Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Anti-Harassment Day in Egypt

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egyptian-women-protestVia GlobalVoices: April 18 has been marked as an anti-harassment day in Egypt with a call for Egyptian women to be able to move around safely in their own country.

What’s sparked this protest is the acquittal of blogger Asser Yasser‘s street harassers. I hadn’t heard about her case before and I have had a hard time finding anything about it or her in English (and google translate really hasn’t been useful). I finally found a blog post from February which told how the female residents of Asser’s household were street harassed by their new home in the Mokattam area and when Asser was too, she filed a formal report.

“On her way home, some teenagers in parked cars that reeked of hash used cuss words, followed her, tried to grab her, encircled her with their vehicles, and the poor woman and her niece felt trapped. People looked from their balconies and no one lifted a finger to help her. She called the police from her mobile phone as she stood there in utter terror and shortly after officer Mohab came to her rescue. He was almost run down by the fleeing cars.”

I can’t find any other info until the GlobalVoices entry that says the harassers were recently acquitted.

Please post in the comments if you know more about this case and/or what all will be happening on April 18 in protest.

There’s also a Facebook campaign about it, though it’s all in Arabic.

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Egyptian Women Blog

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Banat wa Bas is the first audio blogging station for girls, photo from alarabiya.net
Banat wa Bas is the first audio blogging station for girls, photo from alarabiya.net

Another post about Egypt!  This time about a women-only audio blogging station where women can talk about street harassment. Via Al Arabiya News Channel:

“A women-only audio blogging station has become one of Egypt’s most popular censorship-free forums for women intent on tackling taboo issues of gender inequality and street harassment…

Launched nine months ago by Amani Tunsi, 25-year-old computer science graduate, the blog offers young Egyptian women public space to tell their stories, share pictures and vent about daily frustrations without risking their identity.

It also offers a show called Mosh Kol al-Teir (Not all the Birds) that probes the different harassment methods and tricks guys use to pick up girls.

Bloggers have been at the forefront of the movement against sexual harassment, pioneering coverage of sexual aggression against women and leading campaigns like Kulna Laila (We are all Laila) to raise awareness and create solidarity among women bloggers.”

Ah, here is another example of the power of the Internet to help women share their stories and work for their rights.  Use your Internet access to share your street harassment stories on this blog &  raise awareness of the problem globally. Submit to: stopstreetharassmentATyahooDOTcom.

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Applauding Activists in Egypt and India

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In recognition of International Women’s Day, here’s a taste of the latest street harassment activism occurring in Egypt and India.

The Egyptian Centre for Women’s Rights has been engaged in a widespread campaign to end the sexual harassment of women in the country, including on the streets (street harassment). Last year they conducted and published a study about the high rate of harassment that made headlines around the world and, combined with two high profile street harassment cases last year, may lead to better laws this year. Currently, they are preparing to launch a HarassMap project later in 2009:

“This project will implement a system in Egypt for reporting incidences of sexual harassment via SMS messaging. This tool will give women a way to anonymously report incidences of sexual harassment as soon as they happen, using a simple text message from their mobile phone. By mapping these reports online, the entire system will act as an advocacy, prevention, and response tool, highlighting the severity and pervasiveness of the problem.”

When my life settles down some, I’d be very interested in trying out something similar in the U.S.! take-back-the-night-3809

In India, where street harassment is also a huge problem, Blank Noise activists have been engaged in various forms of activism against street harassment for years. Tonight they are holding a Taking Back the Night event:

“We are Taking Back The Night because we want to feel safe in our city. We are taking back the night because for too long our relationship with our city has been fear based. We Take Back the Night with you…Take Back The Night invites individuals, organisations, collectives, groups all to reclaim their city streets at night….Join us to intervene in the neighbourhoods where recent attacks on women took place. Pick a neighbourhood and call the coordinator for location details. Volunteers will hand out testimonials; engage with the public in discussion examining how we can act against violence (bystander ‘polls’ have been made and printed already to trigger discussion); drive people to the street theatre performances by Maraa in the Indiranagar, Ulsoor locations.”

I applaud both organizations for their amazing work to make public places safer for women in their countries.

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New Egyptian Harassment Law?

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Two high profile street harassment cases and the publication of a major report on street harassment issued by the Cairo-based Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights in 2008 may bring about positive change this year for ending the harassment of women.

According to Women’s E News, when Egypt’s new parliament meets this month, it’s anticipated that some members will propose a law to strengthen penalties against sexual offenders (including street harassers) by increasing jail time and fines and it will put more pressure on police to stop incidents and take the concerns of targets seriously.

“I am optimistic the new year will be better for women, especially with a new law expected to be passed.” – Nehad Abu Komsan, head of the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights.

On the flip side, and not unlike elsewhere in the world, some people in Egypt are determined to disbelieve or downplay the high levels of street harassment.  Notably, in November, women’s rights supporter first lady Suzanne Mubarak said on TV:

“Egyptian men always respect Egyptian women…This gives the impression that the streets in Egypt are not safe. That is not true . . . the media have exaggerated…Maybe one, two or even 10 incidents occurred. Egypt is home to 80 million people. We can’t talk of a phenomenon. Maybe a few scatterbrained youths are behind this crime.”

Right, a few scatterbrained youth are behind the frequent harassment of 98 percent of foreign women and 83 percent of Egyptian women in a 2,000 person sample…

But the good thing is that there is a dialogue occurring on this topic and people are becoming more aware that it’s a problem to the extent that parliament may introduce and pass an anti-harassment law. We’ll see what happens!

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Prison for Street Harasser in Egypt

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Street harassment in Egypt is in the news a lot lately, and this week the BBC reports on yet another newsworthy street harassment story about a harasser who is receiving a prison sentence.

In June, Noha Rushdi Saleh was repeatedly groped and harassed by the defendant while she was walking down the street. Passers-by told her not to go to the police and some blamed her for provoking the attack [surely any woman would love to be groped while minding her own business in public]. She had to literally drag the man to the police station and initially the police refused to open an investigation. The man was found guilty recently and has been jailed for three years with hard labor and must pay 5,001 Egyptian pounds to Ms. Saleh for the attack.

The BBC reports: “The case was taken up by the Badeel opposition daily, which blamed Egypt’s oppressive government, and ‘the majority of citizens who identified with the oppressor’, and ‘decades of incitement against women’ in some mosques …”

“Egyptian women’s rights campaigners have praised the judge for handing down what is being seen as a harsh, exemplary sentence.”

The article also reports something I missed in the news:

“In an unusual development earlier in October, eight men were arrested in Cairo for allegedly taking part in a mob-style sexual attack on women pedestrians.

The attack, during the Eid holiday, was reminiscent of an incident in 2006 during the same holiday which marks the end of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.

On both occasions, witnesses reported that police officers were present but did nothing to protect women who were violently groped and had some of their clothing torn off.”

Thoughts? Was a jail sentence too harsh? Not harsh enough? Just right? I’m glad Ms. Saleh had the courage to fight him, report him, and fight the police to eventually receive justice.

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