Sexual harassment in Egypt inevitable and blame falls on women victims!

Al Hayat daily brought to light yesterday the subject of harassment in Egypt which has become a normal trend facing Egyptian girls and women who grew to deal with it as an inevitable evil. According to Al Hayt, the appalling findings of surveys on the subject (100% rates) are not surprising anymore, recording one form or another of harassment on a daily basis and sometimes recurrently in one day. In this respect, the newspaper highlighted a recent study by psychology professor at the American University of Cairo, Dr. Hani Henri, entitled, ‘sexual harassment in Egyptian streets: reconsidering feminist theory’. The survey covered diverse categories of society, including, students, accountants, shop owners, workers, managers and others. As for the justifications given by the harassers, they came as such: normal behavior, everyone harasses in his own way, harassment does not infringe on anyone, the harassed girl deserves it, it is the mistake of the woman or girl, girls are legitimate sex tools, it is the consequence of female’s presence in the labor market, a punishment by God to a religiously uncommitted girl or woman who brings it upon on herself. Henri in his study pressed the need for an all-inclusive reform and revision of the current religious rhetoric which sanctions molding gender roles and promotes gender-based violence. He pointed out that challenging harassment starts with compassion and empathy on the part of the harasser towards his potential victims as a humanitarian gesture. Eradicating harassment is an arduous and long journey, Henri noted, presenting a solution focused on the following: proper education and upbringing to better understand the opposite sex, spreading community awareness on the consequences of harassment and obliteration of all forms of discrimination which inspire and expand gender gaps. (Al Hayat, March 28, 2017)