CAIRO - "Yesterday, I concocted a chemical in my kitchen that I can squirt into someone's eyes and nose if they try and car-jack me on my way to work," says Amal Youssef, divulging the components of this irritant, so other Egyptian women can defend themselves in the present state of instability. "I boiled some water, vinegar and black pepper together and put it in a bottle, to spray in the face of anyone who tries to steal my car or money,” she told The Egyptian Gazette. People have been sharing this and many other ideas for self-defence with each other on Facebook. One trick employed by thieves on fast roads is to throw eggs at passing cars. The driver stops to clean the windscreen and then a gang of thugs pounces, forcing him to hand over his car and his valuables. So keep on driving. Even if you try to clean your windscreen, you'll only smear the egg everywhere. Although the police have partially returned to the streets, most citizens, especially women, should still arm themselves with a tool for self-defence. It's also safer to use public transport than taxis or microbuses. Unfortunately, this deep sense of insecurity has penetrated the hostels at various governmental universities, inhabited by more than 95,000 female students. Such places used to be far safer than private accommodation for these girls, attending universities far from home. However, since the start of the second term of this academic year, after the revolution, these undergraduates have been feeling very insecure. They are afraid of being attacked by escaped convicts and other thugs in their hostels, where there hasn't been any kind of security presence since Hosni Mubarak was ousted on February 11. "Instead of asking the Ministry of Interior or Army to protect us, the warden of our hostel advised us to leave, as he was unable to provide us with security," Samah Ahmed told Al-Wafd opposition newspaper. Samah and her friends at Cairo University refused to leave. Instead, they made their own security arrangements, sleeping six in a room instead of two, the better to defend themselves against possible intruders. "We also organised some wooden clubs, electric batons and pepper spray," says Inas Mahmoud, who lives in the same hostel. As for the girls in the hostel at Helwan University, they're even more scared, because this place of learning is rather remote. "The closest residential area is a shantytown known as Ezbet el-Walda, where criminals thrive. We have some security men at the hostel, but they do little to protect us," says Asmaa Metwalli, who lives at the hostel and calls on a greater role for civil security on campus. Meanwhile, because of the dangers, Sahar Ahmed has decided to leave the hostel. She's now back with her family in el-Qaliubiya Governorate, north of Cairo, and travels all the way to Helwan University for her lectures every day. It's a similar story at Al-Azhar University, although the male students there decided to form popular committees to protect the girls. But the University Principal disapproves of this and has promised to get the Army and Ministry of the Interior to secure the female students' hostel.
