Sexual Harassment In Egypt Research Articles

Local, Regional and Transnational Queer-feminist Arab, Muslim, and People of Color Insurgent-Abolitionist Horizons

How can radical queer-feminist contestations of the longstanding disciplining and punishment of women, trans peoples, and gender dissidents elucidate the blast radius of the multiple, dynamic, intersectional ‘cages’ that define the daily conditions of racialized gendered-queer life that require obliterating? I examine the notion of capitalist and authoritarian nation-state ‘cages’ that punitively condemns racialized queer-feminist lives in the decolonial context of gender-based sexual harassment in Egypt and the inspiring autonomous and lateral anti-authoritarian and anti-capitalist initiative that some of my queer-feminist Egyptian and Muslim fieldwork participants incepted to combat harassment in an ongoing post-revolutionary Egyptian ‘Arab Spring/Islamist Winter.’ My participants did not rely on state-discipline and carceral punishment mechanisms nor did they seek to replicate the reproduction of patriarchal violence towards abusers. Rather, through knowledge production (al-intag al-marify) they sought a more compassionate-transformative justice approach in combatting harassment that centered on illuminating harassment as a micro-fascistic cis-heteropatriarchal by-product emergent from macro-fascistic statist and capitalist structural hierarchies and inequities that cyclically reify each other at the vertical and horizontal level. Even prior to a covet19-viral laden world, they recognized that there is nowhere left to hide (if there ever was one for innumerable disenfranchised racialized/queered/feminized/classed/disabled/debilitated lives marked and targeted by a necro-politics of death. They gesture towards a non-ideological revolutionary driven ethics and politics that demands that we must all ask how we will collectively decide how live or die. They reject playing to a statist-politics of recognition, reform and rights, or recourse to martial and emergency laws that are contingent on and reify capitalist-state paradigms that (further) strips and extinguishes our communitarian and individual agency as a species. Instead, they argue for a politics of responsibility that focuses on interconnecting the burning ashes, timbres, and fires of our intersecting local, regional, and transnational struggles through mutual aid and social solidarity towards each other and nonhuman life.

Testing a Model of the Threat of Street Sexual Harassment in Egypt: Implications for Social Work Education

This study tested a model of Egyptian women’s well-being and perception of the threat of sexual harassment. The model was drawn from multiple theoretical frameworks, including the vulnerability perspective, objectification theory, and religious perspectives. Nine variables in the model reflect societal, interpersonal, and cultural variables that are believed to relate to women’s views about threats and social risks related to sexual harassment. A total of 1,977 Egyptian women aged 19-45 years voluntarily participated in the study. Path analysis showed that exposure to street sexual harassment was the strongest predictor of both perception of the threat of sexual harassment and a sense of vulnerability to sexual harassment. However, more nuanced results from the model had implications for social work education and research. This study fills an important gap in social work education related to sexual harassment by examining a complex web of interpersonal, environmental, and cultural factors relevant to women’s view of the threat of sexual harassment.

The sociocultural and political influences on the practice of media advocacy: The case of sexual harassment in Egypt

The sociocultural context, in which media advocacy is practised, results in several influential factors that affect its effectiveness, outcomes, and success/failure. The objective of this article is to identify and discuss the sociocultural and political factors for the media advocacy efforts in fighting sexual harassment in Egypt and to evaluate their influence on the campaign’s outcomes. Using the triangulation approach, in-depth interviews were conducted with advocates, media experts and policy-makers. The analysis revealed six influential factors that can inform and improve future media advocacy campaigning. The pivotal factor is ‘focusing events’, which are a golden opportunity due to its effectiveness in getting the attention of various publics and pushing forward the required policy solutions, which is discussed from the agenda-setting lens. Other influential factors include coalition-building, political will, public opinion, the image of advocates, and the influence of social media, which are discussed in further detail.

Myths, masterplots and sexual harassment in Egypt

ABSTRACTFormally a taboo subject, public sexual harassment in Egypt has received increased media attention since the 2011 revolution. The scholarly literature on the topic, however, remains thin, particularly with regard to the social mechanisms that sustain an environment permissive of street harassment. Drawing on the rape myths literature, this article argues that naturalised and stereotyped understandings of the causes and implications of street harassment provide discursive resources to excuse harassers and blame victims for the harassment they suffer. It argues, however, that these understandings are better understood as narrative masterplots to be contested than as myths to be debunked, emphasising that falsity and prejudicial impact must not be conflated. It concludes with recommendations for activism and future research, arguing that it may be more effective to promote alternative interpretive frames than attempt to directly challenge currently dominant understandings.

Sexual Harassment in Egypt

Abstract Although sexual harassment is a worldwide phenomenon, the contemporary case of sexual harassment in Egypt is noteworthy, as the nation only recently occupied a top position on the map of sexual harassment on a world scale. In November 2013, Egypt was declared by the Thomson Reuters Foundation as the worst country for women to live in within the Arab World when compared to twenty-two other Arab countries, largely as a result of its female sexual harassment rates.1 Similarly, and on a more international scale, the United Nations Population Fund declared Egypt as ranking “second in the world after Afghanistan in terms of this issue.”2 In the years following the 2011 revolution, the nature of sexual harassment in Egyptian society greatly evolved, as it transformed from a hidden phenomenon to an overtly prevalent social epidemic. This study presents the “weaponization” of sexual harassment as a common ground where class struggles, state policies, and women’s empowerment intertwine in post-revolutionary Egyptian society. It argues that the phenomenon was partially produced by an ongoing class struggle, manipulatively reproduced by the state, and strategically resisted by women for different yet interrelated reasons.

Case Study: HarassMap

HarassMap is an NGO based in Cairo that collects and maps crowdsourced data on sexual harassment in Egypt. Alongside this crowd-sourced data gathering it also offers training, workshops and advocacy programs, working with relevant parties to reduce the acceptability of all forms of sexual harassment. The project has been running since 2010 based on the Ushaidi platform. Over this time it has collected a very large number of mapped events reported largely by anonymous members of the public. The data has value both in terms of its richness; mapping data, category of harassment and descriptions are all recorded; and also as a longitudinal dataset that can inform on the success of interventions as well as the development of new forms of harassment. The project has been approached in the past by a number of researchers interested in using the data it has collected. The interest from HarassMap in Pilot Project participation was originally to obtain technical support to address how best to share data. While some technical advice was offered the focus on practice and planning was still useful. Identifying what data resources the project had, and in what form, allowed them to develop an online portal through which data can be made available to researchers on request.

Action-Oriented Responses to Sexual Harassment in Egypt

Action-Oriented Responses to Sexual Harassment in Egypt

Reconsidering de-politicization: HarassMap’s bystander approach and creating critical mass to combat sexual harassment in Egypt

This paper argues that the community-based work of anti-sexual harassment initiatives represents a political process toward ending sexual harassment in Egypt. Since the Egyptian Revolution, community-based initiatives have employed strategies to transform social perceptions and behaviors regarding public sexual harassment. The strategies of these new initiatives, like HarassMap, include conducting street outreach campaigns and employing technological platforms to reframe the nature of social responsibility and to disrupt gendered stereotypes. Yet, a number of scholars have challenged this community-based anti-harassment work, particularly the early work of the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR), for avoiding political engagement and failing to address structural gender inequalities. Drawing on Finnemore and Sikkink’s (1998) argument regarding norm emergence, this paper maintains that anti-sexual harassment initiatives, like HarassMap, employ an approach to social change that aims to build a critical mass around new social norms. By undermining patriarchal norms that blame victims and encouraging people to intervene against public sexual harassment, HarassMap is creating a new vision of social responsibility. When a tipping point is reached, HarassMap activists believe that public outcry will then force political and legal reform from the state to protect women in public space. Such community-based approaches are political but the reform entities like HarassMap seek results only when there is enough public will for change.

Reconsidérer la dépolitisation : l’approche du témoin de HarassMap et la création d’une masse critique pour lutter contre le harcèlement sexuel en Égypte

This paper argues that the community-based work of anti-sexual harassment initiatives represents a political process toward ending sexual harassment in Egypt. Since the Egyptian Revolution, community-based initiatives have employed strategies to transform social perceptions and behaviors regarding public sexual harassment. The strategies of these new initiatives, like HarassMap, include conducting street outreach campaigns and employing technological platforms to reframe the nature of social responsibility and to disrupt gendered stereotypes. Yet, a number of scholars have challenged this community-based anti-harassment work, particularly the early work of the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR), for avoiding political engagement and failing to address structural gender inequalities. Drawing on Finnemore and Sikkink’s (1998) argument regarding norm emergence, this paper maintains that anti-sexual harassment initiatives, like HarassMap, employ an approach to social change that aims to build a critical mass around new social norms. By undermining patriarchal norms that blame victims and encouraging people to intervene against public sexual harassment, HarassMap is creating a new vision of social responsibility. When a tipping point is reached, HarassMap activists believe that public outcry will then force political and legal reform from the state to protect women in public space. Such community-based approaches are political but the reform entities like HarassMap seek results only when there is enough public will for change.

Reconceptualizing Sexual Harassment in Egypt: A Longitudinal Assessment of el-Taharrush el-Ginsy in Arabic Online Forums and Anti-Sexual Harassment Activism

This paper examines shifting conceptualizations of sexual harassment, or el-taḥarrush el-ginsy, in Egypt. Through longitudinal data from online Arabic discussion boards and blog sites, as well as insights from interviews and participant observation of anti-sexual harassment organizations, it explores the range of meanings evident in the use of the term taḥarrush. A comparative approach was employed to assess changes in Egyptian discourses with those taking place across the region. Online data was collected using the search terms “taḥarrush ginsy” and “taḥarrush.” Google served as the primary search engine to locate discussion and blog posts from the years 2000-2012. Through this method, 233 unique posts were identified focused on el-taḥarrush el-ginsy. The data showed overwhelming public concern in the region about the molestation and rape of children until 2006. In October 2006, a shift occurred in Egyptian posts, tied to the Eid mob sexual harassment that took place in downtown Cairo. From that point on, taḥarrush in Egypt signified the sexual harassment of women in public space. Prior to the Eid mob sexual harassment event, the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights had begun a campaign to end everyday sexual harassment in the streets, which it called taḥarrush. Following the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, this activism continued with independent initiatives focused on community-based work, such as HarassMap. Throughout this time, the discourse was complicated by the connection of taḥarrush to more violent forms of sexual assault and rape, which was further evident following the Revolution. This connection of taḥarrush with more sexually violent practices aligns with prior meanings of taḥarrush, but it has also contributed to public resistance to the idea that taḥarrush signifies everyday sexual harassment that anti-sexual harassment initiatives seek to establish.

Reconceptualizing Sexual Harassment in Egypt: A Longitudinal Assessment of el-Taharrush el-Ginsy in Arabic Online Forums and Anti-Sexual Harassment Activism

This paper examines shifting conceptualizations of sexual harassment, or el-taḥarrush el-ginsy, in Egypt. Through longitudinal data from online Arabic discussion boards and blog sites, as well as insights from interviews and participant observation of anti-sexual harassment organizations, it explores the range of meanings evident in the use of the term taḥarrush. A comparative approach was employed to assess changes in Egyptian discourses with those taking place across the region. Online data was collected using the search terms “taḥarrush ginsy” and “taḥarrush.” Google served as the primary search engine to locate discussion and blog posts from the years 2000-2012. Through this method, 233 unique posts were identified focused on el-taḥarrush el-ginsy. The data showed overwhelming public concern in the region about the molestation and rape of children until 2006. In October 2006, a shift occurred in Egyptian posts, tied to the Eid mob sexual harassment that took place in downtown Cairo. From that point on, taḥarrush in Egypt signified the sexual harassment of women in public space. Prior to the Eid mob sexual harassment event, the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights had begun a campaign to end everyday sexual harassment in the streets, which it called taḥarrush. Following the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, this activism continued with independent initiatives focused on community-based work, such as HarassMap. Throughout this time, the discourse was complicated by the connection of taḥarrush to more violent forms of sexual assault and rape, which was further evident following the Revolution. This connection of taḥarrush with more sexually violent practices aligns with prior meanings of taḥarrush, but it has also contributed to public resistance to the idea that taḥarrush signifies everyday sexual harassment that anti-sexual harassment initiatives seek to establish.

Social media activism and Egyptians' use of social media to combat sexual violence: an HiAP case study.

This paper represents a case study of how social media activists have harnessed the power of Facebook, Twitter and mobile phone networks to address sexual harassment in Egypt. HarassMap plots reports of sexual harassment on a Google Map and informs victims of support services. Tahrir Bodyguard and Operation Anti-Sexual Harassment (OpAntiSH) protect female protestors who have been vulnerable to sexual aggression at the hands of unruly mobs and by agents of the state. Activists have access to an Android app called 'I'm Getting Arrested' or 'Byt2ebed 3alia' in Egyptian Arabic. The app sends the time and GPS coordinates of an arrest to family, fellow activists, legal counsel and social media outlets. The hope is the initiatives described in this paper could inspire public health ministries and activist NGOs to incorporate crowdsourcing social media applications in the spirit of health in all policies (HiAP). To that end, this paper will begin by defining social media activism from the perspective of the communications discipline. This paper will then demonstrate the significance of sexual harassment as a public health issue, and describe several social media efforts to document incidents and protect victims. The paper will conclude with discussion regarding how these innovations could be integrated into the HiAP approach.

HarassMap: Using Crowdsourced Data to Map Sexual Harassment in Egypt

IntroductionA recent report by UN Women found that 99.3% of women in Egypt report being sexually harassed and 49.2% report that this harassment occurs on a daily basis (United Nations, 2013). This harassment occurs regardless of the women's age, their attire, or whether or not they elect to wear the hijab. Despite these alarming findings, victims of sexual harassment continue

HarassMap: Using Crowdsourced Data to Map Sexual Harassment in Egypt

IntroductionA recent report by UN Women found that 99.3% of women in Egypt report being sexually harassed and 49.2% report that this harassment occurs on a daily basis (United Nations, 2013). This harassment occurs regardless of the women's age, their attire, or whether or not they elect to wear the hijab. Despite these alarming findings, victims of sexual harassment continue

Anti-Sexual Harrassment Campaign in Egypt

This article analyzes how, for the decade before the Arab Spring, the Egyptian Center for Women's Rights (ECWR) promoted women's issues and sustained its campaign against widespread sexual harassment in Egypt. The article also reviews ECWR's activities after the mass mobilizations of the January 25th revolution. In authoritarian states, the risks inherent in challenging the regime decrease the probability that challenges will ever emerge or, if they do, continue for any significant duration. ECWR's prolonged campaign against sexual harassment, however, belies this observation. Analysis of the organization's activities provides an opportunity to examine elements that promote contentious claims making in high-risk, neopatriarchal environments. We found that the depth and strength of networks at the local level played a significant role. Also significant were ties with national and international group, which where were partly facilitated because of tourism's importance in Egypt. Through these ties, the ECWR leadership guided the organization toward increasingly promising outcomes in a unresponsive context. This case illuminates how, in the Middle East and elsewhere, civic organizations that focus on women's issues can navigate high-risk environments, whether due to neopatriarchal culture, authoritarian governance, or both.