Launching “You Have No Right” Campaign

Launching “You Have No Right” Campaign

Press Release

25 Nov 2018

 

“Nazra for Feminist Studies” announces the launch of its campaign “You Have No Right”, within the framework of the 16 days of activism campaign to combat gender-based violence, which starts annually on the 25th of November, International Day to Combat Violence against Women, and ends on the 10th of December, International Human Rights Day. ‘’You Have No Right’’ campaign focuses on gender-based violence against women journalists and lawyers by different actors while mechanisms of protection are still lacking. This comes within the context of this year’s international theme on violence in the workplace.

Women undergo gender-based violence in different spheres (private, public, and the workplace), but women journalists and lawyers are particularly subject to various violations due to the engagement with the public sphere that their jobs entail, as well as working on sensitive issues that might expose them to risks. While men journalists and lawyers are also exposed to risks, especially within the current Egyptian context and the obstacles that the closure of the public sphere imposes, women suffer from a double burden as they are exposed to the same job-related risks, as well as gender-based violence. This violence is perpetrated by state and societal actors, and in addition to its inherent violation of women’s bodies and human dignity, it often has further consequences as some women prefer to do administrative tasks, or even leave work if their colleagues are the perpetrators, which affects and limits their professional opportunities. Within the lack of clear mechanisms and measures within institutions and syndicates to combat violence against women, the choice of survivors among women lawyers and journalists to speak up against violence whether through official or unofficial means, is often met with stigmatization, which makes combating this type of violence a very difficult option. Thus, ‘’Nazra for Feminist Studies’’ sees the importance of shedding light on this type of violence, within our concern with both questions of sexual violence and women’s presence in the public sphere.

The campaign explores various themes, among which defining the types of violence that women lawyers and journalists endure, and suggesting measures for protection, whether through adopting policies within syndicates or amending laws, through publishing articles and videos by women journalists and lawyers where they speak about their experiences, as well as comics, tweets, and two policy papers regarding combating violence against women, one related to the journalists syndicate and the other to the law that governs the work and ethics of lawyers.

 

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