There have been several articles lately about harassment and anti-harassment efforts in many countries around the Mediterranean and Red Seas —
1. Palestine: “There are many untold stories about sexual harassment in Gaza, home to 1.7 million Palestinians. In a conservative society such as Gaza’s, female victims of sexual harassment seldom speak out, and when she does, society usually places the blame on her. [After her harassment experience was caught on video tape], although Hamas-affiliated media hid Abu Salama’s face due to such concerns, she bravely disclosed her identity on her Facebook page, acknowledging that she was the person videotaped. “I’m not the one who should feel ashamed, only him and everyone like him,” read Abu Salama’s post.”
2. Saudi Arabia: “A video purporting to show a group of men sexually harassing women in an eastern province of Saudi Arabia sparked outrage on Wednesday on social media. It led many social media users to call for harsher laws punishing sexual harassment in the kingdom. The video shows a group of men chasing women in what seems to be a car park, with an apparent scuffle going on between the two groups.”
3. Libya: “Sexual harassment of women is increasing in Libya and women complain that combined with the general lawlessness in the country their daily lives are becoming more of an ordeal and perilous. It was bad under former Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi with men jostling, groping and pestering women in shops, universities and offices and demanding sex but since his ouster two years ago harassment has worsened, say activists and ordinary women.”
4. Lebanon: “Mirna Karouny said verbal abuse was the most common type of harassment in Lebanon, adding that it was almost impossible for a woman to walk through the street in Beirut without being subjected to sexualized language. The trend is also visible in malls and other public venues. She said that overcrowding in Beirut, the increase in the refugee population and the general lack of security in the country was contributing to the rise of cases. As a result, she said, local non-governmental organizations and civil society can only do so much – authorities and security agencies must also do their job.”
5. Egypt: “I Saw Harassment said in a report on Friday that a total of 65 incidents of sexual violation were stopped during Eid Al-Adha, including two cases of mob harassment… A four day long campaign called Warriors against Harassment was activated by the I Saw Harassment initiative on Tuesday, the first day of Eid Al-Adha and ran until Friday. I Saw Harassment had said that during the religious holiday it would “be providing awareness and spreading the concepts of equality and renunciation of violence.”
