Taking a stand over sexual harassment; New activities for “Say No To Violence” Campaign

The Daily Star newspaper published a new report yesterday about the new campaign launched by the local activist group “Say No To Violence”. The activities of this campaign are mostly directed towards women victims of sexual harassment or assault or rape, who are encouraged to raise their voice and stand up against the harasser through documented interviews. The report also indicated that the campaign has recently launched a hotline for reporting any sexual assault on the following number: 03980603.
Mirna Karouny, a feminist activist and the deputy head of the campaign, noted in her interview with “The Daily Star”, the importance of these interviews that documents sexual assaults so that they can be presented to authorities and thus help in deterring the harasser. In addition, this process encourages women to break the wall of public silence and to share their stories to in an attempt to tackle what is a widespread phenomenon.
The report also shares the stories of a couple of women victims of sexual harassment. The migrant worker “Amal” narrates how the agency’s owner schemed with her employer so the latter would rape her, after repeatedly hitting her; the she accompanied her story with pointing out to the bruises on her arms. Then the newspaper report the case of “Umm Ayman” who said that most of the sexual assaults she witnessed were at her work place and in public transportation, adding that she never thought to report any of these assaults since she has no faith in the authorities.
Source: The Daily Star 5 November 2013