or destroy the recognition, enjoyment or the exercise by women, regardless of their
marital status, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in all spheres of life.
187.
To determine whether a violation of Article 2 and 18(3) of the Charter have
occurred, the Commission applies the commonly observed discrimination test. In
Egyptian Initiative, the Commission applied the discrimination te t which
enquires if similarly situated men and women were treat d differently and if that
differential treatment was justifiable. Specifically, the Commission asked
"Whether the women and male protesters had similar treatment; and whether the
treatment was "fair and just", given that all women and men in the scene were
under the same circumstances, that is, exercising their political rights." 121
188.
The Commission decided that discrimination had occurred b cause:
a. The Victims were exclusively women;
b. The Victims were not protected from the perpetrators and other unidenhfted
actors during the demonstrations; and
c. The violations were perpetrated on the Victims because of their gender. 122
189.
Fundamentally the Commission foun.d that the women had been
discriminated against because they had been in a similar situation with men, only
they were targeted and the Government of Egypt did not provide a justification
for the differential treatment. 123
190.
This same approach was adopted in Equality now where the Commission
noted that '' ... the gravamen of discrimination is the unjustifiable distinction or
differential treatment of persons in relevantly analogous situations." 124 Citing the
findings of Egtjptian Initiative with approval, to esta
· crimination in
violation of Article 2 of the Charter, the Commissions cl:
147. The Complainant must identifiJ the compar,
complained of and that of the comparator are com
eatment
148. When such a case is made out, the Respon
demonstrate with cogent evidence that the
. It may
actually
121 Para 129
122 Para 137
123 Para 138
124 Paragraph 144
48
~==~