Is Egypt doing enough to counter widespread sexual harassment?
Although a number of recent developments offer hope to Egyptian women that efforts to combat sexual harassment are working, change is slow.
An Egyptian TV talk show host who slammed a sexual assault survivor, blaming her for provoking the attack by “dressing immodestly,” has been sentenced to one year in prison.
Reham Saeed’s conviction is a milestone ruling in a country where sexual harassment and assault is so commonplace that it has been described by rights groups as “endemic” and where, for decades, survivors have been stigmatized and blamed for provoking the assaults. Rights activists believe the recent court decision is the result of social media pressure after thousands of activists launched a relentless online campaign using Arabic hashtags that translate to #dieReham and #prosecuteRehamSaeed.
The outcry also prompted an advertising boycott and the subsequent suspension of the show by the management of the privately owned al-Nahar network.
The outpouring of anger came after Somaya Tarek had appeared on Saeed’s show to complain about an alleged sexual assault incident that had taken place in a Cairo mall in October and the police’s failure to arrest the attacker. Rather than condemn the incident and call for the attacker to be held accountable, Saeed instead suggested that the woman herself was to blame, asking her, “Do you think you were dressed appropriately?”
