CAIRO: The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence started on the 25th of November, in conjunction with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and ends on the 10th of December, in conjunction with Human Rights Day. These 16 days represent a clear reminder that gender-based violence has great economic and social effects on all members of the society. It does not only weaken the equality between men and women, but also negatively affects on the ability of women to obtain health care and education and her participation on political and economic levels. ECWR launched a public campaign with the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), in cooperation with Cairo University and a number of partners of research centers, civil society organizations and governmental and UN institutions to develop and enhance women's status in Egypt through a world free of violence. The campaign is a starting point to launch a global program in Egypt, Ecuador, India, Papua New Guinea, and Rwanda called “Safe Cities…Cairo is Safe for All” on the 22nd of November. The ceremony that was held at Cairo University began with a performance by “Wust elBalad” and “I Am Egyptian” bands. Then a film on children's sexual harassment entitled “Very Important Film”, which was made by ECWR, was screened. Mrs. Nehad Abul Komsan, the head of ECWR, declared that the project of “Safe Cities” aims to create a safe atmosphere and a society free from violence in order to enhance women's standard of living in Egypt. Moreover, she stated that the program focuses on combating sexual harassment against women in public and in the workplace. This celebration marked the beginning of a campaign aiming towards cultural, behavioral, and social change. One of the reasons why ECWR held such a celebration is that sexual harassment occurs frequently, especially during Eid holidays. The Egyptian newspapers reported on the first day of Eid that police stations in Cairo, Giza, Helwan and Alexandria reported 600 cases of sexual harassment. 267 of such cases were in Cairo, 37 cases in Helwan, 110 cases in Giza and 165 cases in Alexandria. ECWR is thus seeking to hold a discussion on a draft resolution to combat sexual harassment, in which all concerned civil society organizations and legislators would participate, which the aim of enacting a law that guarantees security, women's rights in privacy and freedom, and respect for public freedoms. The large number of accidents that represent the most distinguished forms of violence against women and girls lead to thinking of a new means of reporting on such violations as soon as possible, saving their victims, and arresting the sexual harassers. Thus, there is a new technology of sexual harassment map “HarassMap” to report sexual harassment cases (http://harassmap.org/) launched by a group of volunteers. This technology is still in its testing stage. This website allows women to report sexual harassment as soon as it happens. These reports are immediately uploaded to a digital map of Cairo that shows the dangerous places where women should not walk alone. This information is exchanged with activists, the media and the Ministry of Interior. This website is specialized at collecting and spreading reports on sexual harassment to which women are exposed to in Cairo. The volunteer founders of this website do not expect to solve the problem of sexual harassment, but they hope that this project will raise public awareness, which in turn will help solve this problem that affects all Egyptian women. The website “Ushahidi”, which was used for the first time to report violence after the elections in Kenya in 2008, relies on maps to show where violence takes place. This program allows women to send a report if she is exposed to sexual harassment through SMS to 20129876543 or via Facebook or twitter or to the e-mail http://harassmap.org/reports/submit. The report includes the place where the harassment took place and its kind, and then women receive a report from the website with the information of support and advice on how to report the harassment to police. BM
