A local tabloid has devoted an entire file to sexual repression in Egypt CAIRO: These might be shocking figures but let s accept them as a true indication of a phenomenon that we tend to ignore - or turn our back to - in fear of a serious confrontation: Some 20,000 cases involving rape and sexual harassment are reported in Egypt every year. According to a UN report 50 percent of young girls and 60 percent of working women in the Middle East are exposed to sexual harassments of different kinds. Another report by the Egyptian Centre for Women s Rights said that school girls are the most exposed to such kind of aggressions, pointing out that the rate of harassments targeting 18-year-old girls has been put at 22 percent as compared to that of working women put at 26 percent and non-working females 27 percent. These figures appeared in this week s Akhbar Al Hawadith tabloid that devoted an entire file to sexual repression in Egypt, highlighting that the issue has come to center stage at the Egyptian parliament upon the request of one of its members. The request, submitted by parliament member Yahia Wahdan, has been endorsed by 42 of the parliament members, an indication that sexual repression is no longer an issue that could be pushed to sidelines despite the reticence and objections of some other conservative groups. Disappointed at the sexual harassment that was witnessed last year during the Eid El Fitr outside one of the downtown cinemas in Cairo, Wahdan told Akhbar Al Hawadith that the conduct of young people that has regrettably become devoid of any kind of moral sense had prompted him to lay down his request to the parliament. Wahdan added that sex-related crimes are now threatening the fiber of Egyptian society, a fact that is driving the parliament member to demand the presence of five concerned ministers including the education minister, culture minister, minister of media, minister of social welfare, and the minister of the interior. In his opinion those are principally responsible for containing the phenomenon that has spread as a result of the dissemination of vido-clips which beam songs that showing pop-stars in revealing attires and other semi-nudities and sexually inspiring shots, let aside the open cyber space in which lots of sex-starved young people indulge in an attempt to relieve their sexual repression. The education ministry should make an effort to inculcate the necessary awareness when the social welfare authorities should take up the task of researching the causes of unemployment which is the major cause for late marriages. The Interior Ministry should also be involved as the sexual repression is currently behind several security concerns. Wahdan revealed that although his request was approved three months ago, no date for discussing the issue had been fixed. Having spoken to many young people about the topic, the tabloid warned that the harassment in the downtown area, and those of the Maadi stabber are just a reflection of sexual repression that should be seriously attended to before the phenomenon gets out of hand.
