Building on my blog post from last night, I wrote an article for Ms magazine about the attack on Lara Logan and how Egypt’s next revolution should be to address street harassment and public sexual assault!
As disappointing as it is to see that street harassment is back—and even more devastating, to know through Logan’s story that so is public sexual assault—I see a glimmer of hope.
The people of Egypt, including women, know their power. I hope their next revolution will be to end gender-based harassment and assault. And I know that many there hope for the same.
After the Logan news broke, these were some of the Tweets I read:
- @cpaschyn Women rise and fight misogyny, gender violence and sexual harassment in #Egypt. Take back your country. #LaraLogan #tahrir
- @Cairo_On_a_Cone #thistimenextyear THERE WILL BE NO SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE STREETS OF #EGYPT #Jan25 #tahrir #womenrights
- @Faridahelmy next on the agenda: sexual harassment #egypt #tahrir #revolution
This morning Mohamed Safi created a Change.org petition asking Egyptians to resist sexual harassment. Ending gender-based harassment and assault is the kind of revolution that every country needs.
You can also read similar cries for a revolution to end street harassment and assault in Egypt at CNN.com and The Daily Beast.
Tom Kenis says
Thanks for posting! I’d like to add that the next revolution in Egypt shouldn’t just be about street harassment, but about the role of women in society in general. There’s a deep root of patriarchal rule hitting the brick wall of men being unable to provide for wives and families. Empowering women is both an economic necessity and a social obligation. The ‘West’ might feel it’s come a long way in this respect, but there’s a lot of ground to be covered still…
Best,
Tom