Anti-harassment campaign stirs controversy in Egypt
Egyptians are outraged by alleged anti-harassment campaign "Mat3brhash," whose promoters hold women partially responsible for inviting harassment.
CAIRO — A Facebook campaign called “Mat3brhash” (“Don’t Give Her Attention”) stirred controversy July 19, when it attacked Egypt’s women with harsh words such as “She’s not worth it, it’s not like she’s Angelina Jolie,” angering women and men alike.
Many women found this campaign insulting and worried it could lead to a rise in harassment, while men feared it could affect their efforts to fight harassment. Al-Monitor conducted interviews with an array of Egyptians on the topic. The campaign’s members denied accusations of inciting harassment, arguing that their posts are an invitation for both sides to respect one another and for men to resist harassing women.
The page was created in 2011 by three young activists — Mohammed al-Naggar, Sameh Shawky and Hesham Sayed. It was dormant for a time and re-activated in 2014. It has garnered 151,953 likes as of the time of this writing. Naggar told Al-Monitor that the campaign became most popular in July 2015, after its members took to the streets to fight harassment.
When first created, the organizers published this description on the Facebook page: “Girls make too much effort to look good so young men would intercept or harass them. But this time, they will be ignored by the young men who have decided to regain their dignity and not feel guilty about harassing girls.” The campaign seems to point to a social trend blaming girls for being harassed.
