Egypt enacts law to protect identities of women reporting sex assaults

The government of Egypt has approved a new law which protects the identity of women who come forward to report sexual harassment or assault thus encouraging the female folks to report cases of sexual violence.

The law, which gives victims the automatic right to anonymity, comes after as lots of women took to the social media to speak against sexual assault with a #MeToo movement hast tag.

Female parliamentarian Ghada Ghareeb said on Sunday August 16, 2020, the law was a step “in a long road of issuing regulations that preserve women’s rights”.

“The government had noticed that there was a sharp decline in women being able to report cases of sexual assault they have been subjected to because they fear of social stigma,” Ghareeb added.

Ghareeb expected the approval of the law would increase reporting of sexual assaults in the coming months in the conservative, Muslim-majority nation.

The bill was approved by the cabinet early in July and submitted to parliament after being presented by the Ministry of Justice.