Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights Archives

Egyptian Street Harasser Murders Woman

September 18, 2012 By HKearl

Trigger Warning —

In rare instances, street harassment ends in murder (here are a few examples) and sadly, that is what recently happened in Egypt. The Egyptian Centre for Women’s Rights just released this press release about it:

“The Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR) strongly condemns the horrible accident murder of a young lady who is 20 years old in Assuit via an Automatic rifle. The incident began when “Iman Mostafa Mohamed” was walking in the village’s main street with her friend, then she felt that someone touched part of her body that is considered a sexual assault, so she spit on his face and insulted him and said: “I will get my rights back..I will get my rights back against your will.”

Therefore, he pushed her to the ground and kicked her; then he shot her before she rises and she died in a matter of few minutes. This is terrible crime happened within the increase of sexual harassment which is considered a cancer that should be treated as soon as possible.

Based upon ECWR’s close monitoring of the phenomenon and noting the increase in the percentage of sexual harassment crimes, ECWR sent a law draft to President Mohamed Morsy on Monday 27 August 2012 in order for him to adopt the law draft of criminalizing sexual harassment for the year 2012 by amending the No.58 of 1937 and no response was received. Additionally, the law draft was sent several times to the elected councils with no response as well.

It should be noted that the law draft was developed through continuous efforts for three years on behalf of the legal personnel, security personnel, civil society representatives and activists. This law draft was developed based on two studies; the first, “sexual harassment is a social cancer” where the sample of 3000 women mentioned that they were harassed at least once before.

As per the second, “Clouds in Egypt’s Sky” of 50% women and 50% men sample where 83% of the Egyptian women said that they were harassed and 63% of the Egyptian men mentioned that they sexually harassed at least one time before.

This is a serious indicator concerning women’s safety in the streets, as this phenomenon of sexual harassment is leading to murder crimes.

Consequently, the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights ECWR demands voluntarily defending the victim and asking the state to take the necessary and strict procedures by:

Fair and quick trial of the murderer, so that the Egypt’s streets shall not turn into a violent environment like street wars.

Passing the suggested law of sexual harassment that was sent before to President Mohamed Morsy in order to adopt it as part of his legislative authorities that were passed to him due to the absence of the legislative council.”

It’s horrible that she was murdered simply for standing up for herself. What a terrible, senseless end to her young life.

Her story shows the seriousness of street harassment and it illustrates how a woman can never be sure what kind of reaction will escalate the situation. Maybe in another situation, her response would have scared or embarrassed the harasser and caused him to leave or apologize. The onus really should not be on women to have to figure out in a split second what will be the “best” response, the one that will keep them from getting spit on, chased, called a “bitch,” assaulted or murdered. (And for those who may say, well her angry response provoked him, first that is victim-blaming and second, other murders by street harassers have occurred when the woman ignored them!) The onus should be on men to not harass and on bystanders and society at large to work on prevention efforts and hold harassers accountable.

Until there is a cultural shift so that street harassment is no longer dismissed, trivialized, or blamed on the harassed person, street harassment will continue. Will a law criminalizing it help spur a cultural shift? Maybe. But Egypt’s political landscape is unstable so it seems unlikely it will be enforced. I would bet that the citizens who are taking it upon themselves to patrol for harassers will have more of an impact right now than an unenforced law.

ECWR says no to women-only taxis in Egypt

July 28, 2011 By HKearl

Via Al-Masry Al-Youm

“The Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights on Wednesday rejected a project approved by Local Development Minister Mohamed Attiya to designate taxis exclusively for women in an attempt to counter sexual harassment.

The project would be implemented over three stages, starting with 15 taxis in each coastal city at a cost of LE15 million.

In a statement, the center said the project pulls Egypt 100 years backwards, isolates women within society and hinders their freedom of movement. It warned that the concept could be extended to include universities, workplaces and public places.”

Agreed. The Egyptian Centre for Women’s Rights rejected the introduction of women-only taxis in Alexandria, Egypt last year, too. Countries like Lebanon and Mexico already have women-only taxis to prevent drivers from sexual harassment or assaulting female passengers.

Watching Egypt

March 8, 2010 By HKearl

I’ve never been to Egypt, but I have been fascinated by it ever since the sixth grade when we spent a substantial part of social studies learning about ancient Egypt. Today it’s more than the pyramids and the Nile which capture my interest. Each day I scan the news to see if there are any new developments regarding street harassment activism and legislation there.

The Egyptian Centre for Women’s Rights (ECWR) has made street harassment, or public sexual harassment, as they refer to it, one of their central activism issues. As we talk about equal rights on an international level for International Women’s Day, I can think of no group I’d rather highlight than them.

Women never will achieve equal rights until they can access public places free of harassment and assault. Because of the tireless work of the ECWR, the Egyptian Parliament is considering new legislation that would ban sexual harassment at work, in public, online, and through mobile devices. This is groundbreaking legislation that will help change the cultural acceptance of harassment, deter the behavior, and give women recourse. I am eagerly waiting to see if it will pass. If/when it does, I hope it can serve as a model for the U.S. and other countries to follow.

How did the ECWR get to this point?

Because of the sharp increase in the number of women sharing their experiences with public harassment and a lack of societal awareness of the problem, in 2005 the ECWR launched an anti-sexual harassment campaign called “Making Our Street Safer for Everyone.” Volunteers are the driving force of ECWR’s campaign. They meet monthly to discuss ideas and plan initiatives.

Initially, ECWR conducted informal, voluntary surveys of over 2,000 people. An overwhelming number of female respondents said sexual harassment was part of their daily life. Eighty-three percent of women said men had sexually harassed them and 62 percent of men admitted to perpetrating sexual harassment. Fewer than two percent of women reported going to the police for help. ECWR published their results in a 2008 report “Clouds in Egypt’s Sky, Sexual Harassment: from Verbal Harassment to Rape.” The report garnered lots of attention in Egypt and around the world. Next, ECWR organized several forms of public awareness, including:

Distributing flyers with information like definitions of harassment, existing laws, how to file a police report, and how to campaign on the issue.
Creating public service radio announcements about sexual harassment.
Staging an anti-sexual harassment demonstration with 250 women and men on the steps of the Press Syndicate.
Holding press conferences and public awareness days at cultural centers, institutions, and hotels. Events have featured presentations and discussions on Egypt’s sexual harassment laws, women’s image in the media, the sociological and psychological impacts of harassment, group discussions on how to address the problem, self defense workshops, and live music and relevant films.

ECWR has been reaching out to youth, too, by training teachers and social workers to sensitize them to the issues of public sexual harassment and helping them know how to discuss the issues with their students. They recently released an animated five minute educational film and workbook for teachers to further help facilitate school discussions, including through painting and coloring. The resources teach children to trust others but to be careful and aware of inappropriate behavior and to learn the difference between appropriate and inappropriate language.

In addition to their (hopefully) pending success of working with Parliament to pass new legislation against sexual harassment, the efforts of ECWR has led to other types of activism and initiatives:

Since 2008, the number of girls and young women taking self defense classes has shot up.
Women began using an audio blogging station, Banat wa Bas, to share their harassment stories and vent their frustrations.
Kelmetna, a magazine for youth, launched a campaign called “Respect yourself: Egypt still has real men” with weekly seminars, self defense classes, and street concerts to raise awareness. There are over 53,000 members of their Facebook group.
In late 2008, the Egyptian government issued public service announcements warning that public harassment is bad for tourism.
Over the summer of 2009, the Egyptian government distributed a book on sexual harassment to mosques nationwide.
In December 2009, leaders from 17 countries near Egypt met in Cairo for a conference to discuss public sexual harassment.

Anyone who is working to fight street harassment can learn a lot from the ECWR and their efforts. I will continue to watch their initiatives and outcomes. I hope that because of activists like them, one day women will have equality in public places in every country, and consequently, equality with men in general.

Draft anti-sexual harassment law presented to Egyptian parliament

January 6, 2010 By HKearl

For months I’ve read how Egyptian activists and lawmakers have been working on a new law against sexual harassment (including on the streets and other public places) and this week it was finally introduced.

“A draft of the law presented to the parliament’s legislative committee on Monday recommended that punishment should be at least one year in prison and or a fine of 1,000 Egyptian pounds (Dh666). The legislation is based on a 2008 study by the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR) that found 83 per cent of Egyptian women and 98 per cent of foreign women had been sexually harassed, usually on the street or on public transport. A large number of men – 62 per cent – even admitted to being or having been perpetrators of sexual harassment….

‘We need to redefine the meaning of sexual harassment, which is lacking in Egypt’s current criminal code, and include sexual harassment in the workplace – not only in public places – and transportation, and mobile and internet sexual harassment as well,’ said Mohammed Khalil Qoueita, the deputy of parliament’s foreign affairs committee, who is behind the new law.

There is no current law that mentions or defines sexual harassment, while a colonial-era law from 1937 speaks vaguely of violation of honour and morals.

‘One of the reasons sexual harassment is widespread is that there is no deterrent law against those who do it,’ Mr Qoueita said. ‘We need to create a culture of women having the courage to go to police when they are sexually harassed.’ In that way, women can regain respect and fight against a culture in which men look down on them.”

I hope it passes, though I wonder if the year in prison punishment is harsh enough that women will be too worried to report harassers? Thoughts? What would be a fair punishment?

I wonder what would happen in the US if there was a similar study to the one the ECWR’s conducted? Or even if each state conducted one? Studies about harassment on public transportation in Chicago and New York City have led to policy changes, so I think there’s a good chance that such studies could make a difference.

300 cases of sexual harassment over Adha

December 2, 2009 By HKearl

Over the recent Adha holiday in Egypt, there were about 300 reported cases of sexual harassment in public spaces against women, varying from verbal taunts to assaults.

Last year over the Septemeber holiday Fitr, 150 men and boys were arrested for a harassing spree in the streets of Mohandeseen in Cairo. A few of the men who assaulted girls and cut their clothes were taken to court and one was sentenced to a year in jail.

While the sexual harassment of women in public spaces in Egypt is a major problem and one which the Egyptian Centre for Women’s Rights brought to light last year, the problem is increasingly becoming associated with feast holidays. The LA Times reports that contributing factors may be that thousands of people enjoy spending their free time outdoors, younger generations face less-strict scrutiny from their parents during feasts, and police security is usually softer than it is throughout the rest of the year.

In good news, women’s rights groups have worked with Georgette Kellini, a Member of Parliament for the ruling National Democratic Party, to prepare a draft law for sexual harassment that Kellini will introduce in the next session. The new law would legally define the harassment and it would include a number of deterring penalties for perpetrators. Hopefully it will pass and help people realize sexual harassment is unacceptable, including during holidays!