Debate concerned the empowerment of the more vulnerable members of Egyptian society, write Gamal Nkrumah and Mohamed El-Sayed In response to last week's opinion piece by the high- brow tycoon Tarek Heggi entitled "If I were a Copt" in which he highlighted the injustices committed against the Coptic Christian community in Egypt, Montasser El-Zayat wrote in the daily independent Al-Masry Al-Yom : "In Christian democracies, they spend on building churches from the money of Muslim taxpayers, and they don't allow Muslims to build mosques from their own money. I was in Milan last month, and I found Muslims there facing many obstacles to buy a place suitable for mosques that can accommodate prayers." Unlike Heggi who lamented the condition of Copts in Egypt, El-Zayat appears to be oblivious to the fears and concerns of Copts. He is also optimistic about their role in the decision-making process at the political level. "The Copts in Egypt are not a minority. They are partners [in the running of this country]," El-Montasser insisted. From his rose-tinted perspective, Copts enjoy all the privileges and civil liberties of Muslims. However, El-Montasser gives the impression of not always being sympathetic to the Coptic cause, resenting their lack of interest in civil society activities. "The Copts should give up their apathy towards public work. They should take part in political life as Egyptian citizens in their full capacity, the same way they put their all into business," he explained. Moreover, he charged Copts with controlling key sectors of the economy and hints that they should be grateful for their economic clout. "They monopolise certain products that are the backbone of the Egyptian economy and nobody threatened their trade... They control the backbone of the Egyptian economy while the Muslims don't show any sign of anger or anxiety." The Shura Council elections, scheduled to take place in a fortnight, featured prominently in this week's press. Mahmoud Moawwad, writing in the daily Al-Ahram, warns of the apathetic attitude of the public towards the forthcoming Upper House elections. He warned that public apathy might lead to a low turn-out. "The dangerous sign about the campaign and propaganda three weeks before the [Shura Council] elections is that people do not feel there are elections." Moawwad also warned against electoral fraud and vote-rigging. "Another dangerous indication is that these elections have become very popular among people who are professional in rigging votes and ballots, a feature expected to mar the elections again after it almost disappeared under judicial supervision [in the past parliamentary elections]". He also pointed out that electoral irregularities might lead to the populace at large losing faith in the democratic process. "It was a logical consequence that opposition parties boycott these elections since they feel unable to field their candidates in very big [geographical] constituencies." Pundits touched upon a particularly prickly question -- the sexual harassment of women on the streets of Egypt. This is a new phenomenon, the writers contend. The daily independent and liberal-leaning Nahdet Masr ran a feature centred on a study released recently by the Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights showing that 40 per cent of sexual harassment practised against women was done by touching parts of their bodies. And 30 per cent of sexual harassment was done by saying offensive remarks. The paper estimated that around 30 per cent of Egyptian women face sexual harassment on a daily basis. Some 12 per cent of women suffer from sexual harassment throughout the day. And most women don't think that the law protects them. Women of all ages and social backgrounds are harassed, the paper explained. "Harassers don't differentiate between young girls and old women." The patriarchal and male-dominated society condones such activities. Indeed, the victims are blamed for their predicament. It is generally assumed by the public that women who do not dress modestly deserve what they get. Women who dress in revealing clothes and in a provocative fashion do not deserve public sympathy. "Egyptians are apathetic and don't help women," Nahdet Masr said. The paper also stressed that the victims do not report sexual harassment, either because of fear of societal or parental retribution. "Thirty-two per cent of those who were harassed did not take any action, legal or otherwise." The legal implications of the sexual harassment of women in the streets of Egypt are dire, and point to the anti-women nature of the legal process. "Loopholes in the law... men's confidence in getting away with harassment are of the main reasons behind the phenomenon." The paper noted that new laws that protect women's rights must be promulgated. Men who sexually harass women must be severely punished, the pundits concurred. Deterrents should be instituted so that men think twice before harassing women. "There are a lot of laws that incriminate harassment but the Egyptian police do not apply these laws, especially if the harassment is verbal, not physical. There is no deterrent forcing men to change their behaviour to give up harassment." Social conservatism can be extremely oppressive as far as women are concerned. Indeed, the paper highlights the social context in which sexual harassment takes place. "The study revealed that the Egyptian society accepts the idea of harassment and forgives those who commit it because it wants to punish women for giving up their natural role of staying at home to raise children. The second reason behind this phenomenon is the high rate of unemployment and the society's look at working women as undermining men's chances of getting job opportunities. The third reason is that men don't really realise the negative, hurting impact of harassment on women. The fourth reason is the absence of a societal dialogue about sexual harassment. The fifth reason is [the authorities' failure] to administer punishment to harassers. The sixth reason is the society's call upon women to arm themselves since sexual harassment has become an ordinary occurrence."
