Cairo Foundation for Development and Law has launched many awareness-raising campaigns to support Egyptian women. The aim of the foundation is to eliminate gender-based violence. “Although we faced many y challenges in carrying out our activities in 2021, we will work harder this year to support women,” Intisar al-Saeed, the director of the Cairo Foundation for Development and Law, told NuJINHA.

ASMAA FATHÎ

Cairo- Cairo Foundation for Development and Law was founded to provide legal support to Egyptian women. The foundation has developed many campaigns to support women, marginalized and poor groups. The foundation has recently launched a campaign with the motto, “Your Health is Your Right” to protect women’s right to health. The foundation struggles against all rights violations against women and tries to support women in every sense. We interviewed Intisar al-Saeed, the director of the Cairo Foundation for Development and Law, about the activities and campaigns of the foundation.

Could you give us details about your campaign called “Your Health is Your Right”?

We launched the campaign in 2021 as part of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence. The campaign played an important role in raising awareness of women about their right to health. Before launching the campaign, we spent three years working on how to develop a safe medical care program for women. Many women told us that had been sexually abused during invasive searches and medical exams. Some of these women actually knew that they were sexually abused but they decided to remain silent due to social pressure. The aim of the campaign is to provide psychological and legal support to these women.

Your foundation has launched many campaigns. Could you tell us about your campaigns?

Attacks on women continue in our society. Many women give up their rights for fear of being subjected to social stigma. In 2015, we launched a campaign called, “مش عيب (It is not shame)” in partnership with the Tadwein for Gender Studies and the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights to combat against social stigma imposed on women. The aim of the campaign was to support women and marginalized groups, such as patients with HIV, victims of the female genital mutilation (FGM) and gender-based. Our campaign still continues to support women. We will continue to work against social stigma and gender-based violence.

Are there any institutions and organizations that support your campaigns?

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is still widely practiced throughout Egypt. In 2021, the Egyptian Cabinet approved a draft law amendment and increased the penalties female genital mutilation (FGM), up to 20 years. In Egypt, the maximum punishment for sexual harassment is five years in prison and a fine of EGP 50,000. But women are still subjected to sexual harassment. We need a unified law to combat violence against women. Institutions and organizations that fight against harassment and violence against women do not have policies to combat them. We want to create a safe environment for women. There are institutions that respond to the demands of women and initiate the necessary policies. Non-governmental organizations have launched campaigns to protect women in the workplace. In 2020, our foundation held a workshop with the motto, “A safe business world”.

The suicide of Basant Khaled after being blackmailed sparked anger across the country. Could you tell us the activities of your organization about such cases?

We try to support young women and raise awareness against online blackmailing. Most young women don’t report the blackmailing they face because they don’t understand what they are subjected to. Unfortunately, Egyptian society puts pressure on women. Blackmailing caused Basant Khaled to commit suicide. Mothers should support their children. We demand those who blackmailed Basant Khaled be punished.