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Thursday , 30 March 2017

Vol XCIII, No. 311

Defining The Problem

Harassment

According to the survey released in April 2013 by The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women on sexual harassment, 99.3 percent of Egyptian women are sexually harassed in one way or the other, 96.5 percent of whom said that harassment was physical, and 95.5 experienced sexual harassment through verbally abusive language.

The Moral Epidemic of Egypt : 99% of Women Are Sexually Harassed

Harassment covers a wide range of behaviors of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behavior that disturbs or upsets, and it is characteristically repetitive. In the legal sense, it is behavior that appears to be disturbing or threatening. Sexual harassment refers to persistent and unwanted sexual advances, typically in the workplace, where the consequences of refusing are potentially very disadvantageous to the victim.

• In the past few years, Egypt’s streets haven’t been the most welcoming of spaces to women of all ages. Getting the simplest things done now require them to constantly think about what to wear, how to walk and when the right time is to run an errand.

• It isn’t easy when they feel that every eye is checking out their bodies. Sadly, justifications for doing so like “She was the one asking for it with her tight blouse and jeans” or “What am I supposed to do without any money to marry someone?” are still advocated and widely accepted by our society up to this day.

Sexual Harassment is complex , subtle , and highly subjective

Why is it happening ?

A Change in Perception

• Unfortunately, the heightened focus on sexual harassment did not lead to an increase of rejection from the bystanders’ point of view. According to said study, only 17.7 percent intervene upon witnessing an incident of harassment, with male respondents showing more proactivity than women on this matter.

Some attribute it to the lack of education, lack of public safety, and poverty, but there’s a major focus on the societal acceptance of sexual harassment as being one of the main drives behind its growth in our society. The streets witness a high level of tolerance towards sexual harassment especially when it comes to justifying the act.

• In addition, men’s perception towards women and harassment showed no clear signs of change. Nearly half of the male population who were involved in the study blamed women for their tight clothing when asked about the reason behind harassing them. Furthermore, 37.1 percent said that women wanted to be harassed, and were asking for it.