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ConferencesGCWRI

Islam’s Position on Violence against Women


Gamal Serour is a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Director of the International Islamic Center For Population Studies and Research and former Dean of the Faculty of Medicine Al Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt. He won the United Nations Population Award in 2013 and the Nile Prize for Science in 2018. Since 2019, he has been a member of the Islamic Research Council Al Azhar. He established and directed Al Azhar training programmes for laparoscopy in 1976, microsurgery in 1980, and a large number of training workshops on academic, research and training for candidates from Middle East, Asia and Africa. He has conducted numerous workshops on sexual and reproductive health and rights for religious leaders and Imams from Egypt, Asia and Africa in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Population Fund and the United Nations Children’s Fund. Gamal established the first in vitro fertilization (IVF) centre in Egypt on March 1986 and IVF centres at the Ministry of Health in 2000 and at Al-Azhar University in 2004. He established the Egyptian Fertility Society (EFFS) in 1994 and has been the EFFS’ President since 2004.

He was President of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) from 2009 to 2012, a member of the Lancet–Guttmacher Commission on SDGS (2016–2018) and is currently President of the African Federation Fertility Societies (AFFS). He was a member and then Chair of the FIGO Ethics Committee for Women’s Reproductive Health (1994–2006), a member of the WHO Strategic and Technical Advisory Group (STAG) (2011-2016), Chair of STAG (2017–2018) and has been Co-Chair of the Ethics Review Committee at the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean since 2017.

BACA JUGA:   Note for Moderators & Speakers

Women are subjected to many and various forms of violence,  which affect their dignity, insulting and harming them, and many of these  forms of violence occur because of misconceptions in religion or ambiguous for many people. Among these unjust forms and wrong behaviour:

First: Distinguishing between men and women: Many societies still distinguish men from women and prefer them over them, for social reasons, or inherited behaviour. Second: One of the forms of violence that befalls women is “female circumcision,” as this hurtful practice is still carried out in some societies, and the problem with that is that it is carried out in the name of religion. Third: Among the violence that befalls women is “sexual harassment” of women in all its forms, whether by the poisoned looks that some men direct towards women, contemplating their virtues in what hurts women and embarrasses their feelings, or harassing them by using offensive and indecent words, which causes shame and pain to women. Fourth: Forcing girls to marry: In some societies, there is a clear injustice committed against some girls by forcing them to marry someone she does not want, or preventing her from marrying permanently, or preventing her from returning to her husband who divorced her and wants to return to him. Fifth: Child marriage: One of the forms of violence that occurs to women is the marriage of girls who are below the age that qualifies them for marriage, which puts the girl in a severe psychological crisis, as the girl finds herself unable to carry out the duties of married life. Sixth: Deprivation of Inheritance: Some societies still oppress women and deprive them of their right to inherit, under the pretext of preserving family property.

BACA JUGA:   Promoting Women’s Right to Bodily Integrity
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