Egyptian women scared to speak out against sexual harassment
Sexual harassment leads all crimes against Egyptian women, and experts say it is abetted by toothless laws, lax enforcement and societal acceptance of the phenomenon.
CAIRO — The phenomenon of sexual harassment in Egypt has led to the emergence of grassroots movements defending a woman’s right to safely walk in public places. These movements include the “I saw harassment” movement and the Facebook page “I will not remain quiet about harassment,” among many other movements, most of which are established by victims of harassment.
“Sexual harassment is a pathological phenomenon that was met with acceptance by the street, the law and the regime in Egypt.” That is how Hannah Kamal, a psychotherapist, life coach, yoga teacher and founder of 35B, an institution for psychological and spiritual healing, described sexual harassment.
Speaking to Al-Monitor, Kamal explained the reasons for the phenomenon of sexual harassment in Egypt. “So far, no deterrent legal convictions have been implemented against harassers, giving the impression that there’s a general acceptance of the phenomenon. Thus, the [phenomenon] has spread for the first time to universities, and a group of young men harassed a female student on the campus of Cairo University [in mid-March this year]. Surprisingly, the head of the university and some journalists criticized the victim for not dressing modestly,” she said.
Kamal told Al-Monitor that the reason behind the spread of the phenomenon is the decline in public morality, the lack of security after the January 25 Revolution, and societal acceptance of the phenomenon. She responded to those who blamed girls for not dressing modestly by saying that veiled women are being harassed, too.
