The National Council for Women (NCW) organised a seminar titled “Combating violence against women and educating the Egyptian family about the damages of female genital mutilation” on Monday in coordination with a number of Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs).
The seminar came as a part of the NCW’s 16-day campaign of various activities to combat violence against women.
The symposium was attended by members of the council Nabil Samuel and Nisreen Al-Baghdadi, members of NGOs, and females and young girl from Al-Asmarat neighbourhood in Cairo.
Samuel stressed that the seminar aims to raise awareness of issues of violence against women, especially the issue of female Genital Mutilation (FGM), and indicated that the forum shows great importance to issues of violence against women.
Amal Philip, the social and health counsellor of the council’s Anti-Violence Against Women Unit, presented the health damages of females who faced FGM, presented data on their numbers and places.
Sameh Yousry, a mental health consultant, addressed the psychological aspect of conducting the crime of FGM and that that trauma from FGM cannot be erased from a woman’s memory over time.
The recommendation of the seminar affirmed that FGM is a huge crime against women, and called for more media focus to combat this crime. It also stressed the need to conduct social and medical studies to explain the phenomenon and use the results to change public perception.
It also included focusing on the misconceptions of religious belief that stand in the way of changing behaviour towards fighting crime.
The symposium included a theatrical show titled “The Password” to explain how to deal with cases such as harassment and economic exploitation of women. A movie on the issue was also presented.
