CAIRO - Whether relatively scantily dressed or modestly veiled, Egyptian women complain that sexual harassment is a growing practice on the street, in public transport and at work. Surveys conducted by the Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights (ECWR) and other bodies concerned have come to the conclusion that sexual harassment in this country has nothing to do with the dress code. It has turned out that it tends to be related to unemployment, financial inadequacy and the resultant advance in the age when a male gets married. Experts say the financial crisis has prompted males especially those in the 20-30 age group to direct their suppressed sexual urge at women however they are dressed. A field study by the ECWR indicated that women aged between l8 to 40 are most likely to be exposed to one or more forms of harassment. However, what most frequently occurs is verbal harassment, which ranges from honeysweet words to dirty language and degrading descriptions. According to the study, which covered a sample of 2,800 cases, groping accounts for 40 per cent of sexual offences, usually in crowded areas. Stalking, however, was the third most common form of molestation.School and university students proved to be most prone to daily harassment. The Administrative Prosecution Authority statistics say harassment cases that are handled by the prosecution do not exceed two per cent of the total number of filed reports. But the surprising fact is that 90 per cent of those cases take place at schools where teachers harass students and school principals harass teachers, although the rate is reportedly higher among the former group. The prevalence of home tuition is also blamed for a rising rate of teachers harassing students. Deputy Chairman of the Authority, Abdallah Qandil admitted that harassment in governmental sectors is not always reported owing to social traditions. Women victims are either ashamed or fear that their reputation would be ruined. In most cases if the harasser is a teacher or a doctor at a governmental hospital, the relevant administrative bodies suffice with transferring these offenders to other locations, in order to avoid a scandal, Qandil told the Arabic magazine Al-Mussawar. In the opinion of Eman el-Sherif, a professor of Criminal Psychology at the National Centre for Social and Criminal Research, teachers should be subjected to psychological tests before being appointed. She says that harassers usually suffer from psychological disorders. A questionnaire designed by social researcher Heba Abdel-Aziz and distributed to a sample of l00 females and l00 males showed that 90 per cent of the polled women had been harassed, 80 per cent of whom said they were sexually molested at the hands of relatives. According to the questionnaire's results, 95 per cent of the polled men said they were usually indifferent to sexual harassment incidents they have witnessed on the street. Around 90 per cent of them blamed women for inciting men by wearing sexy clothes or being overmadeup.Yet,contradictorily, 92 per cent of them believed that a harasser does not care whether a woman is veiled or not. Heba who has been personally harassed by a stalking motorist advised women to take a strong reaction to embarrass offenders on the street. She regrets that it is not always useful to rely on gallant passers-by to intervene, because indifference has today become characteristic of the Egyptian street. Women's rights organisations in Egypt are pressing for a law to criminalise sexual harassment. Internet campaigns are today being launched condemning the growing practice. Facebook groups offer advisory tips to women to help them protect themselves,especially on the street.
