Launching the Unit for Combating Sexual Harassment in Ain Shams University tomorrow

Cairo, 10th of April, 2016
On the 11th of April 2016 the “Unite for Combating Sexual Harassment” will be launched in Ain Shams University. This comes as part of the cooperation efforts of Ain Shams University, the Egyptian Center for Women Rights (ECWR), and with the support of Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and The United Nations Population Fund in Egypt (UNFPA). The event will be held in the presence of distinguished members of the National Council for Women, the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and United Nation for Development program (UNDP)
The launching of this Unit remarks the beginning for activating the “policies and procedures for combating sexual harassment in the University” that was initiated by ECWR in cooperation with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
This unit aims at creating a safe environment on campus and providing protection against any exposure to sexual harassment. This unit offers protection to all the employees and students who suffer from gender-based harassment while they work or study.
This unit is headed by an Investigation Committee consisting of seven members. The University President is the Unit Head. The committee is headed by a professor in one of the relevant departments; a person with a legal background appointed from the government, a representative forthe women/girls, male and female elected students’ representatives of students, and a person responsible for receiving the complaints. The role of the committee is to investigate the received complaints and provide support (social, psychological, and legal) to the survivors’ complainants and take decisions in accordance withthe Universityrules and procedures.
Nehad Aboel-Komsan emphasizes that the launching of this Unit comes as part of the cooperation protocol betweenAin Shams University, ECWR, and UNFPA, signed May 2015.
The launching of the Unit comes also after extensive search efforts lasted for more than a year to establish the legal foundation and structure for the Unit. The research also extended to cover the complaints filing system, insurance of the confidentiality and privacy of all parties involved, the levels of punitive procedures in the public universities law, taking the legal decision, as well as developing the bases for the psychological support for the person filing the complaint if necessary.