A Qualitative Study to Explore Understanding and Perception of Violence Against Women Among Undergraduate Students in Egypt

Abstract

The study aims to explore university students' understanding and perception of violence against women (VAW). A total of 14 focus group discussions were conducted and stratified into 2 genders (men and women). Participants were undergraduate students (n = 75) from a public university in Cairo, Egypt. Findings revealed gender variations in the understanding of VAW. Although many considered VAW to essentially involve physical harm, female participants had a broader understanding of what constituted VAW. Most male participants were more conservative and emphasized the physical aspects of violence, whereas the majority of women participants considered that psychological and verbal abuse to be forms of VAW. Many participants expressed the belief that poor women are more likely to be victims of violence. The majority of the male participants recognized sexual harassment as a form of VAW but defined sexual harassment more narrowly than female participants. These gender disparities in understanding the meaning of VAW and perception of violence victims need to be taken into consideration when designing interventions and programs. Finally, it is the intention of the researcher to conduct a similar study in other governorates in Egypt to explore the variation in understanding of VAW among youngsters across regions.

Introduction

The UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, adopted in 1993, defines violence against women (VAW) as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life.”

Article 2 of the Declaration asserts that: “violence against women shall be understood to encompass, but not be limited to, the following: (a) Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring in the family, including battering, sexual abuse of female children in the household, dowry-related violence, marital rape, female genital mutilation and other traditional practices harmful to women, non-spousal violence and violence related to exploitation; (b) Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring within the general community, including rape, sexual abuse, sexual harassment and intimidation at work, in educational institutions and elsewhere, trafficking in women and forced prostitution; (c) Physical, sexual and psychological violence perpetrated or condoned by the State, wherever it occurs” (UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women 1993).

The cultural and social context of VAW in Egypt

The problem of VAW in Egypt is not a new one. The more recent systematic violence targeting women political activists, in the aftermath of the 25 January uprising that toppled Mubarak's regime in 2011, merely brought to light the pervasiveness and ghastliness of a long-standing problem. In the “public” sphere, women political activists faced various kinds of violence at the hands of mobs, religious/political groups, and police and army officials (Adly 2013; Dyer 2014; Fathi 2013; Patrick 2013). However, long before that, politically motivated sexual VAW activists have been used by state agents to intimidate, coerce, or punish women who dissented (OECD 2018).

In the “private” sphere, VAW has been equally pervasive (Amnesty International 2015; USAID 2009). According to a survey by the Arab Barometer (2019), 90% of Egyptian women aged 17–28 and 85% of women aged 29–40 reported experiencing sexual harassment over the 12 months preceding the survey, while 48% of Egyptian women reported having experienced domestic violence over the same period. In addition, some studies assert that 9 in 10 women aged 15–49 have suffered from female genital mutilation (FGM) (Ministry of Health and Population 2015).

VAW can have an adverse impact on women's physical, emotional, and mental development and health. These negative effects have been widely documented in the literature (Mukanangana et al. 2014). In addition to being a grave violation of human rights, VAW comes at a high social and economic cost (United Nations 2005; Villagómez 2010; Walby 2009; WHO 2004). According to the Egypt Economic Cost of Gender-Based Violence Survey (2015), more than 7 million women suffer from VAW yearly, but only 75,000 women report violence incidents to the police and only 7000 women resort to community services. The estimated cost of domestic violence, according to the survey is 6 billion Egyptian pounds a year.

Since 2011, the Egyptian government has taken some measures, aiming to combat VAW in the private and public spheres (see, e.g., Presidential Decree Promulgating Law No. 11 of 2011). In June 2015, the National Council for Women (NCW), in cooperation with other governmental and nongovernmental bodies, adopted the 2015–2020 strategy for combating VAW (UN Women). Although the strategy envisioned a comprehensive approach to combating VAW, in practice it has been diluted into a public awareness campaign and its impact has not been adequately evaluated (Nazra for Feminist Studies 2016). A growing number of civil society organizations and youth initiatives have developed programs and campaigns aiming at combating VAW by raising public awareness about the problem. The majority of these initiatives focus on sexual harassment in the public sphere, however (see, e.g., HarassMap, and emsek_mot7aresh campaign).

Despite some gains in terms of legal reform in the personal status and family laws (Kamal 2016; Sholkamy 2012), and more recently in the laws addressing VAW, cultural norms still condone certain forms of gender-based violence. Domestic violence, for instance, is largely considered a “private” matter (Afrouz et al. 2020; Douki et al. 2003). There are no laws penalizing domestic violence, unless bodily injury is evident and can be proven through medical examination, and marital rape is not recognized as a crime based on the 1928 court ruling that “a wife cannot withhold sex from her husband without a valid reason according to sharia” (Sexual Rights Initiative 2015).

Until fairly recently, article 291 of the criminal code granted an individual who committed the crime of rape the option of marrying his victim to avoid the penalty imposed by the code. This law was repealed in 1999 by a presidential decree after decades of lobbying by women and human rights activists. Today perpetrators of what is known as honor killings (Abu-Odeh 2010; Khafagy 2005; Welchman and Hossain 2005), a practice common in rural and Upper Egypt, can receive lenient sentences at the discretion of the judges based on article 17. Article 237 gives a lighter sentence to the husband who kills his adulterous wife. This led some scholars to argue that although honor crimes are not spelt out in legislation, they are indirectly accommodated in bits and pieces of the penal code (Abu-Odeh 2010; Khafagy 2005).

Certain types of gender-based violence are equally tolerated by a considerable percentage of women. Research shows that the majority of Egyptian women aged 18–64 believe that a man has the right to have control over a woman. The percentage, however, varies across age groups, 47.4% of women aged 45–49 and 29.1% of women aged 18–19. The same study revealed that about one-quarter of women believe that wife beating is justified in “specific” circumstances. Again this differs across age, 25.1% of women aged 45–49 compared with 17.1% of women aged 18–19 find wife beating justifiable sometimes (the Egypt Economic Cost of Gender-Based Violence Survey 2015, 65–66). While this offers valuable insights into women's perception of male dominance, more qualitative in-depth research is needed to understand the young generation's understanding and perception of VAW.

Previous studies

Several studies have documented the pervasiveness of VAW in Arab countries (Abo-Elfetoh and Abd El-Mawgod 2015; Douki et al. 2003; Marroushi 2015; Nossier 2015; USAID 2009; Usta et al. 2014). One study by Habib and collegues (2011) offers an extensive account of domestic violence in the rural governorate of Minia, and explain the relationship between the occurrence of domestic violence and health problems. According to the study, there is a significant relationship between domestic violence and low education, low income, higher number of children, and the husband's level of education. Another important study by Fahmy and Abd El-Rahman (2008) in the governorate of Zagazig also found a positive relationship between low levels of education and socioeconomic status and the prevalence of domestic violence. The study also documents the adverse psychological effects of abused women. Similarly, a study by Arafa and colleagues (2020) shows a positive relationship between low education and rural residence and the prevalence of FGM. Other researches on the prevalence of VAW in Egypt have documented similar results (Amnesty International 2015; Ministry of Health and Population 2015; USAID 2009). However, most research done on VAW in Egypt focuses rural governorates or on slum areas in big cities (El-Nimr et al. 2020). Most research also focuses on the socioeconomic risk factors and health effects of VAW. Little research was done to explore the perceptions of educated young people living in the capital. Exploring the perception of young men and women is important because designing successful interventions requires a thorough understanding of how VAW is conceptualized by the target group. Relatively few research efforts have been made to examine differences in conceptualizations of VAW across populations of different social, economic, and cultural backgrounds. This research is a modest attempt to begin such an endeavor.

Understanding VAW depends on a person's ability to define what is meant by violence. Research shows that victims of domestic violence may not be aware that they are victims (Ferraro and Johnson 1983). Sometimes, their definition of what constitutes domestic violence is erroneous. Many women believe that violence must necessarily involve systematic abuse rather than “individual incidents” (Childress et al. 2018). Moreover, in societies where it is acceptable for a parent—or indeed teacher—to slap children by way of discipline, slapping and other forms of corporal punishment are not considered “violence,” they are merely methods of discipline (Rawland et al. 2017; UNICEF 2015, page 15).

Similarly, in some societies depriving a girl of her freedom or preventing her from going to school are not generally considered forms of violence, but rather a means to protect the girl (Jamal 2016). FGM is another such example, it is done with the girl's “best interest” in mind (El-Gibaly et al. 2019; UNICEF 2015). Finally, what is considered violation of human rights by international standards could be considered acceptable or even desirable by the local culture. For example, despite the fact that child marriage is criminalized by Egyptian law, “early” marriage is regarded as a “privilege” for young girls in the rural and semiurban regions of Egypt and the practice is widely accepted and even encouraged (UNICEF 2017).

This has important implications for the way girls and women in these regions perceive themselves. In such a context, where VAW is a way of life, victims may not recognize themselves as such nor do perpetrators see themselves as abusive. Violence is “normalized” and “routinized,” safely immune from questioning and any coherent opposition, being so firmly couched in tradition, religion, or societal imperatives. More importantly, any attempt to introduce new ideas that do not agree with what is considered time-honored beliefs and practices is vehemently opposed as “alien” and insensitive to the cultural specificity of Egyptian society (El-Safty 2004).

This makes the current research and similar studies especially relevant and important. Changes in perceptions of and attitude toward VAW have to start with the young generation. With adequate and timely interventions, progress can be made faster. Therefore, it is very important to find out what the young understand by VAW and how they perceive VAW victims. The aim of this study was to explore understanding of VAW among a sample of undergraduate students at a public university in Cairo, Egypt, using a qualitative inquiry method. The study focuses on female as well as male participants because although females are the main victims of gender-based violence in Egypt, any meaningful intervention must take into consideration the perceptions and attitudes of both genders.

Materials and Methods

Challenges and ethical considerations

The study was exempted from review, requiring only the approval of the relevant university officials, namely the Vice Dean for Research and Postgraduate Studies of the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Head of the University Security Office. The researcher explained the purpose of the study to the participants then asked them to fill out a written informed consent to ensure participants understand the purpose of the research and that their participation is voluntary. Participants were then assured that all information given would be confidential. The privacy of the participants was protected at all times with the use of nicknames and by holding gender-homogenous focus groups (FGs).

The biggest challenge was to find participants. The researcher, being a woman, facilitated to a certain extent recruiting female participants, but finding male participants was especially difficult. However, once the first two male participants were recruited, it became easier to find more participants through snowballing. All discussions were conducted in Arabic (although the English proficiency of most participants was fair to adequate, the majority felt more comfortable speaking in Arabic).

Finally, the study design has two major limitations: first, given that the study is exploratory in nature, the study sample is small and not representative of the general population of university students in Egypt. Second, the study does not address new forms of violence such as cyber harassment.

Study design

An inductive qualitative design using FGs was chosen to gain in-depth understanding of the perceptions of students from both genders. The sample consisted of undergraduate students in a public university in Cairo, Egypt. FGs took place between October 2019 and February 2020.

Study sample

Participants were recruited through a combination of snowballing and purposive sampling and the following inclusion criteria were observed: (a) undergraduate student, (b) Egyptian citizen, and (c) willing to provide informed consent. Having been a gender-based violence victim was not an inclusion criterion. To allow for comparisons between genders, participants were assigned to FGs on the basis of gender. The reason for segregating participants into groups based on gender was to allow discussions to flow freely and to eliminate possible inhibitions that might prevent participants from disclosing information/opinions deemed inappropriate in the presence of the “opposite sex.” This method also allowed the female participants to feel more at ease and it protected them from any embarrassment they might have felt about discussing “sensitive” issues in the presence of their male colleagues.

Data collection

The FG discussions were conducted until data saturation was reached. In this study, data saturation was reached after conducting a total of 14 FGs. The number of participants in each group varied from five to seven participants. Discussions were held in a private room in the Faculty of Arts and Literature. Before the FGs, to ensure anonymity, all participants were asked to adopt “nicknames.” The nicknames were used in the data analysis and while reporting results. A semistructured guide provided questions, and prompts were used to guide the discussions. Discussions were intended to focus on participants' understanding of VAW and their perceptions of victims of VAW.

An FG guide and guiding questions that were developed and used during discussions are given in Table 1. FG sessions lasted 50–60 min and were recorded using a digital audio recorder and transcribed verbatim. The researcher facilitated the discussion and a research assistant made notes to supplement the audio transcripts.

Table 1.

Focus Group Discussion Guide

Theme	Issue	Guiding question
Perception of VAW	Defining VAW	(1) Can you define VAW?
		(2) In your opinion, does VAW necessarily involve the use of force?
		(3) In your opinion, is VAW associated with the consent of a person?
		(4) Have you heard of psychological violence, can you describe what is meant by psychological violence?
		(5) What is meant by verbal violence?
		(6) Can you give some examples of verbal violence?
		(7) What is meant by sexual violence?
		(8) Can you give some examples of sexual violence?
		(9) Do you perceive FGM as a form of sexual violence?
		(10) Do you perceive sexual harassment to be a form of sexual violence?
		(11) In your opinion, how should marital rape be classified?
		(12) In your opinion, how should corporal punishment of children be classified?
		(13) In your view, how should early marriage be classified?
		(14) In your view, how should the imposition of the veil (Hijab) on women be classified?
Victims of VAW	Factors that increase the risk of becoming a victim of VAW	(1) What are the factors that make a woman more vulnerable to violence?
		(2) With regard to age, who do you perceive are more likely to be victims of violence, younger or older women?
		(3) Does a woman's level of education matter with regard to being more vulnerable to violence?
		(4) In your opinion does the personality of a woman relate to her being more vulnerable to violence?
		(5) In your opinion, are poor women more likely to be victims of violence?
		(6) In your opinion, are women more likely to experience violence in the household or in the wider community?
		(7) In your opinion is a woman more likely to be a victim of violence due to poor knowledge or lack of awareness on VAW?
		(8) Are there any environmental factors that could make an individual more prone for sexual abuse, for example, surrounding or family structures?
		(9) Are women who live or work on the street more prone to be victims of VAW?
		(10) Who is responsible for protecting women from VAW in this opinion?

FGM, female genital mutilation; VAW, violence against women.

Data analysis

All FG discussions were analyzed and compared with the analysis of previous ones, which in turn further guided the subsequent sampling, data collection and analysis. FGs continued until data saturation was reached or new information was disclosed. Coding and categorizing were carried out using the QRS NVivo qualitative computer software program. Transcripts were thematically coded according to the study themes that emerged from the discussion. Open coding was used to detect specific themes that emerged from the discussions. More specific axial codes were developed from the initial open codes. The codes were analyzed using an interpretive description method. Coding was done by a single coder, and the consistency of coding was assessed by intraobserver reliability (Krippendorff 2011). The calculated intrarater agreement was in the 90th percentile range.

Results

Participant background

A total of 13 focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted, with a total of 75 participants. The FGDs were gender-homogenous: there were eight female and five male groups. The age of participants ranged from 19 to 24 years; the mean age was 21.6 years (SD ±1.22 years). The demographic characteristics of the sample are provided in Table 2. The gender distribution of the sample was as follows: (42.7%) male and (57.3%) female. The overwhelming majority of participants (94.7%) were not married. All of the participants were undergraduate students (100%) and the most common field of study among the sample was the social sciences (45.3%). The majority of participants (84.0%) were living with their biological parents; about half (45.3%) resided in the suburbs of Cairo. Participants' household income ranged from 5000 LE to more than 10,000 LE.

Table 2.

Sociodemographic Characteristics of the Sample

Sociodemographic characteristics	Frequency (N)	Percentage (%)
Age, years
19–20	9	12.0
21–22	53	70.7
23–24	13	17.3
Gender
Female	43	57.3
Male	32	42.7
Religion
Islam	66	88.0
Christianity	9	12.0
Marital status
Married	4	5.3
Not married	71	94.7
Current educational level
Undergraduate year 1	5	6.7
Undergraduate year 2	8	10.6
Undergraduate year 3	33	44.0
Undergraduate year 4	29	38.7
Major/specialization
Social sciences	34	45.3
Commerce	23	30.7
Science	11	14.7
Arts and literature	7	9.3
Family income
Less than 5000 LE	7	9.3
5000–10,000 LE	56	74.7
More than 10,000	12	16.0
Family structure
Two biological parents	63	84.0
Single parent	9	12.0
Living alone	3	4.0
Residence
Rural	11	14.7
Suburban	34	45.3
Urban	30	40.0

One Egyptian Pound (LE) = 0.62 USD.

Understanding of VAW

Participants of both gender groups provided different understandings of VAW. Although most participants from both genders agreed that violence does have a physical as well as a psychological aspect, a significant number of male participants perceived VAW as predominantly inflicting physical harm or using physical force. Participants of both genders conceived of VAW as a violation of the human rights of women and believed that it should be criminalized. The main difference lay in the practices that they thought should or should not be considered VAW.

A major point of contention was that of sexual harassment. Female and male participants believed that all forms of sexual harassment did constitute a form of VAW and were a grave violation of a woman's most basic human rights; the difference lay in the definition of sexual harassment as it was understood by both groups. For male participants, “staring” or “a passing word” or “harmless comment,” did not constitute harassment. The majority among them (90.6%) considered such behavior on the part of men as “normal,” that it happened “everywhere,” and that it was meant as “harmless flirting.” Only more serious forms of molestation, which involved explicit verbal or physical sexual insinuations or gestures, were considered sexual harassment, which the vast majority felt ought to be criminalized.

A few male participants commented that although Islam commands men to look the other way when they see women passing, this is not always possible since women sometimes wear revealing clothes and hence draw attention to themselves and sometimes invite sexual harassment. Sexual harassment cannot be justified, according to the vast majority of the male participants, however, they thought it was “understandable” in certain contexts. As Bilal (22 years) put it: “women who do not wish to draw attention to themselves should dress conservatively. Otherwise, they have only themselves to blame for unwanted advances.”

Some female participants (20.9%) held a similar belief that some women dress and behave in a way that invites sexual harassment and hence cannot be considered victims but were in such cases “partners in crime.” Heba (24 years) explained her view succinctly: “Our religion [Islam] orders us [women] to dress modestly. Women who ignore this and wear provocative clothes or makeup, commit the sin of inciting lust among men and are guilty.” Other female participants disagreed and held the view that even staring in an “indecent” way constituted a form of sexual harassment. All participants agreed that sexual harassment in principle was indeed a crime and should be criminalized, but there was no widely accepted definition of sexual harassment among the participants.

When asked about sexual violence, all participants of both genders believed that it is a crime and should be criminalized. The state, they asserted, had the responsibility to enact laws that would protect women and girls from sexual abuse in the family and in the wider community. However, again there was no widely accepted definition for the term. While the majority of male participants (81.25%) held the view that sexual violence must involve some kind of physical contact, the vast majority of female participants felt that sexual violence can be nonphysical. The majority of female participants (93%) said that sexual harassment was a form of sexual violence. Most of the male participants, on the contrary, believed that only the more severe cases of sexual harassment, those involving the use of physical force against the victim, as sexual violence. Finally, most participants (90.7%) of both genders considered FGM a form of sexual violence.

When asked about rape, all participants held that rape was a glaring form of sexual violence and constituted a crime. However, when asked about marital rape, the majority (71.9%) of male participants stated that there is no such thing as marital “rape.” Or more precisely they argued that when a husband forces his wife to sleep with him, this cannot be considered rape, since it is his “right” and her “duty,” and unless she has a valid reason for refusing to sleep with him, then withholding sex from him would be a “sin” on her part, as in this case she would be forcing him to seek the company of someone else, which is a grave sin in Islam. Some female participants (25.6%) agreed with this view, however, most of them held the view that rape was rape, whether perpetrated by a spouse or a stranger, and that marital rape constituted a form of VAW.

When participants were asked whether a man had a right to control a woman or force her to do something against their will, most of them agreed that this would be considered a violation of her human rights. However, when asked whether a man had the right to force his daughter or wife to adhere to religious teachings, such as wearing the veil, for example, most (66.7%) participants in both gender groups said that this would not be considered a form of VAW. Houda (male, 24 years) explained it saying:

“A man has the responsibility that all the members of his household adhere to the principles of Islam, if he neglects this duty, he will be taken to account. Of course, this should not be done by resorting to violence. But, should his wife resist, he has the right to force her by refusing to pay for her expenses, refusing to sleep with her, or by threatening her with divorce.”

Many female participants agreed with Houda's opinion, expressing similar views. “Pressuring” someone to do the “right” thing cannot be considered violence, according to many female participants. Amal (female, 23 years) explained by saying:

“The intent here is not to harm but to guide and protect. Wearing the veil protects women from harm. Sometimes girls cannot see that, they want to imitate western women. It is the duty of their parents to make them see.”

One participant said that Islamic teachings allow a man to mildly beat his children and even his wife to force them to pray or perform other important rituals. Some female participants agreed with the view that it is a man's duty to make sure that members of his house adhere to religious teachings. The majority of female participants were of the opinion that beating of any kind was not part of Islamic teachings and that even “mild” beating would constitute a form of VAW. These findings are consistent with previous studies which indicate that women with high level of education were more likely to refuse wife beating than those with low level of education (Rani and Bonu 2009; Uthman et al. 2009; WHO 2005).

When questioned about psychological violence, participants of both genders agreed that psychological violence can be as harmful as physical violence; again the main difference lay in how each group defined psychological violence. Most male participants (84.4%) did not perceive “shouting” or “yelling” to be a form of VAW. Making “mild” threats was also not considered VAW by most male participants. One of the participants explained this by saying that whereas the aim of violence is to harm, threats are meant to deter (an undesirable action or attitude) and thus did not constitute violence since no harm was perpetrated. According to Abbo (male, 23 years):

“Threats such as ‘you will be grounded’ for instance can be understood as some kind of warning, but the threat to do harm or use bodily punishment can be considered VAW and is a violation of a woman's human rights because in that case it involves the element of “fear” which has a harmful effect on her [the woman].”

The majority of female participants on the contrary believed that all kinds of threat are used to intimidate or coerce women, which is a form of VAW and is a violation of a woman's human rights. The majority also asserted that shouting and yelling should be considered forms of VAW.

Some female participants (20.9%) recognized “neglect” as a form of psychological violence and ignoring the women's feelings about important issues or ignoring her emotional needs. They similarly regarded withholding money, when a woman has no income of her own, as psychological violence. Using insults or making derogatory remarks about the woman's appearance or person were also included in their definition of psychological violence.

Another important form of psychological violence, according to some of the female participants (30.2%), included a differential treatment favoring boys over girls in the family. When girls are required to do all the household chores, for instance, it has a negative impact on a girl's sense of self-worth. Finally, many female (18.6%) participants considered “cheating,” that is, engaging in a sexual relationship with another woman or threatening to do so, psychological violence. Taking on a second wife, however, was not considered psychological violence, according to most female participants (65.1%), “if done properly and for the right reasons.”

The majority of the male participants (84.4%) had a more narrow definition of what constituted psychological violence. According to them, the term psychological violence should be restricted to cases of severe intimidation, which fell short of physical abuse. To them, psychological violence involved speech or actions that aimed to instill serious fear in the victim and included threats to hurt a woman physically or hurt her loved ones, take her children away, or lock her up, and actions designed to frighten her such as breaking furniture items, for example, and using gestures and words that could be construed as menacing. Using insults or humiliating language was also considered a form of psychological violence by most of the male participants. Taking on a second wife, however, was not considered VAW by the vast majority of male participants.

When asked about treatment favoring boys in the family, most male participants did not consider it a form of psychological violence, they argued that this practice was considered “normal” and hence it was not harmful to girls, since they expected it and where “used to it.” The majority of the male and female participants said that within their own families, it was considered “normal” for the girls to “serve” the boys and do the household chores such as cooking and cleaning.

Finally, honor killing was considered an extreme form of VAW by the vast majority of participants (98.7%) of both genders. Some argued that religion does not permit honor killings, and Islamic requirements to prove the sin of adultery are almost impossible to attain, and hence, there is no basis for this kind of crime except in faulty traditions, which they felt should be criminalized.

Perceptions of victims of VAW

Most participants of both genders agreed that woman and girls make up the vast majority of victims of gender-based violence in Egypt. A combination of objective and subjective factors determined the vulnerable position of women and girls in the Egyptian society. Among the objective factors named by the participants are poverty, lack of or poor education, and lack of awareness. These factors according to most participants limited the choices of women and put them at the “mercy” of their families, spouses, employers, and even the state. One female participant mentioned the lack of legal protection, especially for children, and the lack of social services for victims of VAW, such as shelters and rehabilitation centers. Among the subjective factors, the author finds notions related to patriarchy, namely culture and religious beliefs. Certain perceptions related to women's “proper” place in society and the family, ideas about male dominance, and perceptions of what is or is not considered “violence” and what it means to be a “victim.”

Most participants (81.3%) agreed that poor and uneducated women are more vulnerable to VAW than women of the middle class who were educated. Poor women, especially if illiterate,¹ usually work in the informal sector² and have little choice but to submit to abusive behavior. They are generally afraid of losing their means of income and not finding another one, or as one participant explained, poor women may feel that there is no escape, violence is so pervasive, so omnipresent, that they believe it is part of being alive. Mano (female, 23 years) observed:

“There is a woman who comes to our house twice a week to help my mother with chores. She is regularly abused by her husband and she used to work for a family where the wife and children regularly abused her, when I asked her why she didn't leave she said that one work was as good as another and that there was no escaping abuse, but she did end up leaving that family and coming to work for us.”

It can be worse for women who work in prostitution or in odd jobs on the street, such as street vendors. They face all forms of violence at the hands of individuals, criminal gangs, as well as the police. When asked about them, female participants on the whole seemed sympathetic, Aida (female, 21 years) insightfully observed:

“Women on the street face all forms of violence. Sex workers for example are regularly pushed around by the police and punished by the law, but what about their male clients? My sister is a law student, she told me that in a prostitution case,³ male clients are only witnesses. They don't face charges, only she [the prostitute] does.”

The majority of male participants (78.1%), on the contrary, held a less sympathetic opinion. Bolbol (male, 22 years) observed: “It is not true that women can be forced into prostitution, it is a matter of personal choice. When there is a will there is a way and a woman can always find a way out if she really wants to.” When asked if it is acceptable for a prostitute to be abused, Bolbol replied: “let us just say it is not unexpected. It comes with the trade I guess.”

Street children⁴ were a different story and elicited a lot of emotion among participants of both genders. The vast majority of the participants said that street children were by far the most vulnerable group to all forms of violence, especially the girls. They felt strongly that the state is not doing enough to protect street children. Most participants perceived these children as the victims of poverty and family breakdown. Young girls on the street, as young as 4 or 5, are exploited by “mafias,” many participants observed, and are regularly abused. They are used as laborers, sex workers, beggars, and pickpockets. The vast majority of participants, when asked, said they had no knowledge of the statistics about such children or about facilities that helped them. One participant said she knew of an NGO that worked for the benefit of street children. Maro (female, 22 years) said:

“There are a lot of charities and organizations working for the benefit of the poor, of cancer patients and of children in Upper Egypt, and they advertise their work on television and collect donations in Ramadan [the holy month of fasting in the Islamic calendar], but I have never heard of an effort directed towards street children.”

Furthermore, some participants identified young girls and elderly women as especially likely to be victims of VAW. According to Nani (female, 22 years),

“Young girls are completely defenceless. If they are lucky, they will have a loving family, if they are unlucky they will suffer from abuse or neglect. I don't know of any laws that protect children from abusive parents unless physical harm is clear and can be proven and even then, it is unlikely that they will receive adequate protection. The same applies to elderly women.”

When participants were asked to describe what a typical victim of VAW would be like in their opinion, the following characteristics were the most commonly identified among participants of both groups: poor or working-class woman, uneducated, and middle aged. A few participants disagreed: they contended that age was irrelevant, the victim could be young or old, the victim could be educated or uneducated, and could be poor or middle class. Hana (female, 23 years) explained her view very succinctly: “being young or old does not matter, neither does wealth, victims of VAW can belong to any age or social class. How many of us have been sexually molested on the streets? How many of us have been slapped by our parents or teachers back in school? Yet most of us don't like to think of ourselves as victims.”

When asked whether a certain personality trait invited violence or abuse, points of view varied widely. Most male participants (59.4%) held the view that some personalities invited violence. According to some opinions, women who tended to victimize themselves and women who perceived themselves as helpless or weak attracted violence by being passive. That explains, in the opinion of Houda (male, 23 years), why some women went from one abusive relationship to another, “sometimes you can see a clear pattern, the only explanation is that the woman “invites” abuse. But not all victims of violence fall into this category. I guess we need to judge case by case.”

The vast majority (83.7%) of female participants disagreed with this view. Some argued that women did not “invite” violence because they were passive, but the other way round, living with violence has affected the way they perceived themselves and their ability to deal with the situation. They agreed with the view that generalization is not possible and that each case needs to be evaluated separately.

Most female participants blamed the patriarchal culture that discriminates against women. Dida (female, 21 years) shared her experience,

“In our society, women are constantly blamed when things go wrong. Even when a girl is abused, she is blamed for it. I get sexually harassed almost on a daily basis on my way to university and back, although I am veiled. Sometimes it is just verbal harassment and occasionally it is more serious. If I stop to defend myself or reprimand the harasser, the men gather around him and defend him as if he is some kind of hero or something, or as if I am just throwing false accusations at him. I guess it is really a guy thing.”

Most of the female and male participants (92%) agreed that appearance has little to do with being victims of VAW. The vast majority of Egyptian women wore the veil, they contended, yet they suffered from sexual harassment in public areas. Some male participants said that it was a girl's attitude rather than her dress that could provoke unwanted attention. If a girl was giggly, for example, laughed aloud, or used gestures that could be construed as “inviting,” then it was likely that she would become a victim of sexual harassment.

Discussion

The majority of participants defined violence as an act that involved force, which result in some kind of harm or suffering to the victim. VAW could take many forms, physical, psychological, or sexual, the majority of participants agreed. It could happen in the private as well as the public sphere. VAW was a crime, according to all male and female participants and should be criminalized. However, there was no widely agreed upon definition of what exactly constituted VAW or what acts precisely could be labeled as VAW. Hence, the findings suggest that there is a need to teach the youngsters how to recognize VAW and to educate them about human rights, especially the human rights of women. This needs to be done using two complementary approaches. The first approach involves interventions that target youngsters from an early age, through school curricula and other focused interventions. The second approach should target the wider community, with the aim of reforming the environment in which young people form their perceptions and attitudes about VAW. This could include an initiative to spread a progressive contextual reading of religious texts, a project increasingly adopted by Muslim feminists since the 1990s (Ahmed 1992; Badran 2009; Mernissi 1992).

Most participants of both genders recognized that VAW has a psychological dimension as well as a physical one, however, male participants tended to stress the physical aspects of VAW. Most female participants had a broader understanding of VAW. These findings are consistent with the findings reported in a study carried out in Australia (Harris et al. 2015). According to Harris and colleagues (2015), young women are more likely than young men to recognize nonphysical and indirect behaviors as a form of violence.

The most important points of agreement were perceptions of rape. Whereas rape, defined as having sexual intercourse with someone against their will, was considered a form of VAW by all of the participants in both gender groups. Marital rape was another issue. “Rape” in Arabic (‘ightisab) literally means taking something by force that does not belong to you, and this does not apply in a marriage. Most female participants understood marital rape to be a form of VAW. These findings are consistent with other studies that have shown that females were more likely than males to believe that marital rape is no different than stranger rape (Ferro et al. 2008).

Sexual harassment was a major point of difference in the perceptions of VAW among male and female participants. Female participants had a broader definition of sexual harassment than their male counterparts and the majority among them understood the term to include even minor transgressions such as remarks on body or appearance, staring, and teasing. These findings are consistent with previous research, which shows that men have narrower definitions of what constitutes sexual harassment compared with women (Beiner 2005; Dziech and Hawkins 2011).

Most participants agreed that poor and uneducated women were especially vulnerable to VAW in the family and in the wider community. Especially women who work in the informal sector and have limited access to legal support or counseling. The participants' perception of VAW victims basically coincided with the perceptions reported in other studies (Expósito and Herrera 2009; Terry 2004). Victims were generally perceived stereotypically as being weak and having low self-esteem. When addressing the issue of VAW, women victims were often portrayed as having family responsibilities and no control over any type of resources.

Young girls were regarded as especially vulnerable to FGM and child marriage by most participants. The media had played an important role in sensitizing the Egyptian public to the problem of FGM, widely publicizing the problem and portraying it as a crime against childhood, by reporting incidents and deaths related to FGM, the latest being last January when a young girl died as a result of a botched FGM procedure (Alaa El-Din 2020). This underscores the role of media in sensitizing the public to issues of VAW.

Women and girls who worked or lived on the street were also seen as potential victims of multiple forms of VAW, sexual, physical, and psychological. This is hardly unexpected since the Egyptian media periodically covers stories of street children and the need to design appropriate interventions to help them (Abdel Radi 2018; Akkawi 2018; Gamal El-Din 2016). More importantly, several Egyptian classic films address the issue of street children. Sex workers, typically, received little sympathy and were perceived by most participants as guilty and responsible for the violence perpetrated against them. This view is consistent with the conservative and deeply religious nature of Egyptian culture. According to the Arab Barometer (2019), only one-fifth of the Egyptian youth described themselves as “not religious.”

Finally, some male participants believed that certain personality traits invited violence. Most male participants held the view that women should dress and behave conservatively in the street and wider community to avoid VAW. Most female participants opposed this view, stating that most Egyptian women were veiled yet still they face sexual harassment of all kinds in public places. According to the majority of female participants, sexual harassment is less about what women wear and more about men knowing they can get away with it and believing that sexual harassment can be blamed on the woman or shrugged off as “normal” or “inevitable.”

Conclusion

There is a discrepancy in the understanding of VAW between male and female participants and this is consistent with findings reported in other studies. Men typically define VAW in narrow terms and focus more on the physical aspects of VAW. Women tend to define VAW more broadly. The perception of these participants of VAW victims is consistent with existing literature on the relationship between poverty and VAW (Terry 2004), and consistent with studies on common perceptions of VAW victims (Expósito and Herrera 2009). This underlines the importance of the patriarchal system in the maintenance of the status quo in traditional societies, where women invariably occupy a lower position in the family and in society at large.

More importantly, there is a tendency to blame victims of VAW for perpetuating this system, either by submitting to it or even by provoking violence in some instances. For example, many participants expressed the view that “some” women invite sexual violence by behaving or dressing in a certain way. This is crucial because it means that victims of VAW are often perceived to be the cause of VAW, which has serious implications for the design of suitable interventions aimed to counter gender-based violence. More importantly perhaps is that women who had been victims of VAW who try to fight back, as some of these female participants indicated especially in cases of sexual harassment, often find themselves cornered into defending themselves not only against the aggressor but also against other individuals and groups who aim to stigmatize these women, blame them, or bully them into submission.

Footnotes

Author Disclosure Statement

No competing financial interests exist.

Funding Information

No funding was received for this article.

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