Sexual Harassment In Egypt

Sexual Harassment in Africa Cup 2006-cairo (egypt)


Lynn Doan :Just one kiss, he says, waving five Egyptian pounds at me.

One kiss on the mouth, and he'll give me the equivalent of a dollar. I am walking through a bazaar in Cairo when I realize that sexual harassment has no limits here.

One man says he wants to marry me. Another grabs me by the arm and asks my name. A few simply yell, "China," and hope I'll turn around - I'm Asian, but not Chinese.

Harassment in Italy is notorious. But the catcalls I experienced in Venice and Rome pale in comparison to the shockingly sexual statements and shameless groping my roommate and I endured in Egypt.SFGate

Incidents

During rioting in 2006, attacks by throngs of men on young women in the streets attracted the attention of the media. In 2009, during a soccer celebration in the Cairo neighborhood of Mohendeseen, almost 100 young men chased down two girls, attempting to rip their clothes off. That same night women in a horse drawn carriage were attacked by a similar sized group, and only retreated when the driver started using his whip. That same year, men attacked women during a protest in front of the journalist's syndicate in downtown Cairo source:ABC News

Noha Ostath,young film-maker told the BBC she was repeatedly groped in broad daylight by a van driver in a Cairo traffic jam as she walked on the pavement.
His behaviour made her so angry she ran after the van and held on to the side mirror to force the driver to stop so she could take him to a police station.bbc news


Survey

While there are few credible statistics about rape and sexual harassment in Egypt, a study done by the Egyptian Center for Women's Rights in 2008 showed that 83 percent of all women surveyed had experienced some form of sexual harassment, including stalking by telephone, being followed in the streets and even groping. The survey covered only a small portion of the country and did not use rigorous scientific sampling.source:ABC News

According to the center, 98 percent of the foreign women and 83 percent of the Egyptian women surveyed said they had been sexually harassed in the country.

About half of the women, Egyptian and non-Egyptian, said they were harassed every day as they went about the streets. The survey polled 2,020 Egyptian men and women and 109 non-Egyptian women.source:washingtonpost


Two-thirds of the Egyptian men surveyed admitted to harassing women, in actions ranging from staring openly at their bodies, shouting explicit comments, touching the women or exposing themselves.source:washingtonpost

Among Egyptian women, 72 percent of those who described incidents of harassment said they were veiled at the time.source:washingtonpost

Film&video
Film "678": Fayza is wearing loose clothes and a veil that covers her hair as she boards an old bus numbered 678 and overflowing with people on an afternoon in the Egyptian capital Cairo.

Without a free seat in sight, she stands in the middle aisle along with dozens of other passengers.

Just as the bus begins to move, a stranger tries to grope her from behind. Fayza turns around and stabs him in the groin with a small blade. The man falls to the ground in pain. In the ensuing confusion, Fayza gets off the bus and walks out onto the chaotic street.

So begins the main plot in the star-studded movie Masr 678, the first Egyptian-produced feature film to directly deal with the problem of sexual harassment.Monsters and Critics

Egypt's most notorious case of harassment occurred in 2007, when two fully veiled Gulf Arab women were surrounded by dozens of men on a street and molested.

Bystanders filmed the episode and posted it on YouTube. It became an embarrassment to Egypt's government and a spark for the first public debate on sexual harassment in Egypt.source:washingtonpost

travel advisories

The United States and Britain both warn female visitors in travel advisories that they may face unwanted attention, or sexual attacks, in Egypt.source:washingtonpost

The U.S. State Department warned female travelers to Egypt that "Unescorted women are vulnerable to sexual harassment and verbal abuse. The Embassy has received increasing reports over the last several months of foreigners being sexually groped in taxis and in public places."source:ABC News

When Egyptian lawmakers objected to Britain's advisory , calling it a slur, Britain responded that more female British tourists were harassed and assaulted, even raped, while in Egypt than in any other country.source:washingtonpost