Hawatka Community Development Association, in partnership with New Woman Foundation, organized a workshop titled “Case Management Systems and Service Delivery for Survivors of Violence”.
The second session was titled “The Legislative Framework for Gender-Based Violence Facilitated by Technology in Egypt”. Mahmoud Abdel Fattah, a lawyer and human rights expert, began by defining technology-facilitated gender-based violence and distinguishing between discrimination and violence following international conventions. Abdel Fattah also discussed the policies and measures undertaken by the state to combat violence against women, referencing several laws, including the Cybercrimes Law, the Penal Code, the Telecommunications Law, the Press Regulation Law, the Personal Data Protection Law, and the Law on Establishing Economic Courts.
The session further addressed reporting procedures and the challenges survivors face when seeking legal recourse, such as the nature of questions directed at the complainant during investigations and the implications of interacting with unqualified personnel.
On the second day, Nevine Ebied, Executive Director of the New Woman Foundation, opened the session by screening a film about the division of roles and the imbalance of power dynamics based on gender. This was followed by discussions with the participants about violence, its forms, and its implications from social, psychological, and cultural perspectives.
Manar Abdelaziz, Project Manager for Legislative Protection Against VAW, and Aya Hamdy, Coordinator of NWF Support Offices, facilitated the second session. Manar initiated the session by posing a question about the key challenges social solidarity and support offices face in receiving survivors of violence and providing them with services. Aya then presented a brief overview of the services and roles of support offices, along with the obstacles they face in delivering legal, psychological, and technical support to survivors. Among the challenges discussed were the issue of activating the role of shelters for survivors and the barriers to their effectiveness.
The discussion moved on to referral pathways to official entities and the challenges faced by the social solidarity directorates. The attendees proposed recommendations to minimize these obstacles with minimal cost. They also suggested ideas for developing and expanding collaboration between the Directorate of Social Solidarity and New Woman Foundation to ensure the continuity of efforts in addressing violence against women and supporting survivors.
This activity is part of the “Protecting Women Is a Priority” campaign, which is implemented in cooperation with Diakonia under the “Legislative Protection Against Violence Against Women Project framework. ”