CAIRO: After recent reports of reoccurring sexual assaults on women in Egypt's iconic Tahrir Square, 20 women's groups and organizations called for a stand Friday evening to protest the recent attacks against women. Tens of women reported being sexually harassed during the past four days in Tahrir, including two women who were attacked and surrounded by a mob of about a 100 men. The men groped the girls, separated them from each other and attempted to tear their clothes off. The girls were freed from the mob and an Associated Press female reporter said she witnessed the attacks, saying she almost fell victim to the same mob if she was not pulled to safety by a colleague. A newly created online initiative titled “Securing the Square” aims to draw volunteers to protect women visitors to the square, but still struggles with finding enough numbers to join. The online initiative HarassMap confirmed the lack of safety in the squre, naming the area outside the fast food chain Hardee's, at the intersection of Mohamed Mahmoud street and the square, to be one of the worst areas in the square and warned women to keep their guard up while visiting. “The unprecedented level of violence confirmed by eyewitnesses against women in the square is worrisome,” read the call to protest on its Facebook page. “Some starting to believe that it is an organized effort to eliminate women from the protesting sphere,” the statement added. Eyewitnesses confirmed tens of assaults on women, more often in the hours of the evening, where there are less people in general. Sexual harassment, which is widespread across Egypt is considered by many as a modern social plague. A 2008 study by the Egyptian Center for Women's Rights (ECWR) found that well over two thirds of Egyptian women are sexually harassed on daily basis. Weak legal measures and police pacifism and tolerance towards attackers contributes greatly to the problem. Tahrir Square, the birthplace of the Egyptian uprising, is expected to host the protest outside Hardee's at 6 PM on Friday.
