duration of her career, with the administrative authority assuming the insurance contributions usually payable by the employee. B. Combating violence against women by: 1. Launching three national strategies in 2015: the National Strategy to Combat Violence against Women, the National Strategy to Combat Female Genital Mutilation, and the National Strategy against Early Marriage. 2. The Penal Code was amended by Law No. 78 of 2016, which changed the crime of female circumcision to a felony rather than a misdemeanor, as well as introducing a penalty of imprisonment for at least five years and no more than seven years for female circumcision The penalty shall be aggravated imprisonment if the act results in permanent disability, or if it leads to death, A new article was also introduced to punish with imprisonment for a period not less than one year and not exceeding three years each female circumcision carried out at the recipient’s request. 3. The Ministry of Health has also developed a Medical Manual for victims of gender-based violence, copies of which are distributed to all hospitals, with medical personnel trained to use them. The Ministry of Social Solidarity is to develop its nine hosting centers to provide protection, accommodation, social, health, psychological and legal care for abused women without age restrictions. 4. The government, in cooperation with the National Council for Women, launched several initiatives and projects to protect women against all forms of violence, including the creation of anti-harassment units in six universities, and the launch of the ‘Together for the Nation’ program in cooperation with the Ministry of Awqaf and Churches with the aim of training and sensitizing female clerics about the importance of incorporating the message of reducing all forms of violence against women and correcting misconceptions, in parallel with the training of 120 preachers on ‘Islam's position on violence against women’ to correct misconceptions about violence against women. 5. The Public Prosecution service has issued guidelines to its members, as part of efforts to confront cases of violence against women, to clarify all measures to protect victims of violence and to increase the number of women police, as part of efforts by the Ministry of the Interior's Human Rights Unit. 6. Enhancing cooperation between the human rights sector and community communication at the Ministry of the Interior and the National Council for Women through renewing the 59