LEGISLATION WATCH- Amendments to protect assault victims’ identity gets committee-level nod in parliament: The House Legislative Committee greenlit yesterday amendments to the criminal code that would keep the personal data of victims of [redacted] harassment and assault anonymous. If they become law, the changes — which are meant to encourage more victims to come forward and report crimes — would mean that anyone who identifies victims could be jailed for up to six months, attorney Reda Eldanoubki was quoted by Reuters as saying. Cabinet drafted the changes in July following the arrest of [redacted] offender Ahmed Bassam Zaki, who confessed to serial abuse and blackmail charges.

The bill is due to be discussed by the House general assembly later in the month for a final approval and a subsequent signoff by President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, Rep. Magda Nasr said. If passed, it would help many victims that have previously been pressured to withdraw their complaints if their names were public in fear of blackmail from assailants, says the newswire. The National Council for Women also urged last week victims who are being pressured into silence to speak to authorities after the administrators of an Instagram page set up for women to report [redacted] assault received death threats.