national level and in the ministry’s local structures. Together with the partner, the project is building up structures and processes within the ministry, with a clear allocation of responsibilities to personnel regarding gender-based violence. The project also offers training in this area for all the relevant members of the ministry’s staff and for representatives of the civil society organisations.
The project team supports young people in the implementation of activities in their local urban and rural neighbourhoods. These include self-defence courses for girls and young women, as well as awareness raising measures for young men. To sensitise as many people as possible to the dangers and adverse societal consequences of sexual violence, the project team is working with its partners in MoYS and the civil society and youth organisations, to develop, coordinate and implement a number of campaigns against sexual harassment.
The project running in Cairo and in three other provinces.