CAIRO - During the revolution, Egyptian women stood shoulder to shoulder with the men, demanding freedom, justice and an end to corruption. Little could they have imagined that they'd soon be demonstrating against harassment and in defence of their dignity. They have fought for the nation's freedom, but unfortunately their rights have been violated. In the early days of the revolution, it was thought that this problem had come to end, but, since then, it has resurfaced. During a demonstration outside the Cabinet building last December, a woman was beaten and had her clothes ripped off, as she was dragged along the ground; this incident encouraged many women to organise a march in protest at this shocking incident. There was a similar incident when people protested in Tahrir Square against the verdict issued in the Mubarak case on the so-called ‘Friday of Resolve', about a fortnight ago and hundreds of men assaulted a girl in Mohamed Mahmoud Street, near Tahrir. She was walking along the street with her two friends, when the men tore off her clothes. After the shocking incident, many women joined in a march against sexual harassment, in which several political currents also participated. They demanded to be treated with dignity and that men respect them, rather than looking lustfully at their bodies. They were surprised when a mob of men, who seemed to be organised, started harassing them. "How is it that women demonstrated alongside men in Tahrir, defending their country's freedom, yet they can't live freely in Egypt?" Mona Ezzat, an engineer, asks. "It's hard for any girl to tell anyone about the harassment she's suffered," Ezzat, 27, says. According to psychologists, women who have been harassed by men usually develop hostile feelings towards them. They call on society to respect females' bodies. They blame the society, which condemns any girl who dares speak up when she's suffered harassment. According to a study conducted by the Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights in 2008, over two-thirds of Egyptian women are sexually harassed every day. Society should be aware that females' bodies are not commodity and they should respect. Many initiatives designed to reduce harassment in Egypt encourage the women to speak up and go to the police if someone harasses them. They also say that women should not be made to feel ashamed when they speak up. In Egyptian society, shame based on cultural beliefs and traditions usually prevents harassed women from going to the police; instead, they just keep silent. One of these initiatives was an article entitled, 'Harassment in Egypt's streets'. The article was written by Sherin Thabet, a female blogger, who wanted to make men realise how much they hurt women's feelings when they harass them or make lewd comments about them. She published her article on Facebook and Twitter, which wrote in colloquial Arabic, in order to get as many people as possible to read it and understand her message. “Do you know that it is impossible for any girl to go out anywhere without hearing lewd comments or being harassed? Do you know that girls are usually too ashamed to tell anyone – even their mother – that they've been harassed? Do you know that all the girls in Egypt get harassed?" she asks her male readers. Sherin concluded her article asking girls to tell their stories – even if they do so under an assumed name – to let men know that they are all harassers. There are many other initiatives campaigning against harassment, such as ‘Talk' and ‘Stop Harassment', published by young people who want to fight harassment and tell girls how to deal with the problem. "I don't know what to do," says Bassant Essam (26), a pharmacist. "No girl should ever be harassed. "I just want to participate in one of these initiative to learn how to defend myself. I'm really afraid to talk, even to my mom, about what has happened to me." The National Council for Women (NCW) has been asking parliament and plans to ask the coming president to make the streets save for women and beef up the penalties for harassment. The NCW has also announced that it will offer free legal advice to any girl who has been harassed, especially in Tahrir Square and the surrounding streets. Under Mubarak's rule, women suffered similar harassment if they dared to participate in any protest against the regime, but they thought everything would change after the stunning January 25 Revolution. "I've stopped going out alone, because of the rude comments I get. I only go out with my husband now," says Yasmine Mohamed, 23. "I always wear a black abaya and pretend to be talking on my mobile, so I can't hear the nasty things men say." Fortunately, many men do sympathise with the girls who've been harassed, once they realise how much they have suffered. One of these men, a blogger called Tamer Abdel-Aziz, wrote an article entitled 'I'm a harasser', in reply to Sherin's one. In his article, he says that the solution to any problem begins with the person who's caused the problem admitting it. He therefore admitted that he was a harasser, but has decided to be a harasser no more. He says that he's counting the days since giving up harassment, to measure his success in dealing with his bad habit. “All men are harassers, even if they don't partake in the act itself, as keeping silent when they see harassment happening is just as bad," say Abdel-Aziz, addressing his fellow men. In his article, he also talks about the different ways men harass women, promising that he will never harass or annoy any girl again; nor will he ever be silent about such shameful acts. “I'm sorry for putting a mirror in front of you so you can see your filthy reality," Abdel-Aziz concludes sardonically for the benefit of his male readers. "The girls are the real cause of the problem. They laughing and talk to each other loudly, encouraging the boys to harass them," Moataz Galal (30), a civil servant, says. "They have to change their attitude and the way they dressing and then they can complain if the boys harass them. If they respect themselves they will be respected too," Galal said, putting the blame on the women. Ahmed Mansour, a 33-year-old accountant, was trying to give excuse for the harassers, saying that many young men are unemployed and therefore cannot afford to get married. At the same time, they feel sexually attracted to girls, so they start harassing them. According to a recent study issued by the National Centre for Sociological and Criminal Research, 29.7 per cent of adult males are unmarried. Meanwhile, unemployment jumped to 12 per cent in the third quarter of 2011, up from nine per cent in the same period the previous year, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS).
