With harassment rampant in the streets of Cairo and fewer men coming to the aid of women being harassed, who is a girl to turn to when the going gets too tough? One would imagine… the police! Or in these strange days, the army. So when you walk down the street in the evening, you should try to stay near places guarded by these two institutions if you’re worried about harassment… right?
As much as one would hope the police would back what is meant to be law, it’s more likely you’ll find a policeman joining in the harassment if it wasn’t a policeman who harassed you in the first place.
“I was driving up to a restaurant for dinner and I slowed down to look for a valet,” says Amina, a 30-year old journalist in Cairo. “A state security officer leaned on my door, stuck his head inside my window, and said ‘Looking good, baby’ as he stared down my shirt.”
Often the same policemen consistently harass. Zeina, a 27-year-old saleswoman follows a path to work that is marred by a slew of comments from a group guarding the home of a government official. “Some days I ignore them and keep going but when the comments get really dirty, I lose it and start yelling and swearing,” Zeina explains, but the response from other policemen standing idly by is usually laughter.
According to Salima Barakat, a Cairo-based psychologist, the psychological repercussions of harassment from a person of authority occupying a position meant to protect you are much more severe than harassment endured from civilians in the street.
“Knowing that there’s nowhere to turn makes things harder for a victim of sexual harassment,” explains Salima. “This kind of harassment is scarier.” Salima points out that a victim understands that with a policeman harasser, there is little possibility of punishment.
“I grew up accepting the fact that harassment was something that came from policemen in the street,” Salima continues on a personal note. Reham, a 28-year-old fashion designer, says the same: “My parents always told me that in other places I could go to a policeman for help but in Egypt, policemen and police stations were something to be feared and mistrusted.”
Souad, 40, lives in Giza and only once approached a policeman about a sexual harassment case. “I followed the policeman while he dragged the harasser to the police station,” says Souad, “but once we got there, the rest of the police in the station had a field day with me! They thought it was the funniest thing and kept asking me which part of my body I thought he had been looking at.”
Police may also find enjoyment harassing you at police stops on major highways or at night. “It’s common to be stopped at night for the sole purpose of checking you out,” says Samia, 32, “which is why I don’t ever stop at night – if they force me by standing in my way, I lock the doors and turn up the windows.”
“There’s a fear factor when it comes to harassment from authority,” says Zeina. “With embassy guards, you’re likely to get a song or a rhyme – with policemen on corners as well – with officers, things get a little rougher and the higher up the chain you go, the more the branches part between honest and ethical and downright dirty and sexually violent.”
Many women report that during the recent 18-days uprising, harassment virtually disappeared, and for weeks after that, harassment was rare from the army which had taken over the streets.
Unfortunately, it did not stay that way for long – as the army subjected women to ‘virginity tests’ and garishly released the results to the public, many of the soldiers in the streets started to take on the qualities of the police.
“I got stopped by an army check point around 10:30pm because of the dark wind shield of my car,” says Dina Ragab. The young woman stated that the army officer was obviously flirting with her when he asked her to step out of the car. “I refused to leave my car, stating that the model of the car came with tinted glass,” explains Ragab. Ragab reports that the officer’s reaction was to state that he “could not help but stop the car after realizing that a pretty girl was driving it, especially one not wearing a ring on her finger!”
Over the past few weeks, Al-Masry Al-Youm each Wednesday has featured 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. You can access any of the articles though the Sexual Harassment Banner on the Al-Masry Al-Youm homepage. Next week will be the last installment of this series. 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.
Contact the Life & Style section at [email protected] for your input in The Sexual Harassment File.
