CAIRO: An anti-sexual harassment page on Facebook launched an invitation to Egyptian women to go out during Eid, the holiday that follows the month of Ramadan, without worry of being harassed. The Eid holiday is the time of year where sexual harassment intensifies, especially outside cinemas or shopping malls in Cairo and other cities around the country. During the Eid holidays in 2007 and 2008, hundreds of women were harassed outside of film theaters in downtown Cairo where mobs of men chased after them and formed circles around the girls trying to undress them in the streets, grabbing and groping their bodies. Nearby police stood watching and did not intervene in any manner. Women took refuge in shops, yet young men came after them and tried to break in. The mob scene was defused hours later after several men stood up to the harassers and chased them out of the area. The Facebook page “I will not be stand for harassment” said women should not fear going out and having fun and called on men who witness harassment to take action and stop it. Many Egyptian women prefer to stay home during major holidays such Eid, either by choice or by orders from parents. One reader wrote on the page's wall that last year in Alexandria women were being harassed while accompanied by their families, therefore many will not even think about leaving their house. A similar campaign is being launched in Alexandria on Facebook titled “a safe holiday for Alexandria girls” and aims to organize groups of men and women to monitor the streets and public transportation for acts of harassment. Working under the title “No harassment, you are in Egypt” the page asks volunteers to join in securing public venues “especially that it is the first Eid after the revolution.” The campaign operates in cooperation with HarassMap, which will be offering training workshops and seminars in preparation for the holiday. HarassMap is Egypt's first sexual violence digital mapping project. Egyptian women and visiting foreigners are victims of sexual harassment daily. A study conducted by the Egyptian Center for Women's Rights (ECWR) found that more than two-thirds of Egyptian women are harassed daily while over 90 percent of foreigners reported being harassed. BM
