Egypt's parliament calls for setting strategy to address bullying

CAIRO - 20 July 2020: Representatives of the Egyptian Parliament stated that facing the dangerous phenomenon of bullying does not only happen through legislating deterrent penalties.

 

They called for adopting an expanded strategy, where efforts of the various ministries and civil society organizations are concerted to raise awareness of the culture of respecting others, in addition to renewing the religious discourse to furtherfight bullying.

 

The Cabinet had approved a bill to amend some provisions of the Penal Code, in preparation for sending it to the House of Representatives for discussion. The Cabinet added a new article to the Penal Code, No. 309 bis, which defined bullying.

 

The new article stipulated that whoever shows off strength or power, makes fun of the a person'sweakness, orinsults their sex, religion, race, physical appearance, state of health, mental condition, or social level, with the intent to intimidate them or ridicule them, is considered bullying.

 

The bill approved sentencing one who commits such crimeto not less than 6 months in prison, in addition to paying a fine of not less than LE10,000 and not more than LE 30,000, or one of these two penalties.

 

The article indicated that the punishment is tightened if the crime of bullying was committed by two or more people or by a person who has authority over the victim, to reach an imprisonment sentence of not less than 1 year and a fine of not less than LE 20,000 and not more than LE 100,000, or one of these two penalties. If both conditions apply, the penalty shall be doubled. 

 

MP Margaret Azar, the undersecretary of the Human Rights Committee in Parliament, said that the new amendments represent an important step towards addressing the practice of such growing phenomenon.She pointed out that once the law is referred to the committeefor discussion, members will take into account setting regulations to preserve the right bullying victims.

 

Azar affirmed that this legislation will contribute to limiting the psychological harm done tobullying victims, who can sometimes develop chronic mental illnesses as a result of such heinous practice.

 

It has been suggested by amember of the House of Representatives to develop curricula that highlight the necessity of respecting the other.

 

Meanwhile,MP Muhammad Abu Hamed, deputy of the Social Solidarity Committee in Parliament, considered that the recent period has witnessed a significant increase in this phenomenon, so the state must confront it in various ways.Abu Hamed stressed that all the heavenly religions refuseridiculingothers.

 

He stressed that bullying is criminalized and is unacceptable atall the countries of the world, explaining that the law alone is not sufficient to counter this phenomenon; it must also be confronted with educational reform and the involvement of religious institutions in such fight.

 

Furthermore, MPFayez Barakat said that a new study from the universities of Oxford, Swansea, and Birmingham reveals that bullying may have devastating and deadly effects, especially when the internet world is a third party.

 

On July 15, the Egyptian Cabinet has proposed a new article to the Penal Code, defining bullying and toughly punishing bullies by at least six months in prison and a fine not more than LE 30,000 ($1,878) fine or by one of the two penalties.

 

The proposal came in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli. This came after a series of bullying incidents were recorded and circulated on social media websites. Egypt’s Attorney General has ordered investigating these cases.

 

Also, on June 8, the Ministry of Health published a video on its official Facebook page explaining the danger of bullying coronavirus patients.

In the video, the ministry called on citizens not to bully people infected with the virus, and to treat them normally, while taking preventive and precautionary measures to protect themselves from infection.

 

The motion graphics footage advised citizens on how to deal with COVID-19 patients without blaming them so that they do not get embarrassed,or scared, hiding their illness instead of seeking help.