After COVID-19: Mitigating Domestic Gender-based Violence in Egypt in Times of Emergency

In times of crises and emergencies, violence against women tends to increase. The outbreak of COVID-19 has resulted in severe precautionary measures such as social isolation, physical distancing, staying at home, curfews and lockdowns, which brought “normal” life to a halt and created a temporary convergence between the public and the private. The pandemic has forced the global community to turn its gaze back to the private, and compelled them to pay attention to the old/new problem of gender-based violence, particularly, domestic violence that spiked during the pandemic. Against such a backdrop, and using a critical feminist lens that analyzes the historical socio-political roots of the problem, this paper revisits the national structures, mechanisms, strategies and policies that address gender-based violence in Egypt. Data for this paper was collected through various methods to measure and analyze domestic violence in Egypt. These included qualitative research tools such as expert interviews in addition to secondary data such as literature review on the policy problem, and a desk review of the official data, relevant laws, policies, and law enforcement practices related to domestic violence. This policy paper argues that while COVID-19 exacerbated a set of deeply-seated problems that have limited the efficacy of national policy interventions, it provided a rare opportunity for a comprehensive reassessment of the national structures of gender-based violence reporting, socio-legal interventions, and risk-mitigation. The paper further argues that while the current policies, institutions, laws and efforts have taken into consideration some of the particular challenges presented by COVID-19 in addressing domestic violence in Egypt, there remains room for more interventions that are sensitive to the root causes of the problem through a set of policy measures. The paper focuses on emergency services during COVID-19 through a close-up analysis of the efficacy of state-run shelters for survivors of domestic violence. Shelters continue to be globally recognized as one of the main tools for mitigating domestic violence. With that in mind, the paper analyzes the main challenges facing service providers of Shelters in Egypt and the gap that exists between international and national standards. While critical of the UN calls for combatting domestic violence worldwide without providing member states with the necessary resources or technical aid to do so, this paper demonstrates how a combined lack of resources, along with a set of complex legal loopholes and socio-cultural set of gendered beliefs about women’s role in the family unit render shelters practically useless as tools to tackle domestic violence in Egypt. COVID-19 did however, highlight the importance of the private sphere to the economic and social realms and its life sustaining role worldwide, thus making interventions to combat domestic violence both a policy and public health necessity. The paper concludes with a number of short, medium and long-term recommendations to combat domestic and gender-based violence on a national scale in Egypt post COVID-19

El-Sissi’s Women? Shifting gender discourses and the limits of state feminism

In the wake of the overthrow of former President Morsi amid massive demonstrations through June and July 2013, a specific new gender discourse began emerging in Egypt. Focusing on the high levels of participation of women from all wakes of life in the demonstrations against Islamist rule in Egypt, this new popular discourse is articulated in vernacular forms of expression, in the media, or in the writings of intellectuals and political analysts. It stresses the supposedly unanimous and uncontested support of “Egyptian women” as a uniform category, to the Egyptian military in their war against Islamic terrorism and to the military State, as well as their purportedly universal infatuation with President Abd el-Fattah el-Sissi. This indicates the rise of a new discursive form of State feminism, one that seeks to erase a rich four-year history of diverse gender-based mobilization. This article deconstructs the myth of “El-Sissi’s women” in reference to particular models of gendered imaginations of the nation-State and Egyptian women in the twentieth century, as well as their political expressions – and to the emerging “revolutionary” representation of women since 2011. These images and narratives allow us to decode the media-borne myth of “El-Sissi’s women” and analyze it as an attempt to construct a new and disturbing discursive form of State feminism. The politicization of women’s images – dancing in front of ballot boxes in the 2014 presidential elections or expressing support for their favorite candidate El-Sissi in videos – is part of this emerging discursive attempt to mask the multitude of claims women address to the State and of readings of women’s rights. By constructing the image of “Egyptian women” as a unified category and silencing alternative and independent voices, this new State feminism instrumentalizes women and their issues for political purposes in this period of sharp political and identity-based polarization, while giving them little in return.Suite au renversement de l’ancien président Morsi lors d’énormes manifestations en juin-juillet 2013, un nouveau discours spécifique sur le genre a commencé à apparaitre en Égypte. Centré sur le haut niveau de participation des femmes de toutes origines sociales à ces manifestations, ce nouveau discours à succès est articulé dans la langue vernaculaire, dans les médias, dans les écrits d’intellectuels et d’analystes politiques. Il met l’accent sur un soutien présumé unanime et incontesté des « femmes égyptiennes », comme catégorie uniforme, pour l’armée égyptienne dans sa guerre contre le terrorisme islamiste et pour l’État militaire, ainsi que sur leur engouement supposé universel, pour le Président Abd al-Fattâh al-Sissi. Cela indique la montée en puissance d’une nouvelle forme discursive de féminisme d’État, cherchant à effacer une histoire riche et diverse de quatre ans de mobilisations liées au genre. Cette contribution déconstruit le mythe des « femmes d’al-Sissi » en référence à des modèles spécifiques d’imaginaires genrés de l’État-nation et des femmes égyptiennes au vingtième siècle, ainsi qu’à leurs expressions politiques—ainsi qu’aux représentations « révolutionnaires » émergentes des femmes depuis 2011. Ces images et ces récits nous permettent de décoder le mythe des « femmes d’al-Sissi » porté par les médias, et de l’analyser en tant que volonté de construire une forme discursive aussi nouvelle que troublante, du féminisme d’État. La politisation des images de femmes, dansant devant les urnes lors de la présidentielle de 2014 ou exprimant leur soutien à leur candidat favori, al-Sissi, dans des vidéos, fait partie de cette tentative discursive de masquer la multitude de revendications adressées par les femmes à l’État et, et de lectures des droits des femmes. En construisant l’image des « femmes égyptiennes » comme catégorie unique et en réduisant au silence les voix alternatives et indépendantes, ce nouveau féminisme d’État instrumentalise les femmes et leurs problématiques à des fins politiques, en cette période de vive polarisation politique et identitaire, tout en ne leur donnant que très peu en retour

Bi-allelic ACBD6 variants lead to a neurodevelopmental syndrome with progressive and complex movement disorders

The acyl-CoA-binding domain-containing protein 6 (ACBD6) is ubiquitously expressed, plays a role in the acylation of lipids and proteins, and regulates the N-myristoylation of proteins via N-myristoyltransferase enzymes (NMTs). However, its precise function in cells is still unclear, as is the consequence of ACBD6 defects on human pathophysiology. Utilizing exome sequencing and extensive international data sharing efforts, we identified 45 affected individuals from 28 unrelated families (consanguinity 93%) with bi-allelic pathogenic, predominantly loss-of-function (18/20) variants in ACBD6. We generated zebrafish and Xenopus tropicalis acbd6 knockouts by CRISPR/Cas9 and characterized the role of ACBD6 on protein N-myristoylation with YnMyr chemical proteomics in the model organisms and human cells, with the latter also being subjected further to ACBD6 peroxisomal localization studies. The affected individuals (23 males and 22 females), with ages ranging from 1 to 50 years old, typically present with a complex and progressive disease involving moderate-to-severe global developmental delay/intellectual disability (100%) with significant expressive language impairment (98%), movement disorders (97%), facial dysmorphism (95%), and mild cerebellar ataxia (85%) associated with gait impairment (94%), limb spasticity/hypertonia (76%), oculomotor (71%) and behavioural abnormalities (65%), overweight (59%), microcephaly (39%) and epilepsy (33%). The most conspicuous and common movement disorder was dystonia (94%), frequently leading to early-onset progressive postural deformities (97%), limb dystonia (55%), and cervical dystonia (31%). A jerky tremor in the upper limbs (63%), a mild head tremor (59%), parkinsonism/hypokinesia developing with advancing age (32%), and simple motor and vocal tics were among other frequent movement disorders. Midline brain malformations including corpus callosum abnormalities (70%), hypoplasia/agenesis of the anterior commissure (66%), short midbrain and small inferior cerebellar vermis (38% each), as well as hypertrophy of the clava (24%) were common neuroimaging findings. acbd6-deficient zebrafish and Xenopus models effectively recapitulated many clinical phenotypes reported in patients including movement disorders, progressive neuromotor impairment, seizures, microcephaly, craniofacial dysmorphism, and midbrain defects accompanied by developmental delay with increased mortality over time. Unlike ACBD5, ACBD6 did not show a peroxisomal localisation and ACBD6-deficiency was not associated with altered peroxisomal parameters in patient fibroblasts. Significant differences in YnMyr-labelling were observed for 68 co- and 18 post-translationally N-myristoylated proteins in patient-derived fibroblasts. N-Myristoylation was similarly affected in acbd6-deficient zebrafish and Xenopus tropicalis models, including Fus, Marcks, and Chchd-related proteins implicated in neurological diseases. The present study provides evidence that bi-allelic pathogenic variants in ACBD6 lead to a distinct neurodevelopmental syndrome accompanied by complex and progressive cognitive and movement disorders

Association of respiratory symptoms and lung function with occupation in the multinational Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) study

Background Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease has been associated with exposures in the workplace. We aimed to assess the association of respiratory symptoms and lung function with occupation in the Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease study. Methods We analysed cross-sectional data from 28 823 adults (≥40 years) in 34 countries. We considered 11 occupations and grouped them by likelihood of exposure to organic dusts, inorganic dusts and fumes. The association of chronic cough, chronic phlegm, wheeze, dyspnoea, forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1)/FVC with occupation was assessed, per study site, using multivariable regression. These estimates were then meta-analysed. Sensitivity analyses explored differences between sexes and gross national income. Results Overall, working in settings with potentially high exposure to dusts or fumes was associated with respiratory symptoms but not lung function differences. The most common occupation was farming. Compared to people not working in any of the 11 considered occupations, those who were farmers for ≥20 years were more likely to have chronic cough (OR 1.52, 95% CI 1.19–1.94), wheeze (OR 1.37, 95% CI 1.16–1.63) and dyspnoea (OR 1.83, 95% CI 1.53–2.20), but not lower FVC (β=0.02 L, 95% CI −0.02–0.06 L) or lower FEV1/FVC (β=0.04%, 95% CI −0.49–0.58%). Some findings differed by sex and gross national income. Conclusion At a population level, the occupational exposures considered in this study do not appear to be major determinants of differences in lung function, although they are associated with more respiratory symptoms. Because not all work settings were included in this study, respiratory surveillance should still be encouraged among high-risk dusty and fume job workers, especially in low- and middle-income countries.publishedVersio

Bi-allelic ACBD6 variants lead to a neurodevelopmental syndrome with progressive and complex movement disorders

The acyl-CoA-binding domain-containing protein 6 (ACBD6) is ubiquitously expressed, plays a role in the acylation of lipids and proteins and regulates the N-myristoylation of proteins via N-myristoyltransferase enzymes (NMTs). However, its precise function in cells is still unclear, as is the consequence of ACBD6 defects on human pathophysiology. Using exome sequencing and extensive international data sharing efforts, we identified 45 affected individuals from 28 unrelated families (consanguinity 93%) with bi-allelic pathogenic, predominantly loss-of-function (18/20) variants in ACBD6. We generated zebrafish and Xenopus tropicalis acbd6 knockouts by CRISPR/Cas9 and characterized the role of ACBD6 on protein N-myristoylation with myristic acid alkyne (YnMyr) chemical proteomics in the model organisms and human cells, with the latter also being subjected further to ACBD6 peroxisomal localization studies. The affected individuals (23 males and 22 females), aged 1-50 years, typically present with a complex and progressive disease involving moderate-to-severe global developmental delay/intellectual disability (100%) with significant expressive language impairment (98%), movement disorders (97%), facial dysmorphism (95%) and mild cerebellar ataxia (85%) associated with gait impairment (94%), limb spasticity/hypertonia (76%), oculomotor (71%) and behavioural abnormalities (65%), overweight (59%), microcephaly (39%) and epilepsy (33%). The most conspicuous and common movement disorder was dystonia (94%), frequently leading to early-onset progressive postural deformities (97%), limb dystonia (55%) and cervical dystonia (31%). A jerky tremor in the upper limbs (63%), a mild head tremor (59%), parkinsonism/hypokinesia developing with advancing age (32%) and simple motor and vocal tics were among other frequent movement disorders. Midline brain malformations including corpus callosum abnormalities (70%), hypoplasia/agenesis of the anterior commissure (66%), short midbrain and small inferior cerebellar vermis (38% each) as well as hypertrophy of the clava (24%) were common neuroimaging findings. Acbd6-deficient zebrafish and Xenopus models effectively recapitulated many clinical phenotypes reported in patients including movement disorders, progressive neuromotor impairment, seizures, microcephaly, craniofacial dysmorphism and midbrain defects accompanied by developmental delay with increased mortality over time. Unlike ACBD5, ACBD6 did not show a peroxisomal localization and ACBD6-deficiency was not associated with altered peroxisomal parameters in patient fibroblasts. Significant differences in YnMyr-labelling were observed for 68 co- and 18 post-translationally N-myristoylated proteins in patient-derived fibroblasts. N-myristoylation was similarly affected in acbd6-deficient zebrafish and X. tropicalis models, including Fus, Marcks and Chchd-related proteins implicated in neurological diseases. The present study provides evidence that bi-allelic pathogenic variants in ACBD6 lead to a distinct neurodevelopmental syndrome accompanied by complex and progressive cognitive and movement disorders

Cohort Profile: Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) study

The Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) study was established to assess the prevalence of chronic airflow obstruction, a key characteristic of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and its risk factors in adults (≥40 years) from general populations across the world. The baseline study was conducted between 2003 and 2016, in 41 sites across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, the Caribbean and Oceania, and collected high-quality pre- and post-bronchodilator spirometry from 28 828 participants. The follow-up study was conducted between 2019 and 2021, in 18 sites across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Caribbean. At baseline, there were in these sites 12 502 participants with high-quality spirometry. A total of 6452 were followed up, with 5936 completing the study core questionnaire. Of these, 4044 also provided high-quality pre- and post-bronchodilator spirometry. On both occasions, the core questionnaire covered information on respiratory symptoms, doctor diagnoses, health care use, medication use and ealth status, as well as potential risk factors. Information on occupation, environmental exposures and diet was also collected

Law as a Tool for Empowering Women within Marital Relations: A Case Study of Paternity Lawsuits in Egypt

https://fount.aucegypt.edu/faculty_books/1142/thumbnail.jp

In the Shadow of the State: Gender Contestation and Legal Mobilization in the Context of the Arab Spring in Egypt and Tunisia

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2018Gender issues emerged in various forms as part of uprisings that swept the Arab world starting from 2011. However, little attention has been paid to the differences among various countries of women's mobilization during and after the Arab Spring. The differences between Tunisia and Egypt, two of the central countries in the uprisings of 2011, have been stark in the ways women mobilized for action. In Tunisia, women's claims were principally channeled through the formal institutions of the state-a top-down process. In Egypt, in contrast, women went outside the standard institutions of the state to voice more radical demands-a bottom-up approach. My project asks why such different forms of women's contestation developed in these two states? I argue that the distinct history and legacy of state feminism in each country was key in the development of novel rights claims on the part of the women's rights activists after the revolutions. Furthermore, this research project argues his that it is often the multiple identities that women develop because of their involvement in politics, as new forms of subject formation, that act as critical symbolic resources in rights-based campaigns. In addition, this manuscript develops an argument on why and how mobilization occurs in contexts where states are direct perpetrators of gender-based violence. I argue such mobilization could lead to one of two possible outcomes: movements either turn to top-down approaches that seek to secure formal wins, or movements employ extra-institutional politics to push forward more radical claims of rights. I argue that the former happened in Tunisia where activists made strong political appeals to the state and developed a collective past legacy of state feminism. This, in turn, made it difficult to hold the state accountable for its violations. In contrast, and because of the ambiguous nature of state feminism in Egypt, the movement against gender-based violence was able to challenge the state hegemonic discourses within a much more repressive political context by employing extra-institutional tactics. The broader implications of these findings question the assumption that democratic transition, transitional justice, and gender justice go hand in hand. Furthermore, the findings show how addressing violation committed by state agents through strictly technical channels could further perpetuate hegemonic understandings of the state's prerogative powers over its citizens

Nouvelles luttes autour du genre en Egypte depuis 2011

Depuis le soulèvement de 2011 en Égypte, les problématiques de genre ont émergé sous différentes formes dans le cadre des mouvements protestataires – révolutionnaires, réactionnaires – et plus largement, dans celui des transformations sociales se produisant autour et entre ces vagues de mobilisation. Alors que les relations entre citoyens et autorités étatiques ont été contestées, modifiées, puis repoussées dans une direction réactionnaire, comment les relations de genre ont-elles été contestées depuis 2011 ? Quels nouveaux imaginaires, quels nouveaux rôles et identités ont été revendiqués ? Quelles mobilisations se sont construites face à l’essor saisissant des violences sexistes dans l’espace public ? Quatre ans après le début de la période révolutionnaire, ce numéro d’Égypte/Monde arabe explore les nouvelles luttes liées au genre en Égypte au prisme de la sociologie, l’anthropologie et la science politique. Chercheuses, expertes et/ou activistes proposent ici un éventail de regards scientifiques et analytiques, et de témoignages militants sur ces combats et mutations, sur l’expérience gagnée et le terrain perdu, à partir d’enquêtes de terrain approfondies sur ces objets de recherche sensibles et parfois éphémères. Since the 2011 uprising in Egypt, gender issues have emerged in various forms within revolutionary or reactionary protest movements and more broadly, in the framework of the social transformations occurring in and around these waves of mobilization. As relationships between citizens and State authorities have been challenged, altered then pushed back in a reactionary direction, how have gender relationships been contested since 2011? What new imaginations of gender, which new roles and identities have been claimed? What mobilizations have developed to confront the shocking rise of gender-based violence in the politicized public sphere? Four years after the revolutionary period began, this issue of Égypte/Monde arabe explores new struggles related to gender in Egypt through the lenses of sociology, anthropology and political science. Scholars, experts and/or activists share with us a range of scientific and analytical perspectives, and insider accounts of these struggles and changes, of experience gained and ground lost, based on in-depth fieldwork on sensitive and sometimes transient research objects