Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

“Long live the struggle of Egyptian women”

By

Trigger Warning

Between June 30 and July 3, nearly 100 women were subjected to mass sexual assaults by mobs of men at Tahrir Square in Egypt, the Human Rights Watch reported.

Later on July 3, @OpAntiSH tweeted: “So far (July 3rd, 1:30 am) we got 68 reports of mob assaults, we intervened in 46, & have at least one rape case.”

Volunteers with OpAntiSH and Tahrir Body Guard have stopped scores of attacks across those days. Today they are taking the day off, gearing up for more interventions tomorrow during the political protests planned.

On top of the violence, government leaders blame WOMEN for the attacks, saying they shouldn’t be there.

In response, a coalition of groups in Egypt issued a statement yesterday, this is an excerpt:

“The undersigned organizations and groups believe that the attempts of the authorities to use the incidents of sexual assault against the women to “smear” the opposition’s demonstrations mark the rock bottom of the official rhetoric of state institutions. The Egyptian authorities have failed to interpret the violent sexual assaults against women in spaces of demonstration as an extension to years of neglecting sexual crimes against women and the usage of these crimes by successive authorities, starting from the regime of former president Hosni Mubarak up to the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood, to punish women for their presence in the public space. Rather than attempting to find solutions to the crisis of sexual assault, the Egyptian authorities use the assaults as a smearing tool against the opposition, in an attempt to portray them as a group of “thugs”.

The undersigned organizations and groups believe that the strategy of using sexual assault to “stigmatize” women demonstrators opposing Mohammed Morsi is irresponsible and will not contribute to eradicating rape and sexual assault. Sexual violence has become a stable feature of the streets of Egypt, and not necessarily associated with large crowded demonstrations. The approach adopted by the Egyptian authorities only contributes to the aggravation of the problem.

The responsibility of protecting peaceful protesters falls on the Egyptian authorities, according to international law. Egyptian authorities are also responsible for investigating incidents of sexual assault and rape, guaranteeing that perpetrators are brought to justice, and providing adequate, effective, prompt, and appropriate remedies, including the rehabilitation of survivors; which entails providing psychological care as well as legal and social services, according to international human rights law. The Egyptian authorities must bear its legal responsibility towards the survivors of sexual violence rather than using the incidents as political tools against the opposition.

Long live the struggle of Egyptian women.”

Agreed and co-signed. We stand in solidarity with Egyptian women and everyone who is working hard to make sure they are safe in public spaces!

Share

Street Harassment: Lessons from Egypt

By

The first time I ever saw an incident of street harassment in Tahrir was long before the Square had made it into world news headlines. I distinctly remember the sight of the woman holding her harasser by the collar of his shirt while packs of passersby gathered around bombarding her with implorations to let him go.

But what did he do? What do you mean he harassed you, was it just talk? Let him go! Are you really going to report him over THAT? The police will not do anything; just let him go. Harassment? That doesn’t happen here, what are you trying to get out of this poor man?

“I’ll let him go over my dead body,” she said flatly.

That afternoon, I watched this young woman literally drag her harasser all the way to the police station. I, like the gathering crowd, found the idea of reporting a harassment case to the police exasperating; at best, they would ignore her pleas to report, at worst, she would have been a laughing stock for the officers. Indeed, after a while, the man emerged from the police station, looking quite flustered but otherwise free from charges. The woman he harassed soon followed looking quite unbothered herself.

“Why did you report him knowing they will just laugh at you?” I decided to approach her and ask.

“I don’t care what they will or will not do, I wanted everyone to watch him being dragged around for harassing a woman and I wanted him to see everyone watching him,” she said.

Before the revolution, it was incredibly rare for anyone to use the term “harassment” in Egypt; they called it other things, mostly “catcalls” and even then the matter was never considered a serious problem. Only when physical assault was involved was it taken seriously.

That street harassment was not addressed as such is partially linked to the lack of political space from which we may have highlighted the issue as a human rights violation.

Then, as the January 2011 revolution took place, we saw a whole other face to street harassment. Mob attacks by the hundreds on both journalists and protestors soon made it into headlines news. All of a sudden, people started talking about street harassment as a criminal act, as something that ought to be punishable by law.

And then the fury died down as we all went back to our daily lives. The problem then was that street harassment became part of our daily routines. With the lack of order and stability that followed the revolution, physical and verbal harassment became an everyday thing for the women of Cairo. Before, harassers would carry out the deed with a sense of privacy- in isolated places, late at night etc.- tapping into the common notion that street harassment was not really a problem for Egyptians and therefore making it more difficult for us to shame the behaviour.

After 2011, street harassment became reflective of a certain power dynamic. Every major protest came with a renewed wave of attacks, often employed as a deterrence tool against political expression. But this time, we were ready. The formation of Tahrir Bodyguard, Op Anti-SH and other movements not only provided physical protection of female protestors, but also enforced the reality that Egyptian women will stop at nothing to take ownership of their streets and of their revolution.

On June 30, despite the continued brutality of sexual assault, more Egyptian women took the streets than ever. While our issues with street harassment are not resolved, our continued fight against it has come to mean one thing- that we are on the right track.

 Yasmine Nagaty is a Political Science graduate and an aspiring writer from the American University in Cairo and currently works at the Egyptian NGO Misr ElKheir. You can follow her on Twitter.

Share

Global Protest at Egyptian Embassies TODAY

By

Image via @MahaIghbaria on Twitter

After the mass sexual assault attacks on women protesters at Tahrir Square, anti-harassment activists have organized a day of outcry worldwide and invite people to gather outside Egyptian Embassies worldwide at 6 p.m. their time. Stop Street Harassment is a proud supporting group of this effort and stands in solidarity with everyone speaking out, marching, and demanding safe streets, a safe world, for women.

Learn more via their Facebook event page (on that page, you can find a list of participating countries & their event information).

“We, citizens of all nationalities all around the world, will not watch in silence the spreading epidemic of sexual terrorism. We want to show our support, solidarity and admiration for the assaulted who paid the price of the ongoing Egyptian revolution with their own flesh, and to the heroic volunteers who are risking their lives for a safe Tahrir.

Therefore on Tuesday February 12, 2013, at 6:00 pm local time, we will gather in front of the Egyptian embassy in our city/country.”

Follow the hashtag #GlobalProtestFeb12 on Twitter.

Share

Egypt: 1000s March Today, Feb 12 Protest Planned

By

Today’s Protest. Image via @Gsquare86

During the Jan. 25 protests this year in Cairo, Egypt, there were numerous instances of mob sexual violence against women (read some of their stories). Various anti-harassment groups patrolled Tahrir Square and volunteers were able to help break up most of the mobs but even still, many women required medical attention after they were safe.

Today, more than 1000 people marched in Cairo to protest the violence against women. View photos.

Anti-harassment groups are asking people worldwide to rally in front of Egyptian Embassies on Tuesday, February 12, at 6 p.m. (in whatever time zone you’re in) to protest what they see as the government’s lack of support for stopping such attacks and for perhaps hiring impoverished men to initiate attacks.

Stop Street Harassment is proud to be one of the supporting groups of this effort. If you live near an Embassy, I urge you to show your support and add your presence/voice/body to amplify these efforts.

Share

Egypt: #Jan25 Survivors Speak Out

By

Trigger Warning

On January 25, the two-year anniversary of the Egyptian Revolution, thousands of Egyptian gathered at  Tahrir Square in Cairo. Since such mass protests can be hotbeds for men to sexually harass and assault women, the collective group Operation Anti-Sexual Harassment/Assault sent members (identified by bright vests) out to patrol to prevent incidents and to help people being attacked.

It was a good thing they were there. Not including run-of-the-mill harassment, there were at least 19 cases of mob sexual violence and at least six women needed medical attention afterward. The Operation Anti-Sexual Harassment/Assault group was able to assist many of the women.

During the 10 days since the protest, they have been collecting stories from survivors and volunteers. This story from a survivor brought me to tears, here is an excerpt:

“…My pants were being pulled down again. Shortly after I saw a man, wearing one of the Operation Anti Sexual Harassment t-shirts and I started shouting louder. Luckily he saw me and made his way towards me. He grabbed me and held me and told me he would help me. He pulled me toward where I had spotted the two women and further. I fell again, the guy helped me up and I stepped into buckets of water and fell again. I got up and was surrounded by women and men of the Anti Harassment group. They asked me to sit down and wait with them….

All of this happened two days (25th of January, 2013) ago. Yesterday I was examined by a gynecologist. Luckily, I do not have any internal injuries. Just bruises and today the muscles in my entire body are hurting. When trying to recall what happened on Friday, I noticed that there must have been things happening, people saying things, etc. that I do not remember. I have barely any audio-memory, just the feeling of hands everywhere. I also don t recall any face around me.

The story of another survivor, who was a female volunteer, angers me so much:

“…My friend and I were squashed between the people and the foul cart (she was carrying the bag on her back and I was holding tightly on to the straps of the bag). She held onto me by my shoulders tightly and said calmly and reassuringly (unfortunately, this experience had happened to her before and her understanding of the situation was far calmer and better than mine) “We are being attacked right now and the most important thing is that we stay together, no matter what happens.” Nothing else mattered to her other than reassuring me, and she kept saying “We’re going to get out of this, we’re going to get out of this, don’t be scared, we’re together.” She kept repeating “We’re together, don’t separate us,” again and again. I held onto her tightly and felt all the hands groping every part of my body. After that I didn’t feel anything other than that they were pushing me. In the midst of the terrible numbers and the horrible shoving, we moved away from the foul cart (that had been protecting our backs). Suddenly we were in the middle of the street, and the five pairs of hands became many more. They were grabbing me everywhere on my body and trying to put their fingers in my behind over my pants and in the fly of my pants with the utmost violence and savagery….”

They had to use hairspray and hide in a store to get away. She says, “The attempt to terrorize us will not succeed, our anger and determination have doubled. I am truly sorry for all the girls who have experienced anything like this, I promise we will not be silent.”

Another brave volunteer shared his story on this blog a few days ago.

If you can stomach it, this video captures a mob attacking a woman. Near the end you see the Operation volunteers beating off the men. Sickening.

Everyone should have the right to protest and participate in political action without fearing for their safety, for their life. The actions of the mobs of men is inexcusable and abhorrent. I applaud the Operation team for persevering, for going into known danger and for helping so many women.

They are organizing an event this Sunday to train and prepare for future protests and events so they can do even more to protect women and stop sexual violence in the streets of Cairo. I hope even more people join them. They need all the help they can get, the problem is so vast. Tahrir Bodyguards are  organizing several self-defense classes. Contact them for information.

Share