politics | A new series on Sexual Harassment in Egypt:

via:Cannonball blog

Al-Masry Al-Youm English Edition

The Sexual Harrassment File: Sexual Harrassment begins at Home

Over the coming weeks, Al-Masry Al-Youm each Wednesday will feature pieces that dissect the reasons behind sexual harassment, the coping mechanisms for women (and men) in the streets of Cairo and the system that has been set up to tackle this festering issue. Comments and input are appreciated - send us your stories of sexual harassment and information on any organizations or initiatives that combat sexual harassment in Egypt.

Khaled al-Sayyad is exceptionally proud of his son. The young boy may not be a model student – “his mind wasn’t made for such matters" – but he is, as his father claims, “a prodigy on the soccer field.” In fact, Hisham’s athletic abilities are so extraordinary that his father swears he was just signed to the official Enppi team, despite being only 13 years old.

“He’s also a really decent, polite boy and a firm believer in good sportsmanship,” says the cab driver. A series of anecdotes praising the boy culminates in a story about how young Hisham was recently slapped by an older girl at his club.

“He told the girl she had an impressive division line,” laughs the cab driver. “He’s a cheeky kid. Takes after his father.”MORE

678: Sexual Harassment in Movies

Every time an Egyptian woman leaves her house she must make a lot of calculations. What should she wear? Are her clothes too revealing or too tight? What she is going to ride in and should she walk alone in the street or have a man accompany her? All precautions have to be considered in private in order to minimize her chances of being groped or harassed in public.

The new movie “678” is a tour de force about this very subject. It offers a succinct depiction of the plight endured by millions of Egyptian women who deal with sexual harassment on daily basis in a highly misogynistic society.

With bitterness and finesse, the movie explores the psyche of a harassed woman, emphasizing the level of emotional harm inflicted on her when the privacy of her own body is violated by cold-blooded strangers. A plethora of negative emotions are explored. Torn by frustration, self-hatred and a resilient revenge impulse, she remains disoriented about how to react to such an affront in a society that still blames the victim for “failing to protect her body”.MORE

The Sexual Harassment Files: Can't you girls take a little Flirting?

A lot of people believe that sexual harassment is not an issue in Egypt. There - I said it.

Perhaps it is because the incidences of grabbing and groping are few in comparison (in comparison) to the hundreds of derogatory comments and looks women in Egypt must take in every day, and many men and women in Egypt believe that these comments can be considered "flirtation."

“Girls today are too sensitive,” says Amina, a mother of two and grandmother of three. “The comments on the street are meant to compliment them.”

Amina believes that young men in the street are simply unable to communicate their interest in a girl and resort to comments like this because they are cowardly.

As a journalist, I took the comment in stride. In proper Egyptian fashion, I absorbed the remarks as a young woman would absorb criticism from her own grandmother, but as a woman, I fumed. MORE