Safe Seeks to Secure the Children from Sexual Harassment and Abuse

BY LUCIANA MAGHARIOUS

Two weeks ago, a woman who was menstruating drugged her four-year-old daughter Mayada so that her boyfriend could have sex with her.

A few days later, a 19-year old student killed a six-year-old girl in Minya Governorate in Upper Egypt, after he sexually abused her.

Sexual violence, which ranges from harassment to rape, has been on the increase in Egypt, according to media reports and statistics, and in most of the cases, the abusers are either acquaintances, or schoolteachers.

The Association of the Development and Enhancement for Women reported 48 cases of teachers, who sexually abused schoolgirls in five governorates during the 2012- 2013 academic year.

In an attempt to face this outbreak, one victim started her own initiative against sexual abuse of children.

Sara Aziz was abused by a member of her family when she was six, but she wasn’t interested in the subject of sexual violence until she was 21.

She started her studies after she met a girl from a shantytown called Akracha, near Abou-Zaabal in Helwan, where Aziz was volunteering to do charity work with some of her friends.

This girl had been abused by her father since the age of seven.

“I heard the girls in Akracha narrating their own stories of sexual abuse, and I was also still in pain. I felt an urge to do something. I started to study to help only this girl,” she said.

Aziz spent more than four years learning about sexual abuse. She received a diploma in Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy of the Sexually Abused from Denmark and joined a similar program in the United States.

After she returned to Egypt in 2012, Aziz founded the first organization to spread awareness about sexual abuse of children – Safe NGO.

“Our mission is to raise the awareness of the children about the issues so they can protect themselves, and to empower them to speak up if they are abused,” Aziz said.

Her team of more than 50 volunteers provides monthly sessions at its office to children, teenagers, parents, teachers, trainers and staff members in corporations. The sessions are customized for each audience or participant category.

Safe volunteers also use books, private counseling, campaigns and events, and the nursery to provide support and assistance to the community.

For example, the sessions for the children and teenagers teach them how to protect themselves, and not to abuse others.

The other sessions teach the parents, teachers and other people how to identify and acknowledge the issue, observe it, react to it and report it.

Aziz published an 18-page book I am Precious as an aid for the parents to talk with their children about sexual abuse.  The book goes through different real-life situations faced by a six-year old school boy, Seif.

All the situations represent distinct attempts of sexual harassment and abuse that children may face.

It highlights how the boy reports the incidents, and how people in his support system should react.

Since SAFE’s work is mostly focused on children, the team has already held sessions in 15 international schools including Al-Karma, and Modern English School (MES), in addition to an agreement with the Egyptian Ministry of Education to permit Safe to enter public schools.

The Nursery opened its doors for more than 120 children on April 5. The nursery provides Montessori education, which is based on discovery rather than direct instruction, in addition to introducing values and awareness including adequate sexual education and sexual abuse awareness.

“Safe should be a place where people can call and report what happened to them or their children. The team will then report the abusers to the authorities and counsel the victims for recovery. As a result, the victim will recover quickly and the society will be rid from an abuser,” Aziz said.

She is hoping to expand her NGO by adding several classrooms, conference rooms, a legal department, and a call center.

Since 2009, Aziz has worked as a counselor for children and women, who were sexually abused or raped.

“I put an empty chair in front of the victim. The victim talks to the abuser as if he was sitting on the chair. She expresses all the emotions that she suffers. Some of the victims might cry, scream, and squeeze their faces out of anger,” she said.