The Epidemic We Call Sexual Harassment

It happened again, and it will keep happening. It happens every day to almost every lady. It keeps getting worse, it keeps spreading. Sexual harassment has changed in the past 20 years from an individual act to a social phenomenon to a social epidemic.

There is no one reason why sexual harassment is very widespread in Egypt, but no one can claim it's merely sexual. It's not just sexual because it's practiced by people of all ages from young children to old men, married and unmarried, rich and poor, those who have a normal sexual life and those who don't. It's more of a violent act from those who think themselves strong to those whom they feel are weaker.

A few days ago, ex-president Adly Mansour issued a pack of laws that punishes sexual harassers. The laws that were one of the strongest in the country's history punishes those who plead guilty with a fine or imprisonment between 1000 to 50,000 pounds and 6 months to 5 years in prison. Back then I could not help wondering if the application of this law will improve the disastrous situation we're living, if it's applied that is. Now yesterday in Tahrir Square a catastrophe has taken place during the celebrations of President Abd El Fattah El Sisi's inauguration. It wasn't just sexual harassment, or even sexual assault, it could not be called anything but mass rape! What will the law do to this lady? Give her vengeance? Maybe it will, but it will never make her forget this awful experience, she will never be the person she was before.

I'm not trying to say the new laws are useless, in fact I'm glad there are finally some good laws and I'm also glad that people were arrested and will supposedly be punished, if they are the ones who assaulted the woman that is. My question is: is this enough? I understand that if these laws were really applied they would probably deter some from doing these acts, but the intensity of sexual harassment make me think that it's a social psychological problem that needs more than just laws to fix. In fact, I feel that the whole society needs to be treated to solve this problem, that what we need is a "social rehabilitation". Bottom line is that sexual harassment is one of Egypt's worst problems, and it keeps worsening and if we don't all do much about it, it will never come close to ending.

Comments

  1. AnonymousJanuary 26, 2015 at 10:51 AM

    Totally agree with you.
    I'm tired of society letting men off, telling them that they are men which means they

    1. cannot control themselves
    2. are naturally expected to desire sex with every attractive woman they set eyes on
    3. are expected to desire frequent sex their entire lives right up until old age
    4. even when married or in a relationship they desire sex with every attractive woman they set eyes on

    I don't buy any of these bull excuses for men, never have, never will.
    BUT I KNOW THAT MEN BUY THIS CRAP, AND USE IT AS AN EXCUSE TO ACT LIKE *&^%$#### THEIR WHOLE LIVES
    BUT THIS I KNOW, I AM TIRED OF BEING SEXUALLY HARRASSED, AND YES, I AM EVEN TIRED OF MEN IN GENERAL. AT THE AGE OF 46, WITH MY LAST PARTNER BEING AN ABUSIVE DANGEROUS LYING JERK, I DONT THINK I PERSONALLY CARE RIGHT NOW IF I NEVER HAVE ANOTHER BOYFRIEND OR PARTNER FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE.
    OUT OF ALL THE MEN I SEE EACH DAY, WHETHER AT MY WORKPLACE OR OUT IN GENERAL, THE NUMBER I SEE THAT ARE WORTHY OF RESPECT IS PRETTY LOW.
    THAT IS PRETTY SAD!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownJanuary 29, 2015 at 7:22 PM

      I feel you, so-called men that are actually animals are everywhere. But don't let some jerks make you lose faith in half of humanity. I assure you good men still exist, in good numbers.

      The good thing about you is that you're able to talk about what you've suffered; unfortunately this is rare. Females usually suffer alone and are never able to speak about it, in fear of what of the society would say about them, rather about their harassers!

      Delete

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