Helwan University student assaulted on campus

CAIRO – 10 May 2018: A university student named Omnia Khalil was verbally harassed and then brutally assaulted by a colleague in Helwan University campus, while bystanders failed to intervene as they thought that the assaulter was her relative.

During a TV appearance on Tuesday May 8, 2018, broadcasted on Dream TV Channel, Khalil recounted that she was at a cafeteria inside the university with one of her friends and then a guy she does not know personally started to goad on her with obscene words.

“I tried to keep my cool as required by girls encountering similar situations,” Khalil said.

She continued: "He tried to grab my jacket and then I pushed him to keep him away from me and then he punched me in the eyes."

The university student recalled the details of her harassment incident in a Facebook post on her personal account; the post was shared over 2000 times in two days.



In a Phone in to the above-mentioned program, President of Helwan University, Adel Negm, said that the security personnel of the university intervened quickly to control the incident and to identify the assaulter, noting that investigations have already been launched to probe the misconduct.

He asserted that the incident is a “singular” one and that the university is already organizing awareness programs against sexual harassment.

In 2014, Cairo University adopted an in-campus anti-harassment strategy, following a notorious mob assault accident practiced against a female student on campus.

An anti-harassment unit was established then inside Cairo University to help students address any abuse they may encounter on campus.

Also, Ain Shams University witnessed several systematic anti-harassment campaigns inside its faculties and enabled such campaigns to have headquarters on its campuses.

Egypt first brought in a unified law against sexual harassment in June 2014. The law stipulates that the harasser faces a six month prison term or pay fines of about LE 3,000 to 5,000.