A Press Release about Launching “Her Dream is the Most Important” Campaign
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) defines child marriage as Child marriage refers to any formal marriage or informal union between a child under the age of 18 and an adult or another child. It is also one of the worst forms of violence that children may be exposed to, especially girls. According to UN estimations, 12 million girls around the world get married before the age of 18, annually.
On the national level, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS), has revealed that child marriages make up almost 15% of all marriages in Egypt. This percentage increases in poorer governorates. The National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM) has also affirmed that child marriage, is an extreme violation of the child’s rights, especially young girls, who tend to carry massive physical and psychological burdens, due to marriage, which snatches their priorities of education and safety away.
The National Council for Women (NCW) has indicated in a statement on the 10th of November that child marriage is considered a form of human trafficking, and that there are almost 111 thousand girls between 13 and 17 years of age, who are forced into marriage annually.
Within the framework of efforts to address this phenomenon, Tadwein Gender Research Center in collaboration with the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation has launched a new campaign entitled Helmaha Aham across social media platforms. This campaign targets men and boys in order to spread awareness messages, which are to acquaint them with the harms and dangers of violence against women, such as child marriage in this case, from the psychological, physical, social, and economic perspectives.
The campaign launch is coinciding with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls; November 25th of every year, and lasts until December 10th, which is International Human Rights Day. Through this campaign (#Helmaha_Aham), Tadwein for Gender Studies aims to create a conversation amongst social media users to raise awareness and escalate discussions, in order to reject the perpetuation of violence against women in Egypt and eliminate it.
Notably, this campaign will be launched through a short film that tackles true stories of early marriage, as well as a video showcasing some activities regarding the early marriage project. In addition, infographs containing precise data and information surrounding the social and cultural factors that play a part in the continuation of crimes of violence against women will be published.
