Egypt News

as MP Mohamed Khalil Quetta called on passing a law that allows victims of rape “to have the right to abortion,” following calls from human rights activists to pass the law, which is being led by the Egyptian nitiative for Personal Rights (EIPR).

Quetta stressed that rape has turned into a “dangerous phenomenon” in Egyptian society, especially after the Social and Criminal Research Center monitored the rise of the number of rape victims in recent years. He quoted statistics from the center that said the total cases reported has reached 20,000 annually, pointing out that only 10 percent of the total number of victims reported being raped to the police.

Hoda Mahmoud, a women’s advocate and development specialist, says that Egyptian society continues to stigmatize rape victims. “Why would they go to the police just to have them say disgusting and horrific things at them? Egyptians continue to believe they are at fault for being raped and until we can change the perspective, things will not get better, even with a law,” she said.

But Quetta said that he would propose a new law this week, coinciding with the start of the new legislature session, to Speaker of the People’s Assembly Fathi Sorour and will request the consideration of the draft law on “the right of raped women to abortion,” noting that he proposed a similiar draft law to Parliament in 2007. He added that the draft law will include many guarantees to “ensure the victims all of their rights.”

He criticized the current Personal Status law, which does not include articles that allows for the use of DNA to prove a man’s relationship to a child.

He pointed out that the absence of a law that regulates abortions for the victims of rape leads to the “spread of abortion in violation of the law, and opens the door to child trafficking, which has resulted in clinics that sue and blackmail the victims.”

Quetta said that the draft law grants rape victims the right “to a safe, legal abortion,” calling for the an immediate discussion and approval of the draft law, which has been endorsed by the Islamic Research Academy and Al-Azhar.

The EIPR and Quetta held a press conference on Monday at the Cairo headquarters of the rights group, in cooperation with the New Women’s Foundation in an effort to publicize their efforts to get a law passed in the upcoming Parliament session.

For her part, Dalia Abdelhamid, a researcher at EIPR, said that “establishing the right of women to choose to terminate a pregnancy resulting from exposure to rape, is a humanitarian necessity, not only a juridical principle,” pointing out that the continued deprivation of these women’s rights, “reflects the dual failure of the state authorities, which failed first in the protection of women from the heinous crime of rape, and failing in maintaining the dignity of women and mental and physical health through giving them the right to terminate a pregnancy resulting from the crime.”

New Women’s Foundation’s Mona Ezzat said that “the Islamic Research Academy approved a draft law on December 30, 2007, and that the Commission on proposals and complaints of the People’s Assembly approved it in April 2008, and has referred to the Constitutional and legislative committee of the council.” She said this is proof that all segments of Egyptian society approve of such a law.

She called on Sorour to provide clarification about the reason for freezing the draft law.

EGYPT NEWS

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