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Learning Self Defense in Egypt
The BBC reports that the attendance of Egyptian girls and women in martial arts training classes is on the rise.
“Instructor Redo Fathy says it is now incumbent on every woman to protect herself from the unwelcome advances of Egyptian men. ‘The girls face a lot of problems,’ he said. ‘Especially the teenagers that attend high school. Some of them have long distances to travel.’ …
‘I was on my way home from school and I was attacked – I didn’t know what to do,’ Shaza Saeed, 14, said. ‘But now I have learnt how to defend myself so I am not afraid any more. I think every girl should go to self-defense classes like this.’”
The startling survey results of the Egyptian Centre for Women’s Rights and a high profile sexual harassment case last year has raised awareness about the issue. There’s even legislation under consideration in parliament that would make sexual harassment a crime and make it easier for women to report it.
“But the women in the karate class say it will require a more concerted effort from Egyptian society, and a backlash from men themselves, if they are to win on the street the honour and respect they are afforded in the dojo.”
Ditto that here in the U.S.
If you’re interested in taking a self defense class, check out the links on the right under “Self Defense Resources” or contact your local community center or YMCA/YWCA to see if they host any. I’m excited to attend my first self defense class through Defend Yourself on April 18 in Washington, DC. The focus is dealing with street harassers.
"Compliment Guys" at Purdue
“Tired of people being so down in the dumps amid the worst economy in decades, [Purdue University] sophomores Cameron Brown and Brett Westcott—better known as the “Compliment Guys”—have taken it upon themselves to cheer up the campus. From 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. every Wednesday, they stand outside the chemistry building in the shadow of the university’s Bell Tower with their ‘Free Compliments’ sign.” Read the full article at the Chicago Tribune.
Kate Harding over at Salon.com’s Broadsheet writes, “I don’t doubt that Brown and Westcott’s intentions are pure — they sound like friendly young men trying to do a nice thing. And several people interviewed, male and female, said they enjoy the Compliment Guys. But still, if their reasoning for doing this is that “not enough people do nice things anymore,” I can think of a zillion ways for them to give back to their community that don’t involve mimicking street harassment, with only a sign to distinguish them from the jerks who will turn around and call you a fat fucking skank if you don’t act sufficiently flattered.”
I agree with Kate that it’s a tough call deciding if their behavior is appropriate or not. Most people in the Chicago Tribune article said they liked the compliments. But as I’ve said before, even if it’s a “compliment,” not everyone wants to be shouted at or commented on. If it was my campus, I’d probably avoid the area where they stand on Wednesday afternoons. I’d feel more comfortable if they were standing with signs with positive messages or they could hand out gender-neutral, person-neutral messages – “enjoy your day,” “good luck in class,” “have a nice afternoon” instead of loudly calling attention to certain aspects or characteristics of a person passing by. But maybe I’m just more introverted than most.
What are your thoughts?
“Compliment Guys” at Purdue
“Tired of people being so down in the dumps amid the worst economy in decades, [Purdue University] sophomores Cameron Brown and Brett Westcott—better known as the “Compliment Guys”—have taken it upon themselves to cheer up the campus. From 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. every Wednesday, they stand outside the chemistry building in the shadow of the university’s Bell Tower with their ‘Free Compliments’ sign.” Read the full article at the Chicago Tribune.
Kate Harding over at Salon.com’s Broadsheet writes, “I don’t doubt that Brown and Westcott’s intentions are pure — they sound like friendly young men trying to do a nice thing. And several people interviewed, male and female, said they enjoy the Compliment Guys. But still, if their reasoning for doing this is that “not enough people do nice things anymore,” I can think of a zillion ways for them to give back to their community that don’t involve mimicking street harassment, with only a sign to distinguish them from the jerks who will turn around and call you a fat fucking skank if you don’t act sufficiently flattered.”
I agree with Kate that it’s a tough call deciding if their behavior is appropriate or not. Most people in the Chicago Tribune article said they liked the compliments. But as I’ve said before, even if it’s a “compliment,” not everyone wants to be shouted at or commented on. If it was my campus, I’d probably avoid the area where they stand on Wednesday afternoons. I’d feel more comfortable if they were standing with signs with positive messages or they could hand out gender-neutral, person-neutral messages – “enjoy your day,” “good luck in class,” “have a nice afternoon” instead of loudly calling attention to certain aspects or characteristics of a person passing by. But maybe I’m just more introverted than most.
What are your thoughts?
When your harasser is a customer or client
After the Rose Bowl, football player Rey Maualug went up behind Erin Andrews, a sideline reporter for the ESPN College Football Saturday telecast, and did a sexual sort of dance – without touching her – before walking on past.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ds-Mrp0wl4]
Reading comments in the blogosphere, it is clear that (like lots of other kinds of harassment) many people saw nothing wrong with this behavior. I disagree because she obviously didn’t know it was happening and he wasn’t about to inform her, thus it was in no way a mutual sort of celebration, but one he enforced on her without her permission or awareness.
As both individuals are known to each other, I wouldn’t exactly classify his actions as street harassment or public harassment, which I tend to define as harassment between strangers in public, but I don’t know that it quite qualifies as workplace sexual harassment either.
This example illustrates a very pervasive kind of harassment that many women deal with in their jobs — harassment by customers or clients (and in this case, the people being interviewed or reported on for a story). What can someone do about a sexually harassing customer s/he is supposed to be serving without jeopardizing her/his job?
I worked in a few retail jobs as a teenager and I had my fair share of getting “hit on” by male customers (most of whom were years to decades older than me). What could I do but giggle nervously and just hope they would go away soon? The customer is always right, right?
I just did a quick online search for any information on sexual harassment by customers, and among the few webpages I found included this: “Q: Does sexual harassment law apply to harassment by customers? A:Yes, as long as the employer knows about the offensive behavior and has a chance to fix the problem. Customer harassment is a lot like co-worker harassment. Until you speak up, the employer may not have enough reason to suspect that the company’s client is harassing you and making your job miserable.”
But how many employers are in the position to regulate customers? Unless someone is threatening or stalking an employee, in which case I could see an employer banning that person from the area, what would an employer do? Tell the customer to stop “flirting with” or harassing its employees? Will they risk losing a customer when they can probably easily find another hourly worker who won’t complain?
Have you experienced sexual harassment from customers, clients & non-coworkers/supervisors while on the job? Do you know about legal remedies for dealing with it or is it in the same realm as street harassment and is something we’re all supposed to “live with”?