Egyptian member of parliament Elhamy Agina has called for harsher penalties to be imposed on women adulterers in order to “preserve timidity,” The Independent reported. The MP’s remarks came in response to a proposal put forth by fellow parliamentarian and head of the “Support Egypt” coalition Maria Azer to make the punishment for men and women adulterers equal. Current laws stipulate jail time of two years for women caught committing adultery, while the sentence for men adulterers does not exceed six months and is only applicable if he commits the adulterous acts in the family home. Furthermore, men will only be detained for a period of 24 hours if he kills his wife and her lover if he catches them committing adultery. Although Azer’s proposal faced some backlash, including one MP claiming that women should be punished more harshly because she may bear the children of her lover rather than her husband. Agina, meanwhile, claimed that “the woman is the main reason behind adultery, not the man,” and called for a bill to further harshen penalties against women who cheat. Agina has sparked outrage a number of times over the…
Egypt MP Calls for Harsher Penalties for Women Adulterers to ‘Preserve Timidity’
October 12, 2016
