Monday saw Egyptians tweet and blog all day long to foster dialogue about sexual harassment and to encourage people to speak about their experiences in Egypt, Lebanon and Sudan. Nazra, an Egyptian center for feminist studies, in association with HarassMap, organized a discussion forum titled, ‘What next after the blogging and tweeting day against Sexual Harassment and Gender Violence in Egypt.' There were over 150 blog posts, 11 Facebook notes, three poems and countless tweets on the subject in Egypt alone, according to HarassMap, which aggregated contributions. The response in Lebanon and Sudan was also significant and included artwork of all kinds. According to analysis of the blog posts by Harassmap researcher Rasha Hassan, contributions from men and women were almost equal in number: female bloggers posted 60 percent of all posts while men contributed 40 percent. The most prevalent theme was criticism of social values which promote blaming the victim more than the harassers. The forum was moderated by Engy Ghozlan, one of the founders of Harassmap, and Tarek Mostafa of Nazra. It included many feminist activists and bloggers. Mostafa noted that there was little focus on gender violence in Egyptian blogs as opposed to Sudanese blogs, and more of a focus on sexual harassment in the streets. Walid Othman, one of those involved with the event in Sudan, said rape and harassment are utilized systematically as a tool of warfare in the wars in Sudan. He said Sudanese bloggers have a better understanding of the concept, adding that due to popular demand the blogging and tweeting in Sudan would continue for another week. The originator of the idea, Lebanese activist Leil Zahra Mortada, was also present. He said, "Sexual harassment is a form of control by society, and empowerment of women and minorities is key." It was widely agreed that it was better to respond to the harasser than to stay silent, especially as one blogger, Naema Gamal, said aid from police rarely occurs and the conditions for filing a report on harassment are too complicated. Procedure requires at least two witnesses to prove the assault occurred and few people are willing to testify. Several new initiatives, both online and offline, were discussed to combat harassment. They include repeating the harassment awareness blogging campaign, mobilizing those who had participated and other possible solutions to the problem.
