It is the stark reality facing women on the streets of Egypt: harassment, groping, sexual violence and sometimes rape are a daily occurrence for thousands of women, young and old, veiled or not. There has been an upsurge in the amount of commentary appearing in local Egyptian newspapers in recent days on the topic of sexual harassment and sexual violence in the country. Most of it quite poor, missing the reality that faces women in the country, and more importantly attempting to argue this violence is a result of a number of factors – sexual frustration, economics, etc. The fact of the matter is Egyptian men are attempting to fight a future when they no longer dominate society, daily life and “their women.” It is often talked about how Egyptian women in the 1970s wore skirts and were not veiled. That may be true, but the country at that time was half the size and Cairo was a tiny version of the metropolis it is today. Now, in 2011, there are millions of women on the streets on a daily basis. They are going to work, and are often the bosses of their male counterparts. Think expectations. Men are brought up with the freedom to do as they want, go where they want and be free. They are rarely punished for their actions and have a keen sense of “protecting” their sisters and female relatives. It is promoted for men to sleep around, but for a woman to have one partner is tantamount to being a “whore.” Things have been changing on the sexual side of things in the country. The argument that Egyptians are sexually frustrating is not well founded. Egyptians have sex. Let's get over that one and move on to the real problem – women becoming leaders in society. In the past decade, women in the Egyptian workforce has seen a steady increase. They are graduating from university, and unlike many of their mother's and grandmother's generation, they are going to work. They are well qualified and have taken up administrative roles in major companies across Egypt. The men don't like this, but in the office there is little they are able to do. Dalia Ziada, a leading Egyptian commentator and award-winning contributor to Bikya Masr, and I discussed this fact last year. She said that as women achieve more leadership positions “men are going to get angry.” And this is exactly what is happening today. Fighting the future female revolution that is inevitable in Egypt, men are turning to ages old tactics of rape, harassment and sexual violence in an effort to show their “superiority.” A colleague of my wife at her former work place once remarked that “a woman's job was cooking and cleaning and serving her husband.” When my wife got angry – obviously she was working at the same office – he laughed. Others in the country have reported to Bikya Masr similar occasions when male colleagues harass them. The usual response from male – and often female – colleagues is first to ask what the woman was wearing or what she was doing. One need not look to mob-style attacks, which have occurred at nearly every celebration or holiday in the country for four years and beyond. The facts on the ground, facing everyday women in Egypt are appalling at best. I have women tell stories of taking their attacker to the police station, only to be told by officers there that there really wasn't anything they could do; courts would take too long. “Can you imagine if this had happened to a diplomat's wife, or a foreigner?” one of the officers told a 30-year-old Egyptian woman. According to a 2008 study published by the Egyptian Center for Women's Rights (ECWR) 60 percent of Egyptian women and 98 percent of foreign women are harassed on a daily basis. The ECWR warned that harassing foreign women would lead to the loss of millions of pounds. A number of foreigners said they would never return to Egypt. 14 percent of all foreign women said they would either never return to Egypt or tell their friends not to visit. That's massive. Wrong and should be changed. There are amazing people working toward its end in Egypt, male and female, but it will ultimately begin at home, with parents and friends refusing to give up. Women in the 1950s and 1960s in the United States were expected to be “obedient;” at home and at the office. When they fought back, the feminist movement was ultimately successful not because they were able to enact laws – although that helped – but because they were able to show, and lead, the country to a greater path where men did not need to fight the future of a society where powerful women existed. It is happening in Egypt today. Women are gaining the respect needed to continue this process. It won't happen overnight, but by going to work and being leaders in the office, in politics and at home, they will create a better future for all. BM
