Blog 12: Vigilante Men Attack Sexual Harassers in Egypt

Back in September I wrote about an article putting the sexual harassment epidemic into perspective for Egypt. Women are being attacked for more than just how they dress now. They are being attacked just for going to work or going to the grocery store because men in Egypt believe a woman shouldn't leave their own homes. It no longer matters how an Egyptian woman is dressed. She can be covered head to toe and is still blamed by the public and her own family for being attacked. "She shouldn't have been asking for it." Well recently a group of men in Egypt have made a group that target sexual harassers. Muhammed Taimoor started the "Be A Man" group on facebook about a year ago and is just now beginning to get the attention of media all over the world. When the "Be A Man" group sees a woman being a harassed, they grab the man, pin him down and spray paint the phrase "I am a harasser" in Arabic on some part of his body. The group was created to help women realize they are not to be blamed for being attacked. When this group holds a man down and tags him, it gives the woman he was attacking the confidence she needs in order to believe she should not held responsible. The man who started this group is trying to take the steps necessary to end the sexual harassment epidemic because the Egyptian police aren't intervening or trying to stop sexual harassers.

Although they are breaking the law and have been arrested several times, this is what this country needs. Egypt needs a group to help bring to light the fact that their sexual harassment epidemic is out of control and has been for a long time. These men are trying to be an example for the rest of the country. Because women in Egypt are considered second class citizens, no man is going to listen to a woman who says sexual harassment needs to end. Men need to step up and help end it. Muhammed took a great risk doing this and I think the media in other countries getting involved will be beneficial for not only his group but for Egyptian women. Being in America, it seems obvious that groping a woman on a public transportation system or in the street is wrong but they have had to just get used to it and take precautions against. Women are told not to leave their house, attackers aren't told not to grab women.

http://www.vice.com/en_ca/read/vigilantes-are-fighting-back-against-sexual-harassment-in-egypt

Blog No.6 (Ryan Smith) - In New Era, Egyptian Police Mimic the Old, Critics Say

They say old habits die hard, and when it comes to Egypt's history of police brutality, this admittedly cliche aphorism is used for a reason.  Merely two years after revolution poster boy Khaled Said was brutally and publicly beaten to death by Egyptian security forces outside an Alexandria internet cafe, two more were killed in a police raid of another cafe this past month.  The cafe owner was severely beaten for unknown reasons, and when witness and local resident Atef al-Mansi when to the nearby police station to complain he too was detained and beaten, only to die from resulting injuries shortly thereafter. As news spread of the raid and ensuing beatings, many townspeople took to the streets to protest, only to have security forces fire upon the crowd, killing one more.  It should also be said that Khaled Said was killed two years ago for allegedly uncovering and possessing evidence of police corruption.

Human rights organizations like Amnesty International have been keeping a watchful eye on the changes taking place within Egypt during this tumultuous transition after the toppling of the former President and late Hosni Mubarak's oppressive regime.  They have noted minimal changes taking place within the country's security structure, one of the chief complaints of Egyptian protesters for years.  One of the newly elected President Mohammed Morsi's first order of business was to appoint a career police officer as the head of the Interior, a department in charge of investigating corruption and reports of abuse within the government.  Security clean ups were expected to be at the top of the reform priority list, but little has been done thus far, leading many to believe that the handling of internal security reforms were rushed to quell any further rebellion. Human rights violations have continued since the Muslim Brotherhood took power, but the deeply intrenched habits of oppression and abuse may take longer to weed out than Egyptians are prepared to have to bear.  No one expected a quick and easy transfer to democracy, but Morsi's questionable lack of resolve so far may indicate that the fighting is not yet over for the Egyptian people.


http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/03/world/middleeast/in-new-era-egyptian-police-mimic-the-old-critics-say.html

Blog 2: Sexual Harassment Epidemic in Egypt

    A survey was taken this past week in Cairo concerning sexual harassment on women in Egypt. Women reported that they were being sexually harassed at least once a day and the number has been growing since the Egyptian revolution. In many cases of sexual harassment, they escalate very quickly to mob attacks on women going out and running errands or women just going to work. Many of the mob attacks are extreme cases but they are still reported frequently. When local news stations asked men about the growing problem, they blamed women for provoking men with the way they dress. However, most attacks are made on women wearing the traditional conservative headscarves and baggy trousers who have everything but their face and hands covered. Even women who wear the full-face niqab are being harassed on a daily basis. It's becoming a severe social issue and the government is not intervening to stop any of it. Women who have tried to report attacks to police are told to go home and forget about it. Because of the growing religious fundamentalism in Egypt, women have been targeted not only for having well paying jobs but even for just leaving their homes. Egyptian men now believe that women should stay home all day because men are the ones that should be working and bringing home money, not women. The men on the streets believe that women are bringing the sexual harassment on themselves for leaving their homes.

   While reading this, I was reminded of men even here in America trying to redefine sexual harassment and rape by the way women act like they are asking for it and the "stupidity" of women. Saying that a woman covered head to toe in traditional headress and niqab are asking for it is unbelievable. Men are taking the least amount of responsibility for their own actions and blaming it on the women. And not only is this an issue that deals with women's right's, it's a religious issue. Growing religious beliefs in Egypt are correlated with these attacks. Fundamentalism tries to put women in a negative light saying they provoke men because of their curves. Which translates to men can't help themselves because a woman has curves. And if a man can't help himself then that's his problem and a woman shouldn't be held responsible for his inability to keep it in his pants. Because these women are trying to make something for themselves with better jobs and higher education they are being shut down by men who aren't as successful as them. Police are even refusing to document their attacks. In today's society, a woman should be able to safely walk the streets of their town without worrying about being raped by men on the street. This is a global issue that we see everyday in many different cultures and societies around the world.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19511471
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19440656