Femicide Epidemic In Egypt: Consequences Of Violence Against Women

Femicide epidemic in Egypt is a huge blow to women’s rights. Women in Egypt are facing the dire consequences of patriarchy and misogyny. Rising femicide cases and fatal violence against women have drawn sharp criticism from women rights activists. 

What is femicide? Femicide or feminicide is a crime against women. Femicide is called the intentional killing of women or girls. In this scenario, the criminal knows that he is killing a woman. 

Femicide Epidemic In Egypt

Three cases of femicide took place in Egypt in a week. These cases shocked the entire nation. Men killed these three women after being rejected by them. They were unable to accept rejection. 

An employee of Cairo University in Egypt was shot dead by a former co-worker whom she had rejected for marriage. The man then killed himself using the same gun. This case of femicide is a huge blow to women’s rights in Egypt.

The man, identified as Ahmed Hussein al-Desouki, harassed her for more than 5 years. Previously, he also set her car on fire. He used to threaten her via text messages. 

In the same week, Shaimaa Abdel Karim, a 32 year old woman, was killed by her ex. She ended her relationship with the man when she was 20 years old. However, the man harassed her for over a decade. He killed her last Wednesday.

On the same day, another tragic incident took place. Another crime against a woman shocked the entire country. A 33-year old woman, identified as Sumayya, lost her life. Her ex-husband stabbed her to death after finding out that she was in a relationship with another man.

Aya Moneer, an Egyptian women’s rights activist and a feminist, slammed the recent cases of femicide in the country. She said, “Any woman’s refusal to comply with a man’s requests could result in her murder.” 

Violence against women in Egypt

The Observatory of Crimes of Violence against Women in Egypt, affiliated with the Edraak Foundation for Development and Equality, recorded more than 800 cases of violence against women. 

The National Council for Women in Egypt has said that violence against women in the country is as high as 86 per cent.

Last year, Mohamed Adel, a 21-year-old student at Mansoura University killed Naira Ashraf because she refused his proposal.