Million person march planned in Egypt against violence against women

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CAIRO, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- Protesting the treatment of women at the hands of the security forces, Egyptians are planning a 1 million person march at Cairo's Tahrir Square.

The National Association for Change has called on all Egyptians to protest Friday in Cairo and elsewhere against the violence against women, Ahram Online said.

A statement issued by the NAC called on Egyptians to march peacefully and "regain Egypt's honor," stressing women's rights in the country have been ignored since the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak in February.

Protesters should condemn "the brutal crime committed against Egypt's most noble women," the statement said referring to the recent violence in which women were beaten by security forces in the streets and their traditional veils removed.

Thirteen political parties including the Muslim Brotherhood said they will participate in the march aside from the NAC, al-Masry al-Youm reported.

A spokesman for the extremist Jama'a al-Islamiya group told the Egyptian daily they would boycott the demonstration saying, "We don't participate in demonstrations organized by communists."