CAIRO - Dina Emad was walking down a street in the northwest Cairo suburb of Nasr City last week, when a delivery boy riding his motorcycle groped her. He tried to speed off but an indignant Dina managed to stop him. As she grabbed her assailant, a crowd hurried to the scene. “He is a mere kid and looks poor," said one man among the crowd. “What matters is that you're all right," intercepted another, urging her to let the boy go. But young Dina held her ground, insisting on taking him to the police station. There, the suspect was arrested. “When I saw him handcuffed and looking ashamed, I felt for the first time I had gained my rights," she was quoted as saying by the independent newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm. “My message to any girl who experiences sexual harassment is: Don't give up your rights. The time for silence is over," added Dina. In 2008, Noha Rushdi, a documentary producer, was the first known Egyptian girl to have her molester brought to justice. The assailant, a driver, was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of sexual assault. The media attention surrounding the case prompted many activists in Egypt to call for tougher penalties for sexual harassment. According to a 2008 study by an Egyptian non-governmental group, 83 per cent of women in the country have experienced sexual harassment. The same study, conducted by the Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights, found that 62 per cent of men had practised sexual harassment, with 53 per cent blaming women for causing it. More than a year ago, the problem was dramatised in a groundbreaking Egyptian film, 678. Starring up-and-coming actress Bushra, it tackles sexual harassment on Cairo's public buses. Pro-women groups, meanwhile, have launched high-profile campaigns to raise public awareness about sexual harassment.All the same, the problem continues to fester with the molesters appearing undeterred amid fears that such assaults have become systematic and politically motivated. In recent months, female activists and ordinary women have reported being harassed while taking part in pro-democracy protests. Offenders have rarely been caught and punished. This may be one reason for the growing trend. Another is that this patriarchal society continues to make excuses for the predators, claiming that they are victims of economic and sexual frustrations. Still, girls like Noha and Dina rekindle hopes that a free Egypt will not remain silent and inactive about this plague.
