Overview
Co-funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office , My Right is a programme run by the British Council, in collaboration with civil society representative organisations. It provides legal and psychological support to female victims of violence and aims to reduce violence against women and helps them to understand their rights.
A community and a male engagement strand have been included to raise awareness among young people and men about the centres and issues of violence against women through training. This strand also includes locally-led social action projects to address violence against women and awareness raising about about less well-known forms of violence such as the economic and emotional violence, and restrictions on mobility .
During 2016, My Right engaged with two major partners. Firstly, the Anti-Harassment Unit of Cairo University, to raise awareness during International Women's Day and the 16 days of activism to combat violence against women. The other partnership was with the Egyptian Red Crescent (ERC) with whom My Right delivered violence and male engagement training to ERC volunteers and Helwan University students. Finally, for the integration and cooperation between society programmes, male engagement training was delivered to the male coaches of the Premier Skills programme in 17 governorates. My Right, EAESR & HarassMap also delivered training in five new governorates in the Delta & Canal Area (Port Said, Ismailia, Sharqia, Demitta and Dakahila).
You can't fight violence against women without engaging men, we are all exposed to violence, the only way we can end this, that we work together, respect each other and listen more...
Impact
- Psychological and legal support have been provided to violence survivors in eight Egyptian governorates from 2015 to date.
- Inspired by Victim Support UK, the programme has established women support centres in Egypt to dispense expert legal advice to women and girls who are subject to violence in four cities – North Cairo, Alexandria, Aswan and Tanta – that according to national statistics have the highest rates of violence.
- Capacity building for around 100 judges has taken place through customised English language courses to enhance their ability to communicate internationally.
- During 2015-2016, the programme, partnering with HarassMap, provided Male Engagement Training of Trainers (ToT) and cascaded training in four governorates (Cairo, Alexandria, Al Gharbia and Aswan).