CAIRO: “Respect yourself; Egypt still has real men.
Shocking statement? Maybe so, but the name of the new campaign against sexual harassment in Egypt means to grab people s attention.
The campaign kicked off in the streets of Cairo, where the problem is most prevalent. Speaking directly to men, the campaign hopes to urge the male population to renounce sexual harassment.
In May 2008, the young staff of Kelmetna monthly magazine launched the initiative. The idea came to them after one of the staff members witnessed what he described as an unacceptable scene on Egypt’s street: A woman in her 30s and her daughter were walking in Game’at El-Dowal Street, Mohandiseen when the streets were abuzz with Egypt s victory in the
African Cup final. The woman was attacked by the celebrating crowds.
“Not only that, he added, “the public’s reaction to the situation was negative and disappointing. No one tried to interfere, no one said a word until a taxi driver pulled over, took off his belt and used it to beat the harassers off the woman who was left almost naked.
“We need to bring back the good old days, said Ahmed Salah, the campaign’s moderator. “Families nowadays neglect their children, letting them grow up as offenders to our society, he added.
The group calls upon men to take an active role in the fight against sexual harassment, stopping the harassers and treating every women the way they would like their sister to be treated – a sentiment that used to characterize Egyptian society in “the good old days.
A recent study showed that 83 percent of Egyptian women were exposed to sexual and verbal harassment. Seventy percent of those women were veiled, which proves that the problem is not about revealing outfits, “it s about the lost Egyptian identity, said Salah.
In the process of expanding the campaign’s activities, Salah created a Facebook group supporting the campaign. The group that was created on July 18 now has more than 23,000 members who either participate in the discussion or go a step further by taking part in the organized events.
Under a group discussion titled “I am an Egyptian girl scared to walk in the street, one participant asked, “Where are Egypt’s men? Are they extinct?
Kelmetna magazine hosts a weekly session every Monday at 1 pm to raise awareness about the problem. It also offers self-defense classes for women so they can fight off harassers.
The campaign’s administrators, Ahmed Salah, Ahmed Nashaat Hashish, Dina Ashry, Marwa Awad, Mostafa Fathi, Nehal Salah and Reem Adel are all between the ages of 14 and 24. The volunteers who are helping spread the campaign’s message throughout Egyptian society all fall in the same age group.
In addition to seminars and discussions, the group members take their work to the streets, talking to people about sexual harassment. One of their main goals when they approach people is to convince them to refrain from all types of sexual harassment as well as to speak out when they see it happening.
Stickers with the campaign’s logo can be found all over the city.
So far, the group members have had positive experiences on the street, Salah said, and most of the people they speak to are willing to help.
The public’s reaction to the campaign has so far exceeded their expectations, Salah added.
A number of groups, organizations and public figures have lended their support to the initiative, such as TV host Moataz Al Demerdash, radio host Osama Mounir, Al Azhar Park, Al Jazeera News Channel, and Dream TV’s Al Ashera Masa’an show.
However the group has also dealt with a good share of bumps along the road. During one of their events in Heliopolis, a musical band dedicated a song to the campaign and wanted to sing with the logo in the background, but a raging man claiming to be from the district’s administration went onstage and threw the banner away.
“We were really shocked, Salah said, and when Kelmetna’s chief editor tried to talk to him, “he started yelling at her and was going to physically attack her, but we interfered and stopped him, Salah said.
“Although the campaign is really successful so far, I think it is not enough and there should be a strict criminal law against harassers, said Marwa Mokhtar, an activist at the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR).
