This is cross-posted with permission from Yomna’s Voice.
The more invested you become in something, the harder it becomes to write about it. You start typing and erasing, unimpressed as nothing seems to give the topic the justice it deserves. The topic in question is Sexual harassment in the streets of Egypt. I figured that I will not be able to give it the justice it deserves, but to give it something is better than to keep getting stuck in the unachievable-perfection-of writing rut.
You know you are approaching the edge of a cliff when a society starts to normalize an epidemic. False, sexual harassment should never be labeled as or compared to epidemics, for epidemics are often uncontrollable and stem out of micro-organisms that are beyond one’s control in the direct sense of the word. Sexual harassment, on the other hand, is one hundred percent controlled by human beings and their actions. I will not ignore the fact that sexual harassment is sometimes inflicted by women, on other women or men. But, for the sake of the here and now, I would like to focus on sexual harassment of females, I cannot say women for it is directed at ten year olds at times, on the hands of males.
Let me start by a friendly reminder that sexual harassment is not rape and solely rape. Any unwanted, derogatory and invasive sexual comment or touch is a form of sexual harassment, and for more detailed information on that, you can check any of the widely available dictionaries. When a female walks in the street and gets showered with unwanted commentary about her body or what she can be doing with it, this is sexual harassment! When street vendors “accidentally” brush their hands against little girls’ bodies, this is sexual harassment. When a soldier on duty whistles, moans and overtly touches himself when a female walks in front of him, it is sexual harassment indeed! These images are beyond prevalent that they have been normalized and accepted. It is now a female’s duty to avoid walking in the street and if she walks the streets of Cairo by choice, then she has brought it upon herself, she was asking for it.
Now, how about the majority of Egyptian women and girls who have to walk from one district to another for school and for work and for everyday kind of interactions? Well, you see, they must be dressed provocatively and their immodesty paired with excessive parading around that is causing males to sexually fantasize about them and verbalize it, or act upon it. And girls ought to be chaperoned by brothers and husbands, shouldn’t they be? And if you are old enough to have a fiancée or a husband but you don’t, then your morals are probably questionable and you are probably deserving of this harassment!
Newsflash number one, I do not know a single female who has never been sexually harassed in Egypt at any point in her life (generally, it is uncountable to tell you the truth). If you do not believe me or you find this astonishing, although it shouldn’t be, ask any female around you. So, in accepting the few premises lined up above you are accepting that your own family members are to blame and that they are either morally questionable, immodest in their attire or that they choose to be present in situations where sexual harassment might occur when they could avoid it. If you want to blame the victims, then rest assured that you will be blaming your own mothers, sisters, daughters, cousins and every other female that you know. Or perhaps we are facing a moral, I hate to use this word but, epidemic? Perhaps all Egyptian females are morally corrupt and the generations to come are doomed?
We are facing a moral crisis indeed, and a crisis of logical inferences to add to the list. We are facing the crisis of a nation that finds it acceptable to blame victims of sexual harassment for their offenders’ mistakes, lack of self-control and the love of exerting control and power stemming and growing from a knowledge that they are invincible and untouchable. And the vicious cycle keeps on going and growing! Once words and touches become normalized, it is ok to push the limits further and to try harder. Gradually, the touches are not stealthily anymore; they are seen, felt and dominating. Suddenly, buses are a space for crowding with females for sexual release. Suddenly, shoving a defenseless girl in a car to throw her at the corner of the next street when you are done is not far-fetched anymore. And suddenly, girls and women are responsible victims whose best bet are to pray that no one sees and walk away in silence shaking off the words and touches before anyone else notices.
And society is still nothing but silent, still defending the aggressor and putting the blame on the victim. Dare she seek help from forces of power, she will be dissuaded with a speech about honour and how she would be harming her reputation if she speaks up, if she is known and is no longer just another face in the uncountable pool of those sexually harassed. Think of your future, your potential future husband, they say. Do you want to ruin your future, they threaten. And somehow the responsibility is placed within her palms. And the worst you can do is to question or try to change things. In a moment of frustration, I once armed myself with my earphones and ipod and went for a walk, blocking hurtful words out while not giving up my right to use my feet and walk to the mall nearby. I sought well-lit streets for safety, ran my errand and did not have to hear penetrating words that often cut deeper than knives. I thought my day was a success until I got attacked by others for doing so, females too. How dare me try and change the “system”, why am I living in a dream and behaving like a teenager, I can’t change the society and the community I am in and I am only a visitor why do I care. And we wonder why sexual harassment is increasing and why is it that women are not getting the protection they deserve by right. And we wonder why Esraa Mohamed was attacked from behind with acids and attacked further for publicizing it and for being immodest. And we wonder why sexual harassment has passed the line of discomfort and is now way into the zone of danger and safety.
We are facing a moral and an ethical epidemic! We are facing a collective lack of conscience. We are facing a deficiency and an inability to uphold justice on a personal as well as state level. We are facing a severe regression, not in women’s rights, no, but in human rights and laws. When a thief plans his robbery well in fear of being caught but a sexual aggressor boasts about his impulsive plans, don’t ever come and tell me that feminism is dead.
Yomna Khaled is a Canadian woman with a deep passion for women’s rights and the issue of sexual harassment who grew up in Egypt until she was 15 years old. Follow her work on her blog.
