CAIRO – 28 August 2018: The state-owned National Council for Women announced supporting Menna Gubran against Mahmoud Soliman, who “harassed” her in Cairo’s Fifth Settlement.
Gubran published a video for the incident which went viral on Facebook.
Maya Morsi, the head of the NCW, said that the council is ready to provide Menna with legal support in her issue, affirming the necessity to punish Soliman. Morsi said she denounces the negative psychological and social pressure Gubran underwent following the incident.
Earlier in August, an Egyptian youth, Gubran, recorded a video for Soliman while he is asking her to drink coffee with him, claiming that he wanted to protect her from being harassed.
Soliman told her in the video that he is not annoying her, while Gubran replied: “Yes, you are annoying me.” Subsequently, Soliman left after apologizing.
A large number of people on Social media considered Soliman’s actions a kind of harassment, while others said they thought no harassment took place, and that it was an offer rejected by the girl.
Some people criticized Gubran for the video she published, searched in her profile and shared some photos of her, including one where she was wearing a short dress. Many people described her clothes as provocative.
Gubran asserted in another video that there are parts that did not appear in the video; she said that Soliman chased her with his car and spoke to her before she could record him.
Gubran said she was fired from her job following the incident. She said that the company she was working in told her that she was fired because she was absent for two consecutive days without an excuse, while Gubran claimed that it is not the real reason why the company fired her.
Al-Azhar, an Egyptian Islamic institution, announced Monday condemning harassment, adding that it has followed up the harassment incidents that took place recently and were circulated by media.
In a statement, Al-Azhar explained that harassment as a behavior should not be justified by the kind of clothes a girl is wearing, saying that harassment violates girls’ privacy, freedom and dignity, and makes girls lose the feeling of security.
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